Spectra and vegetation index variations in moss soil crust in different seasons, and in wet and dry conditions

•Spectra of moss soil crusts (MSC) in wet and dry were investigated in two seasons.•Spectra of MSC were similar to those of the vascular plants in two seasons.•Similar spectra between vascular plants and wet MSC can misinterpret vegetation dynamics.

Similar to vascular plants, non-vascular plant mosses have different periods of seasonal growth. There has been little research on the spectral variations of moss soil crust (MSC) over different growth periods. Few studies have paid attention to the difference in spectral characteristics between wet MSC that is photosynthesizing and dry MSC in suspended metabolism. The dissimilarity of MSC spectra in wet and dry conditions during different seasons needs further investigation. In this study, the spectral reflectance of wet MSC, dry MSC and the dominant vascular plant (Artemisia) were characterized in situ during the summer (July) and autumn (September). The variations in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), biological soil crust index (BSCI) and CI (crust index) in different seasons and under different soil moisture conditions were also analyzed. It was found that (1) the spectral characteristics of both wet and dry MSCs varied seasonally; (2) the spectral features of wet MSC appear similar to those of the vascular plant, Artemisia, whether in summer or autumn; (3) both in summer and in autumn, much higher NDVI values were acquired for wet than for dry MSC (0.6 ∼ 0.7 vs. 0.3 ∼ 0.4 units), which may lead to misinterpretation of vegetation dynamics in the presence of MSC and with the variations in rainfall occurring in arid and semi-arid zones; and (4) the BSCI and CI values of wet MSC were close to that of Artemisia in both summer and autumn, indicating that BSCI and CI could barely differentiate between the wet MSC and Artemisia.