View of part of the Needles in Canyonlands National Park. Shrub pinyon pines and junipers grow on the red sandy soil. Between plants, the soil's surface hosts a fragile biological-soil crust consisting of cyanobacteria, lichens, mosses, fungi, and algae. To learn more about biological-soil crusts (also called cryptogamic soils or microbiotic crust) (Belnap, J., 2001).