The knobby, black earth native to the Colorado Plateau is nothing like the soil in your mom's flowerpots. This dirt is alive. Cryptobiotic soil crust, sometimes called desert glue, is a community of biotic organisms that help keep the desert healthy. Cyanobacteria sheaths, finger-like filaments of blue-green algae that emerge when it rains, leave a sticky trail that traps the soil much like a spiders web. They protect the dirt from wind and water and provide something for nutrients to hang on to. Lichens, part fungus part algae, are a natural fertilizer that help plants grow. But do you know what makes this biological soil really cool? It predates the dinosaurs. So the next time you take a hike in the desert or visit a National Park in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico or Arizona remember to keep to the trail and not to kick up the dirt. It takes hundreds of years for the soil to recover from footprints and sun blocking particles.