ABSTRACT:

We present a dataset that contains raw data for different physiological variables (exopolysaccharide production, chlorophyll a, photosynthetic activity) measured for biocrust cyanobacteria under optimal growth and phosphorus limitation treatments in laboratory conditions. These cyanobacteria were collected from biocrusts in the Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts. The data values were collected for six biocrust cyanobacteria each five days during 20 days. We also provide the data used to create a calibration curve and quantify the concentration of exopolysaccharides. The purpose of this datase is to evaluate the effect of phosphorus limitation on growth, photosynthetic activity and exopolysaccharides production in biocrust cyanobacteria.