Question: Livestock grazing is a major land use of dryland ecosystems. While the occurrence of grazing is widespread, there is high heterogeneity in grazing intensity. Biocrusts are responsible for multiple dryland ecosystem services, but livestock trampling can cause crucial disturbance to biocrust communities that may inhibit these contributions. Trampling may be particularly intense around waterpoints, with a decline in trampling with increased distance from the waterpoints. We investigated the effects of this disturbance gradient on biocrust communities. Location: Santa Rita Experimental Range in southern Arizona, USA (31 degrees 49' N, 110 degrees 51 ' W). Methods: We quantified biocrust cover and rates of N2-fixation along grazing gradients extending out from waterpoints. We also measured soil characteristics such as chlorophyll a (a proxy for biocrust biomass), bulk density, soil respiration, and soil water-holding capacity. Results: We found that biocrust cover increased with distance from waterpoints. However, biocrust cover was not correlated with the acetylene reduction assay (an indirect measure of N2-fixation), delta 15N (a direct measure of N2-fixation), or chlorophyll a. Conclusions: These results suggest that grazing negatively affects biocrust cover. We did not find a significant difference between N2-fixation rates among the different distances from the waterpoints or biocrust cover.