Spray bacteria on the desert to halt its spread

• Autores: Hal Hodson
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2950, 2014, pág. 9
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In northern China, the eastern edge of the Qubqi desert is a shifting wasteland of sand dunes. Most of the land is dusty and barren, but bacteria are giving some of it a new lease of life. Desertification is a big problem for China. Overgrazing by livestock has destroyed much of the fragile layer of lichen, algae and mosses--the cryptobiotic crust--that binds the sand and soil to the ground. If left unchecked, creeping sands can slowly engulf vital infrastructure such as roads and railways. Farmland and even major cities can be swamped by dust storms that began in the desert. Chunxiang Hu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences's Institute of Hydrobiology in Wuhan has developed an alternative approach. She coats planted dunes with a mixture of photosynthesizing cyanobacteria that can thrive in the semi-arid environment.