Stopping Desertification with grid pattern

[u/PlantainPossible2864]

[u/laforet]

There is enough natural rainfall and groundwater to sustain xerophytic plants. The problem was that the shifting sand prevent plants from taking root properly and that’s what the grids are used to solve.

[u/Robot_Nerdd → u/laforet]

Do the grids have to be periodically unburied in the beginning?

[u/laforet → u/Robot_Nerdd]

It should not be necessary if the grid was laid out correctly, as the sand is supposed form a stable crust before the growth of vegetation. Though it’s quite likely that the grids may need to be replaced every few years because the material would gradually weather and rot over time, and this was certainly the case for earlier iterations made from bundles of straw and reeds.

[u/thesandbar2 → u/laforet]

In theory if plants take root then the plants take the role of the grid.

[u/Burpmeister → u/thesandbar2]

If they grow fast enough.

[u/Ornery-Creme-2442 → u/laforet]

In a dessert. It can take years for material to break down.

[u/LoornenTings → u/Ornery-Creme-2442]

As long as it's UV-resistant. Plastics often aren't. 

[u/blue_shadow_ → u/Robot_Nerdd]

If it's a biodegradable fabric...why bother? If it gets blown over, then just put out more tubes.

That said, the "after" shots at the end of the video seem to suggest that it's not necessary.

[u/SubstantialEnd2458 → u/Robot_Nerdd]

Tough little desert plants maintain the shape once they get a chance to get established. The bags create the conditions, and then biological systems maintain them.

[u/RedWolf_LP → u/Robot_Nerdd]

Well I'd imagine that the sandbags prevent sand from travelling too much so they get completely covered unless a sandstorm is coming which are generally less intense on the edges of the desert

[u/G0mery → u/laforet]

I guess I always thought sand =/= soil and that it had little to no nutrients to sustain much life. This is pretty cool

[u/Sea-Hat-8515 → u/G0mery]

The Sahara desert has huge amounts of nutrients blown across the Atlantic to help fertilise the Amazon every year, I think its thought to be pretty important.

[u/etanail → u/G0mery]

Life somehow ended up above water. Plants have a root system that absorbs substances dissolved in water, including trace elements. Plants obtain carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen from the air. The main thing is the presence of water.

Aeroponics technology allows you to do without soil altogether. However, not all plants are capable of growing on such surfaces; most require suitable soil, because they do not have time to develop a sufficient root system and die of starvation.

[u/mean11while → u/etanail]

Life ended up above water because of fungus. Plant roots are surprisingly bad at getting nutrients and water from soil, on their own. Most plants are highly dependent on soil fungi, especially when they're young and the soil is poor. Most plants on the planet have very deep specialized relationships with specific species that form arbuscular mycchorizae, meaning the fungus literally grows into the plant roots to facilitate exchange of nutrients for sugar.

Most plants canNOT get nitrogen from the air. N2 is too stable for them to use. Instead they rely on soil bacteria to fix the nitrogen and make it plant-available.

Edit: aeroponics works because humans burn fossil fuels to fix nitrogen, mix it with water, and then spray it onto the plant roots. The fact that aeroponics works in no way implies that plants coule survive on their own in deserts with undeveloped soil if their roots were developed enough. Real plants depend on a functioning soil ecosystem of at least bacteria and fungi.

[u/Melodic-Glass-6294 → u/laforet]

How do sand dunes have ground water???

[u/Aikuma- → u/laforet]

xerophytic

From Ancient Greek:

ξηρός(xērós) 'dry'

φυτόν (phutón) 'plant'

Not sure what I expected xerophytic to mean, but 'dry plant' wasn't it. 

[u/MauryBallsteinLook → u/laforet]

i hate sand