How `bags of dirt` can help combat climate change
Arabia Weather - The challenges associated with climate change are increasing rapidly, and require a creative and effective solution to contribute to reducing carbon emissions and improving the health of the environment. In this context, the new idea of using “bags of dirt” appears as an innovative tool to address the challenges of climate change. So what is the story of these bags? How will you be one of the solutions to the problem of climate change?
Bags of dirt
A team of scientists set out in a gray pickup truck in Astana, Kazakhstan, earlier this year, heading hundreds of miles west across the Kazakh steppes, a vast region characterized by endless open grass plains, abandoned farms and flower-filled meadows, which is... It is semi-arid, but once we get just a few inches underground, we can find one of the most diverse fungal ecosystems on Earth.
In most areas of the world, fine fungal structures grow where they are closely intertwined underground. These structures bind components of the environment together. When these filamentous fungi aggregate underground, they form sophisticated systems known as “mycorrhizal networks.” The Kazakh steppe, which extends from the northern Caspian Sea to the Altai Mountains, is considered one of the largest dry steppes in the world, and is expected to contain a high diversity of filamentous fungi. As the region gradually changes to “semi-desert,” many of these fungi may be in danger of disappearing.
Justin Stewart , the evolutionary ecologist who oversaw the mapping mission, noted that there is a 100% time limit on this task. And he said:
“If we sample soil and it has already turned into desert, we will have missed a lot of biodiversity.”
The Kazakhstan mission is part of a global project led by the Consortium for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) , a research organization working on mapping underground fungi. The project aims to collect soil samples in 10,000 areas considered hotspots for biodiversity around the world, with the aim of understanding... Existing species and their locations at the regional and global levels .
The relationship of small bags of dirt to climate change
The team used a predictive map based on thousands of observations and environmental data to identify these areas, and this map showed the importance of the Kazakh steppes; Because of the wide diversity of their ecosystems, scientists believe that a deeper understanding of the fungi that live under these extreme environmental conditions may help identify how these fungal systems adapt to climate change, including the spread of drought, fires and desertification.
To do this task, the researchers identified three regions in the steppe, each with a different climate. They started in the southern deserts, moved west to an area containing vast meadows and farmland and then finished north near the Russian border, where they entered a forest ecosystem.
At each site, they collected dozens of samples using a standard net , then dug a tube into the ground to extract soil samples and store them in plastic bags for later. These samples could help uncover secrets that help trap more carbon dioxide and restore healthy soil, trees, plants, and life. Animals dependent on this ecosystem.
Dry lands
On this part of the journey, the scientists found themselves in an open area south of Astana; The ground here is hard and dry, with deep cracks extending into the soil, and the marmots dominate the place, blending in with the fields, growing among the remaining plants. There is a small lake in the middle of the field, but it has clearly receded due to the rays of the hot sun.
Justin Stewart described this land as “extremely dry.” He began by inserting a metal tube into the soil to extract samples, then pulling the tube out and then trying to put the soil into a plastic bag using the back of a hammer, but he had difficulty doing so. And he said:
“It's really hard to pull the soil out of here.”
The relationship of fungi with plants and their role in transporting carbon underground
In general, fungi form mutualistic, cooperative relationships with plants. They interact positively with plants by exchanging essential nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen for carbon, provide their own developed root systems, and help plants access water and resources that may not be available to them naturally.
According to a study published in June, these networks could also be useful in transporting carbon underground. It is estimated that about 13 gigatonnes of carbon, fixed by plants, is transported through underground fungi; It equates to about a third of all carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in one year, and these fungi are an essential tool in this ecological transition, according to an analysis of nearly 200 data sets.
However, it should be noted that these innate plant benefits may be temporary in dry areas. For example, although deserts are a natural part of Kazakhstan's ecosystem, more than half of the country's vegetation and drylands are at risk of becoming desert. Key factors include: :
- Intensive agriculture.
- High temperatures.
- Increasing drought as a result of climate change.
This problem is not limited to Kazakhstan only, but also extends to other regions in Central Asia, such as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and northwestern China. Since the 1980s, deserts have moved north by nearly 100 kilometers. The study was led by Steve Hu, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. He pointed out that these areas will witness more frequent droughts and higher temperatures.
Pastures
As the minibus heads northwest toward the city of Kostanay, about 100 miles south of the Russian border, the vast, clay-red landscape reveals endless fields of grass, herds of horses roam freely, and eagles soar. The sky in search of its prey.
For hundreds of years, the steppes have been home to nomadic herders and nomads. In the 1950s, during the Soviet Union, the government called on thousands of young volunteers to plant as much crops as possible in order to alleviate food shortages. This massive effort was known as the Virgin Lands Campaign.
The fields were extensively plowed, degrading the soil, and then abandoned for lack of productivity. According to Alena Koshkina, a researcher at the Biodiversity Conservation Society of Kazakhstan, a national conservation group:
“This has had a negative impact on the vegetation and species of the steppe, as the northern part has become highly fragmented.”
In addition, agriculture has contributed to the destruction of fungal networks by using them to deplete the soil of its nutrient resources, and researchers hope that the samples taken here will help them obtain more knowledge about the types of fungi that can survive in such unfavorable conditions, and compare them to other sites such as Forests and meadows.
Over the years, the fields have had a chance to slowly recover, but they face new challenges; Since 2021, the Kazakh government is working on a project that will last nine years to strengthen the livestock sector in the steppe.
Koshkina pointed out that grazing grasslands can contribute to strengthening these ecosystems, but overgrazing may increase the risk of desertification. She explained that restoring the steppe means turning back the clock to the pre-Soviet era, when the region was largely calm.
For some people, this means restoring the presence of predators such as wolves and leopards that once existed in the area, and which hunted the local saiga antelope, but for others, like Genevieve Stevens, a project officer for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, restoration is not so much about returning to the past as It is about ensuring that specific ecological tasks are met in an area, such as carefully introducing new wildlife or providing care for pastures.
Either way, conservationists agree that the health of aboveground plants is inductively linked to the health of belowground biodiversity and thus, fungi play a crucial role in determining the future of the steppe.
Exploring the possibility of using fungal pollination to improve ecosystems in degraded steppes
Studying steppe fungi provides an opportunity for scientists to test whether they can spread in similar environments. One possible method of testing is inoculation, where fungi could be moved from their native steppe elsewhere to test their effect on soil quality, noted Mark Day, head of the Kazakh steppe conservation program at the RSPB. It is a UK-based environmental conservation charity.
This approach raises an important question: Can fungal pollination be used to promote ecosystem restoration in degraded steppe grasslands?
To date, small experimental studies have been conducted, with mixed results. Additionally, it is not clear whether this approach can later expand into the Kazakh steppe; Because of its huge size and environmental importance, researchers should do more studies in this regard.
At the conclusion of their journey, the researchers note that the land is still barren, but a thick carpet of feather grass appears extending up to their knees. As the sun rises and begins to set, the upper part of the grasses is illuminated with a magical brilliance, the conifer trees cover the area with their beauty, while mosquitoes, flies and small grasshoppers fly in the sky, and it turns out that this area of the steppe is not a desert, but rather very beautiful.
The importance of fungi in providing water to plants in drylands and the challenges of climate change
Studies have shown that fungi play a role in helping plants obtain water in drylands through their underground networks, and although it is not clear what fate fungi will do in the increasingly harsh temperatures, experts believe that many of them may be in danger.
Previously, a fungi expert at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Karina Engelbrecht Clemmensen, noted that maps of the fungi being researched would be useful, but how this data would be used to address climate change is still unclear.
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