Wind erosion control using inoculation of aeolian sand with cyanobacteria

Abstract

Wind erosion is a natural phenomenon that has been increasing due to anthropogenic activities. Wind erosion has detrimental consequences on the environment, and its prevention is a critical issue in many arid regions of the world. The topic of this study was an artificial formation of biocrusts to diminish wind erosion by inoculation of the aeolian sand by two filamentous cyanobacteria of Nostoc punctiforme and Microcoleus vaginatus. The erodibility of the sand was examined in a wind–tunnel equipped with a sand particle counter (SPC). The erosion rate, number of emitted particles, and flux of eroded mass from the surface of the sand were measured as indicators of the erodibility at five wind velocities of 6, 10, 15, 20, and 25 m/s. Results suggested that biocrust of M. vaginatus had thicker interparticle bonding and more resistance than biocrust of N. punctiforme against wind erosion; however, both of cyanobacterial crust reduced the erodibility indicators by two to three orders of magnitude.

A framework for predicting abrasion rupture of crusts in wind erosion

“…The results of the penetrometer tests conducted by Fattahi et al (2020bFattahi et al ( ,c,d, 2021, Langston and McKenna-Neuman (2005), and McKenna-Neuman and Maxwell (2002) demonstrated that depending on the structure and component of the crusts, a depth of 30 grain diameters (by assuming a 200 μm-diameter saltating particle) or even more would be required to reach the ultimate strength. However, impacting particles penetrate the crust only a few grain diameters and scratch the surface (Shao, 2008).…”

Artificial biocrust establishment on materials of potash tailings piles along a salinity gradient

“…Therefore, active intervention may be required for faster re-establishment of a viable and dense biocrust cover. This was realized in studies that directly applied representative biocrust organisms to the soil surface, using cyanobacteria (Chen et al 2006;Rossi et al 2017;Fattahi et al 2020;Zhao et al 2021), bryophytes (Xiao et al 2015;Bu et al 2018;Cruz de Carvalho et al 2018), or lichens (Ballesteros et al 2017). Furthermore, the application of stabilizers (Park et al 2017;Peng et al 2017;Li et al 2021) showed accelerated development of cyanobacterial biocrusts.…”

Short-term effect of oil-mulch on vegetation dynamic; Integration of ecological and remote sensing-based approaches

“…Wind erosion, the movement of course and fine particles by wind, is among natural process that mostly occurs under dry conditions and high wind velocity (Mirhasani et al, 2019;Jarrah et al, 2020), and degrade more than one-third of the 'Earth's land surface (Fattahi et al, 2020). The wind erosion may be accelerated by anthropogenic pressures such as overgrazing rangelands, excessive clearances of native vegetation, deforestation, abandoning farmland, monoculture systems, over-harvesting vegetation, or leaving cultivated lands fallow for a long time (He et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2013), resulting in an increase in the rates of soil loss.…”

“…The wind erosion may be accelerated by anthropogenic pressures such as overgrazing rangelands, excessive clearances of native vegetation, deforestation, abandoning farmland, monoculture systems, over-harvesting vegetation, or leaving cultivated lands fallow for a long time (He et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2013), resulting in an increase in the rates of soil loss. Wind erosion decreases water quality and negatively impacts biodiversity and climate changes (Lal, 1994;Fattahi et al, 2020). In addition, the negative effects of wind erosion on soil nutrients have been reported; wind erosion may negatively affect nutrients such as nitrogen by blowing off the most fertile topsoil (Lei et al, 2019).…”