New Extremophiles: sopping up water in a desert (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, October 30, 2023, 19:35 (180 days ago) @ David Turell

Putting salt on the outside:

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-reveal-common-shrub-efficiently-harvests.html

"The identification of this unique mechanism, in which the plant excretes salts to extract and condense water onto the surface of its leaves, has the potential to inspire the development of new technologies, and improve existing ones such as cloud seeding, to harness atmospheric water resources.

"Tamarix aphylla, or athel tamarisk, is a halophytic desert shrub, meaning it can survive in hypersaline conditions. Over time, the plant has evolved to take full advantage of the prevalent humidity and fog occurrences in the UAE.

"Many plants and animals that inhabit arid regions have developed water-harvesting mechanisms and morphophysiological traits which have given them the ability to utilize abundant, untapped sources of water such as fog and dew. The fundamental principles governing this natural water collection serve as an inspiration for emerging water-collection technologies, which are developed to maximize the efficiency of the existing methods for harvesting aerial humidity.

"In the paper titled "Harvesting of Aerial Humidity with Natural Hygroscopic Salt Excretions," published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the researchers present their exploration of the physicochemical aspects of salt release and water collection mechanisms by Tamarix aphylla that has allowed it to thrive in hypersaline sands.

"The plant absorbs saline water from the soil through its roots, filters out the salt, and expels the concentrated salt solution onto the outer surface of its leaves. The researchers found that as the salt solution undergoes evaporation, it transforms into a hygroscopic crystalline mixture composed of at least 10 different minerals.

"It was discovered that some of these salt crystals have the ability to attract moisture from the air even when the humidity levels are reasonably low (~55% relative humidity). This moisture condenses onto the surface of the plant's leaves and is then absorbed."

Comment: How did this adapt? Growing at the edges of the saline desert and gradually moving in makes sense. Salt attracts water which means extruding it to leaf surface is an obvious purposeful move. Could enough mutations have occurred to allow this happen? That is the issue only a study of mutation rates can answer. It is adaptation or God's design?