Trapping of airborne dust by Eig's meadowgrass (Poa eigii) in the Judean Desert, Israel

North-facing slopes above sea level in the Judean Desert are covered with a nearly continuous carpet of the meadow grassPoa eigii. The grass functions as a trap for aeolian dust and protects the soil from erosion. The microbiotic crust, composed of mosses, liverworts, lichens, cyanobacteria and fung...

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Published inJournal of arid environments Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 77 - 86
Main Authors Danin, Avinoam, Ganor, Eliezer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.01.1997
Subjects
aeolian dust
allochtonous quartz
desert
meadow grass
microbiotic crust
meadow grass
desert
aeolian dust
microbiotic crust
allochtonous quartz
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Summary:North-facing slopes above sea level in the Judean Desert are covered with a nearly continuous carpet of the meadow grassPoa eigii. The grass functions as a trap for aeolian dust and protects the soil from erosion. The microbiotic crust, composed of mosses, liverworts, lichens, cyanobacteria and fungi, which occur among the tufts ofPoa eigii, also contributes to trapping and protection. The presence of allochtonous quartz and clays throughout the 60-cm deep soil profile suggests an aeolian origin of the soil. Stones > 2 mm in diameter contribute to only 13–33% of the soil weight. South-facing slopes have a thinner soil mantle, with 67–92% stones, quartz and clays occurring only at the surface layers and are devoid of the meadow grass. Microbiotic crust composed mainly of cyanobacteria protects the crust from erosion and assists trapping of aeolian material in this layer.
ISSN:0140-1963
1095-922X
DOI:10.1006/jare.1995.0141