{"id":34220,"date":"2023-10-23t16:03:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-23t16:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=34220"},"modified":"2023-10-24t17:55:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24t17:55:58","slug":"dust-bowl-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/dust-bowl-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"how to create a fake drought: colorado state university team seeks to unravel dust bowl mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
nearly a century after the dust bowl, a strange arc-shaped structure protrudes from the central plains of kansas. its latticed beams stand out against the patched greens and yellows of the plain\u2019s horizon, giving the grassland a futuristic appearance. the assembly resembles the skeleton of an abandoned particle accelerator, or a translucent jungle gym. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
this structure is not a playground but a science experiment. each archway creates an artificial drought environment designed to restrict rainfall to simulate dust bowl conditions. colorado state university professor of biology and senior ecologist alan knapp and his team set up these structures in kansas and wyoming starting in 2012.
by controlling the amount of rainfall each patch of grass received over a four-year period, the team was able to observe how native grassland plants respond to extreme drought. in doing so, they tackled an 80-year mystery for what has been called the \u201cdust bowl paradox.\u201d during the 1930s, plagued by little rain, \u201ccool-temperature plants\u201d mysteriously encroached into the hottest and most drought-stricken regions of the plains, overtaking the warm-temperature plants we\u2019d expect to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the artificial drought experiment is a timely one, as climate change produces more drought and extreme heat in grasslands today. farmers globally, especially ranchers, depend on what grows on temperate grasslands, which also have value as natural carbon sinks. even though they are rich in biodiversity, temperate grasslands are the least protected and most endangered biome in the world, according to a 2010 article<\/a> published in the great plains research journal.<\/p>\n\n\n