Solar panel arrays may help sustain grasslands during drought: Study
The placement of solar panels in Colorado's grasslands could help decrease water stress and increase plant growth by about 20 percent during dry years, a new study has found.
In these semi-arid areas, where grasslands often don't get as much water as they need, the partial shading offered by solar systems can help plants get through harsh summers, according to the study, published in Environmental Research Letters.
The plants also benefit from any additional water that ends up collecting on the panels, the authors noted.
'Even though this solar array was designed to maximize energy generation — not to promote beneficial environmental conditions for the grasses grown beneath — it still provided a more favorable environment during a dry year,' lead author Matthew Sturchio, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University, said in a statement.
In more temperate environments, although solar power arrays provide a critical source of renewable energy, they also reduce the availability of sunlight for plant growth. The diminished presence of local vegetation also means a decrease in plant-based carbon storage and the forage available for grazing animals.
But during dry years in semi-arid Colorado, scientists found that grass growth on the east side of panels was in some cases considerably more productive than in adjacent open sites.
In wet and normal years, the positive rate of production was reduced, but the east side of the panels still saw more grass growth than the neighboring control spots.
The scientists suggested maximizing potential gains by adjusting panel arrays to changing environmental conditions — such as repositioning them to provide shade when air temperatures rise or configuring them to let in more light during growing seasons.
'With small changes in array design, configuration and management, we may even realize untapped benefits, particularly those related to water use,' Sturchio said.
Going forward, Sturchio and senior author Alan Knapp, a biology professor at Colorado State University, said they are researching optimal ways to place solar power infrastructure in order to also support grazing livestock or habitat pollinators.
'PV solar arrays may provide a unique opportunity to harvest the sun for electrical energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the climate change threat of increased water limitation to ecosystem functioning,' the authors concluded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How Rare Are June Hurricane Landfalls In the US? It's Been Nearly 40 Years Since The Last One.
June is the start of hurricane season; however, it's rare to see storms hit the U.S. at hurricane strength in the month. The last one happened nearly four decades ago. Although, as we've seen many times, tropical storms can still be menacing. It's Been 39 Years: The last June U.S. hurricane landfall happened in 1986 when Bonnie struck the upper Texas coast. It came ashore as a Category 1 and produced moderate damage from near Port Arthur, Texas, to southwest Louisiana. Just 4 U.S. Hurricane Landfalls Since 1950: The other three were Agnes (1972), Alma (1966) and Audrey (1957). All of those also made landfall on the Gulf Coast after forming either in the northwest Caribbean or the Gulf. More Have Occurred Farther Back In History, Even One In May: NOAA has documented over a dozen additional unnamed hurricanes that made a U.S. landfall in June from 1851 through 1949. A 2013 study even discovered a U.S. hurricane landfall along the Gulf Coast in late May of 1863. Audrey Was The Strongest June U.S. Landfall: It roared ashore as a Category 3 on June 27, 1957, near the border between Louisiana and Texas. The hurricane rapidly strengthened just before landfall and pushed a destructive storm surge of 8 to 12 feet into southwest Louisiana. Audrey killed 416 people in the U.S. and many of those deaths were from storm surge. Agnes Was Another Very Deadly June Storm: While it made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in the Florida Panhandle, it was a second chapter of Agnes as a tropical storm that was most impactful since it produced disastrous flooding in the Northeast. The most severe flooding from Agnes occurred in areas from Virginia to Pennsylvania and New York. A majority of the 122 deaths from Agnes were because of this flooding. June Tropical Storms Have Been Impactful Many Times: Allison's multi-billion-dollar, deadly flood disaster across the Houston metro area in early June 2001 is probably the starkest example of major impacts from a tropical storm. Last year, Tropical Storm Alberto tracked into eastern Mexico on June 20 but still produced 2 to 4 feet of storm surge on the Texas coast and brought 5 to 8 inches of rain to South Texas. Claudette (2021) and Cristobal (2020) are also examples of recent impactful tropical storms to hit the Gulf Coast in the month. June Atlantic Basin Hurricanes Are Also Infrequent: When zooming out beyond the U.S., the month in general doesn't produce many hurricanes. Beryl is the last one in 2024 and was a rarity since it became the first June Category 4 on record as it approached the Caribbean on the month's last day. Before that, you have to go back to Chris in 2012 to find another Atlantic hurricane in June. Major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger) In June Are Extremely Rare: The month has accounted for just 1% of all the Atlantic majors since 1851, according to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a tropical scientist at Colorado State University. That emphasizes how rare hurricane Beryl was for June. Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Watch bacteria ‘hitchhike' and zoom around
The tiny world of microorganisms is full of microbes competing in a major life or death battle. The tiny lifeforms compete for turf, gobble up some pollutants, spew chemicals at their foes, and will exploit terrain in order to get an edge and thrive. New research into this microscopic turf war found that bacteria can speed up by using fluid pockets that are shaped by nearby yeast cells. Hitching a ride with these moisture trails allows the bacteria to spread faster and swim further. The findings are detailed in a study published June 4 in the Cell Press journal Biophysical Journal and reveal a new way that microbes travel through plants, soil, and even our own bodies. 'When studying microbial interactions, research often focuses on the chemical nature of these interactions,' study co-author and Cornell University microbiome engineer Divakar Badal said in a statement. 'But we learned that physical properties also play an important role in how microbes grow and spread.' In the study, the team focused on the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungus Cryptococcus neoformans. P. aeruginosa is a rod-shaped bacteria found in soil and human airways and has tail-like propellers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it can cause infections in the blood, lungs (pneumonia), urinary tract, or other parts of the body after surgery. C. neoformans is a stationary yeast that can be deadly in those with weakened immune systems and lives throughout the world. Infections from this fungus can affect the different parts of the body, but causes lung or brain infections (cryptococcal meningitis) most often. The team watched under a microscope as the two species closed in on each other. The P. aeruginosa bacterium eventually swarmed into the puddle-like fluid surrounding the C. neoformans yeast. The bacteria cultured with yeast spread up to 14.5 times faster than when it was cultured alone. Additionally, isolated bacterial colonies quickly connected into continuous clumps. At a microscopic scale, P. aeruginosa is comparable to a grain of rice. On that same scale, the yeast is about the size of a grape. These larger yeast bodies draw in moisture from the surface, which forms a thin halo of fluid that acts as a temporary swimming lane. This lane allows the bacteria to bypass the usual physical limits of a dry surface. When the team replaced the live yeast with dead ones or glass beads, the same halo effect was produced, indicating that the puddles were driving it. 'The bigger the obstacle, yeast and glass beads alike, the more fluid you have around it, and it's better for Pseudomonas,' added Varsha Singh, a study co-author and molecular biologist at the University of Dundee in Scotland. 'So, it's leveraging what could have been an obstacle to move farther ahead.' [ Related: Bacteria wars are raging in soil, and it's keeping ecosystems healthy. ] The team also found that the spread of the bacteria ebbs and flows within the landscape that the growing yeast cells create. They built a model to simulate the interactions between both the bacterium and yeast to better understand the dynamics at play. The model indicates that faster-growing yeast species like C. albicans altered the fluid landscape more dramatically, affecting just how quickly bacteria could travel. 'I was absolutely blown away by how well our model predictions match the experimental results,' said Danny Raj M, a study co-author and engineer at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. 'In a sense, the model is a virtual lab that simulates real behaviors. By changing the parameters, from growth rates to humidity, we can answer a number of questions.' According to the team, the implications of this research go beyond the model and lab. Bacteria and yeast coexist in plants, soil, water, and the human body. The ability to ride fluid films may be one of the factors that helps bacteria colonize these environments more effectively, especially if moisture is scarce. The team plans to examine the way that both species interact in the real world to learn more. 'We tend to think of microbiology in an anthropomorphic way, focused on human lungs or the gut because we can relate to them,' said Singh. 'But much of it plays out in the soil and other environments. That gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore new questions. I think that's where the next frontier is.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Researchers make incredible discovery about chickens that could help keep grocery prices down: 'We need to differentiate'
Researchers at Cornell University found that feeding chickens grape waste made them less susceptible to diseases. According to the gut health of chickens can open them up to disease. The poultry industry relies on the mass production of chickens, but when chickens get sick and there are fewer chickens, the prices increase in stores. Corresponding author and department of food science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, associate professor Elad Tako, said, "Inflammation weakens the immune system and opens the birds to other pathogens such as avian flu." Grape pomace is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, so the researchers set out to see just how true that was. Their findings were published in the Journal of Functional Foods. They injected the grape pomace into "amniotic fluid in chicken eggs to induce inflammation, and then a second one of a grape pomace extract to intervene," per Co-author and doctoral food science student, Melissa Huang, said the grape pomace did improve gut inflammation symptoms and intestinal health. In the U.S., the grape industry produces one million pounds of grape pomace waste yearly. What's left over from wine and juice production is stalks, seeds, and grape skins. While some of this is put into animal feeds or made into a fertilizer, much of it ends up in a landfill. According to "nearly three-quarters of production costs are bound up in what the birds eat." So, finding a way to utilize leftover grape pomace is not only a low-cost way for the birds' health, but also stops it from going into a landfill. When birds get sick, it doesn't just cause prices to go up on eggs. WGCU said it's also a threat to biodiversity. What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time Not enough space It seems too hard I have a garden already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. It said bird flu has been growing fast recently and "has infected more than 500 species, including 485 avian and at least 70 mammalian." Some animals that have contracted it are dolphins, seals, foxes, and skunks. Many end up dead or have neurological symptoms. While this is a significant win for keeping animals healthy, Huang said further investigation is needed to optimize the anti-inflammatory effects of grape pomace. She said, "Studies show that fiber and polyphenols, on their own, can affect inflammation. We need to differentiate which specific compounds in grape pomace are making this difference." Reducing reliance on poultry is another way to reduce the risk of the threat to biodiversity. You can do that by exploring plant-based food options. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
