Researchers Look for Signs of Life in Qatar’s Sand Dunes
September 2010
Qatar’s massive shifting sand dunes appear to contain biological organisms that help hold the sand together.
The organisms may have the potential to stabilize the dunes or reduce desertification that harms agriculture and development in hyper-arid desert areas.
The possibility is being studied by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and Cornell University who received a $1 million grant from the Qatar National Research Fund to explore moisture dynamics and microbial activity in the dunes. Currently arid regions make up about 41 percent of the earth’s land area and desertification puts two billion of the world’s poorest people at risk by threatening agriculture, infrastructure, and life expectancy.
“For years, people thought microbial communities didn’t live in the sand dunes,” says Renee Richer, PhD, visiting professor of biology at WCMC-Q and one of the researchers involved in the study. “Our team found evidence of bacteria in the dunes, thanks to modern techniques such as genomic analysis that can detect the presence of DNA.”
Richer and biology lecturer Christopher Ogden, PhD, are working with Cornell University colleagues Michel Louge, PhD, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who has done extensive research on the dunes in North Africa, and Anthony Hay, PhD, associate professor of microbiology. In a pilot study last year, Richer, Louge and Hay tested the moisture in some of Qatar’s sand dunes and collected samples. “We found evidence of bacteria,” says Richer. She suspects the evidence may point to the presence of cyanobacteria, which are among the oldest known organisms. “They secrete a sugar coat that holds onto water and other grains of sand and creates a sort of crust that stabilizes part of the dune,” says
“Based on what we know about biology and water dynamics, it makes sense to us that these bacteria should be living in the dunes,” says Ogden, who will measure moisture characteristics and investigate how water moves within the dunes.
As part of the study, researchers will chart the activity of the microbial community below the dune surface, exploring their role in moisture retention, cohesion, erodability and permeability of sands beneath the surface. They will also investigate how fluid mechanics and rippling sand affect the dune’s moisture cycle.
“Once we know for sure that the bacteria are there, and how they survive, we can begin to investigate whether there are ways to exploit the microbial communities to help stabilize the sand dunes,” says Richer.
