Desert Forest Waters Itself

Trees in a rare cloud forest in the desert regions of Oman water
themselves with seasonal fog, according to Massachusetts Institute
of Technology scientists.

The researchers studied this unusual watering process in a forest
located in the Dhofar Mountains in the south of the Middle Eastern
country.

Clouds form in the forest when moist air flows in from over the
Arabian Sea and pushes up against the mountains.
Water droplets from the clouds collect on the trees' leaves then fall to
the ground, where the water can be stored and used by the trees in
drier weather.

The process works in the same manner as fog getting your clothes
wet, explained researcher Elfatih Eltahir.

This forest is odd because cloud forests typically form in moister
climates where a forest can largely sustain itself without the lower-lying
fog layer, since it gets plenty of rainfall from higher clouds.
The Omani forest would not fair as well without its essential fog.


SOURCE:
LiveScience.com

Pretty nifty little said-up nature has here.

Just another example of how unique and diverse nature
truly is.


Comments, Opinions?

damn that is a pretty neat trick. I wonder if there are pictures of this forest, should be pretty interesting to see. Maybe Oman will use it for tourism. Sounds truly like an oasis, watch the trees that live there are actually ugly or something.

Neat. I remember a BBC/Attenborough production showing beetles in the Chilean desert doing the same sort of thing.

Sweet. Here's the link:

fog catchers

Apparently they've inspired engineers, or something.

Trust an engineer to get inspired by a bug.

TD

EDIT - I meant Namibia dammit! Honest!

[edit on 21-9-2006 by TaupeDragon]

Nope, they're not ugly at all.

Here's a picture from the source site.


Very beautiful, and almost hybrid looking.

yeah real pretty. I wish i could go hiking around that spot. I've pretty much seen every inch of the hollywood hills and I'd love to see something fresh and new.

Oh, iori_komei, that is a beautiful place! I'd never heard of it before, so thanks for posting.
Permit me to share another of planet Earth's (our home) wonders--the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. The Oman forest is a forest in a desert, the Valleys are a desert in a snow covered continent. This planet is truly amazing!