Desert biodiversity remains unexplored, but accessing them by conventional vehicles can be highly damaging. Moat and colleagues describe a successful experience using motorised paragliders to study hard-to-reach desert plants in Peru without damaging the environment. Their work showed that paragliding scientists could collect plant samples and survey remote areas much more sustainably than off-road vehicles.
The scientists trained expert paraglider pilots in various aspects of plant collecting, including preparing herbarium specimens, making notes of plant and habitat features and taking aerial photographs. Then, they conducted different missions in paramotors and off-road vehicles and compared their efficiency and environmental impact.
Paragliders could collect herbarium collections in four different vegetation patches, including two previously quite remote and previously unvisited. Notably, paragliders caused 1000 times less damage to delicate desert surfaces than off-road vehicles, disturbing only a few square meters when landing. Flying early in the morning before desert winds picked up, pilots could reach remote locations in minutes that would take hours to access by vehicle.
Previous research showed that off-road vehicles severely damage desert ecosystems by crushing plants, compacting soil, and creating dust storms. This new paragliding approach offers a way to study these sensitive environments while preserving them.
Moat, J., Tovar, C., Lewis, G., Orellana-Garcia, A., Bailetti, M., Capcha-Ramos, J., Quispe-Delgado, Y., & Arteaga, M. C. (2024). Beyond 4 × 4: Paramotoring a novel approach to accelerate plant exploration in challenging environments. Plants, People, Planet. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10571 (OA)
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