Passive water harvesting by desert plants and animals: lessons from nature

Abstract

<jats:p>Fresh water sustains human life and is vital for human health. For some of the poorest countries, 1 in 10 people do not have access to safe and easily accessible water sources. Water consumption by man continues to grow with an increasing population. The current supply of fresh water needs to be supplemented to meet future needs. Living nature provides many lessons for water harvesting. It has evolved species which can survive in the most arid regions of the world by passively collecting water from fog and condensation of water vapour in the night. Before the collected water evaporates, species have mechanisms to transport water for storage or consumption. These species possess unique chemistry and structures on or within the body for collection and transport of water. Among the high diversity of species surviving in deserts, only a handful of species have been studied. Based on lessons from nature, bioinspired water harvesters can be designed. In this paper, an overview of various desert plants and animals is given and known water harvesting mechanisms of some are presented.</jats:p> <jats:p>This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology (part 3)’.</jats:p>

Design of water harvesting towers and projections for water collection from fog and condensation

“…Many plants and animals are able to survive in deserts [5,9,[11][12][13][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. Despite the harsh conditions, even in the hot and very arid Sahara, Namib and Atacama deserts, there are a large number of plants and animals that survive.…”

“…Based on estimates by the World Wildlife Fund, some 500 species of plants, some 70 known mammalian species, some 90 avian species, some 100 reptilian species, many species of spiders, scorpions and other small arthropods are known to exist. Desert plants can be broadly classified into four classes-wildflowers, cacti and other succulents, trees and shrubs, and grasses, mosses, and lichens [42]. Desert animals include vertebrates and invertebrates [42].…”

“…Desert plants can be broadly classified into four classes-wildflowers, cacti and other succulents, trees and shrubs, and grasses, mosses, and lichens [42]. Desert animals include vertebrates and invertebrates [42]. Vertebrates can be broadly categorized into five classes: mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and amphibians.…”

Inspection of Biomimicry Approaches as an Alternative to Address Climate-Related Energy Building Challenges: A Framework for Application in Panama

“…To optimize our buildings in these areas, deserts have a good number of land fauna, consisting primarily of foxes, camels, small rodents, and reptiles [ 65 ]. In general, these animals can alter their internal environment and possess numerous adaptative strategies, to respond to this kind of climate.…”

Water collection and transport in bioinspired nested triangular patterns

“…it needs to be transported to a location where it is either consumed or stored before it is evaporated. Various species have shown efficient methods to collect water to sustain life, which relies on their unique surface morphology and wettability [6][7][8][9].…”