Now more than ever, we are aware of the damage being done to Earth’s habits due to human activities. While some of these are on a large scale with the implications of deforestation and the climate crisis, even small, local-level impacts can have a devastating effect on the species that live there. However, the unlikely duo of botanists and paramotorists have teamed up to help map the species in the coastal fog deserts of Peru and cause as little disturbance as possible while doing so. 

Accessing remote desert habitats while leaving them unharmed is something of a challenge. Currently, off-road 4x4 vehicles are used, but these are expensive, have high greenhouse gas emissions, and can cause environmental damage. They can even leave tire tracks that can lead recreational off-roaders right to the habitats they are trying to protect. 

Working in the desert as scientists and ecologists, we always found it very frustrating how 4x4 and offroad vehicles could be so destructive to fragile desert crusts.

Oliver Whaley

Off-roading as a recreational hobby is damaging to desert environments in a number of ways and can introduce non-native species to the area. Driving 4x4s can also lead to compaction of the surface, "which changes moisture pathways", write the authors of a new paper. This practice of “Toyotarisation” has even been found to increase desert dust storms. 

"Working in the desert as scientists and ecologists, we always found it very frustrating how 4x4 and offroad vehicles could be so destructive to fragile desert crusts (actually I learnt much about them by walking barefoot!), but even worse, how with the boom in SUVs, how off-roaders would follow any old tracks for fun, or make new tracks to remote fog oasis of vegetation and unknowingly destroy threatened unique species,” study author Oliver Whaley, Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, told IFLScience 

Therefore, researchers hoping to study the unique and ever-changing botany of these desert landscapes have come up with a novel solution. Termed “extreme botany”, the team have recruited some paramotorists capable of flying above these areas, causing minimal damage when landing and even being trained to bring back plant samples.

“Our Huarango Nature and Kew botanist team showed the paramotor pilots how to collect samples of plant DNA and take specimens for herbarium vouchers, this includ[ed] identification of important flowering and seeding parts, how to note habitats, and tag specimens with a GPS note etc,” continued Whaley. 

These areas are known as "lomas" in Peru and "oasis de niebla" in Chile, and occur along the coastal edge of the countries. While they might seem barren and devoid of life, they contain over 1,700 plant species that have adapted to survive in very dry conditions. These plants get most of their moisture not from rainfall, but from the coastal fog that can cover the regions. As such, the plants are highly ephemeral, meaning they appear only for a very short time. Mapping the region is important to know how to protect the species that appear here. 

The Tillandsia lomas vegetation was also an important area for study since the team wanted to prioritize areas that could not be accessed by 4x4s. The perennial Tillandsia species are poorly researched and are difficult to study via satellite spectral sensors because of their unique leaves that diffract light. It became an aim of the paramotoring missions to collect, identify, and map the areas of these unique plants. The collected plant specimens were then used in DNA analysis to look at gene flow between populations. 

"Paramotorists can survey huge areas, and unlike battery-limited drones, can identify target areas and even land and take samples safely. Importantly, they make no tracks and leave no roads to destroy and fragment biodiversity and lead people to crush a little fragile refugia – where on a tiny hilltop and microclimate hundreds of episodic and specialized species live in very small populations,” said Whaley. 

By comparing the paramotorists' activities with traditional 4x4 techniques for habitat mapping and specimen collection, the team reckon that the paramotorists could be up to 10 times faster for longer missions and were 4.5 times faster than the ground crews at completing their work on average. 

It is not just paramotorists, but millions of people that are out there – walking, canoeing, skiing, climbing or just sitting looking. And all are potentially citizen scientists.

Oliver Whaley

The carbon dioxide production was roughly the same for paramotorists and drivers for the shorter length missions, but was up to three times less for the flying team compared to the ground crew when longer times were spent. The area damage was also significantly less impactful for the paramotorists, estimating that they damaged at most 24 square meters (258 square feet / 0.0024 hectares), while the 4x4 team had a conservative maximum of 26 hectares (64 acres) of damage. “At best, this is approximately 1,000 times better and at a conservative maximum over 10,000 times better,” write the authors. 

“Many years ago, as a paraglider and canoeist I loved how you could pass through the landscape and leave no tracks, so when we came to apply for a National Geographic explorers grant we thought they might just be the right people to fund this proof of concept," explained Whaley. 

The team hope that by seeing the success of their paramotor collaborations, other people with outdoor hobbies could be inspired to get involved with helping to conserve nature. 

"It is not just paramotorists, but millions of people that are out there – walking, canoeing, skiing, climbing or just sitting looking. And all are potentially citizen scientists," finished Whaley. "Careful observation is science – you can make a data point giving nature a voice. Every time we stop looking, listening, smelling, feeling, protecting, and talking up ecosystems, albeit the sky, park, or a river through a city, the Earth loses out and so do we all." 

The study is published in the journal Plants, People, Planet.