The longest fence in the world separates the desert of Australia

The fence of wild dogs is longer than 5,000km, making half of the Australian desert become green while the other half is barren.

Strzelecki desert in Australia has been divided into two halves for more than a century. On one side were countless sand dunes up to 10 meters tall scattered between dense vegetation and shrubs. The other half is desert with low sand dunes and sparse vegetation. Researchers believe that the change comes from and the animals are isolated outside, according to IFL Science.

Strzelecki desert sand dunes.(Video: YouTube).

The dingo fence was first built in the 1880s to curb the expansion of rabbits. The renovation of the early 19th century aimed at separating wild dogs on one side of the fence and away from the cattle.

The team compared photographs of unmanned aerial views on either side of a 5,000km long barbed wire fence with photographs taken from high altitudes from 1948 to 1999. They noticed the fence no wild dogs have more than 60 shrubs per hectare and the sand dunes are 66cm higher than the other half.

In the report published in the Royal Study Interface magazine, the scientists found that the absence of wild dogs affected the landscape. No top predators like wild dogs, foxes and cats have thrived in the last 100 years, killing small prey like rats and rabbits. Plants in this half of the green fence are good because they don't eat seeds.

The fence divides the Strzelecki desert into two halves with different landscapes.(Photo: IFL Science).

"The findings provide evidence that the disappearance of top predators affecting the landscape structure and density of shrubs may be important factors in controlling the level of influence , " the group said. study said. The proliferation of shrubs contributes to retaining sand and sediment. As the wind passes through the desert surface, the sand dunes become higher and more stable.

A similar study conducted by the University of New South Wales earlier this year also concluded that fences not only affect the abundance of animals and plants but also reduce soil quality. The soil is more fertile in areas with wild dogs that live and hunt kangaroo, helping to reduce the number of grazing animals. According to the researchers, the future renovation plan will be more reasonable if the stray dog ​​is returned.