Desert mosses use quartz rocks as sun shades – Phys.org

Living under a translucent rock can be quite comfortableif you’re a moss in the Mojave Desert.
A graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, found that some mosses in the California desert seek protection from the relentless sun and heat by sheltering under translucent quartz pebbles, essentially using the rocks as sunshades.
The soil under these rocks retains more moisture than exposed desert soil, said Jenna Ekwealor, while enough light leaks through the milky quartz to allow…

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