The Reclamation Process
Here in Lubbock, we have two conditions that promote the reclamation of roads and slabs by plants. First, there is an abundant supply of subsurface moisture, trapped under paving and available to plants that grow in cracks and send down roots to tap into it; surprising in a semi-arid climate. Second, there is wind-blown dust -- less now than i remember from the pre-CRP era of the 1950s through the 1970s -- that is trapped by plants growing in pavement cracks and collects to form a soil along the cracks.
My use of the word "reclamation" reflects a bias, since to me development and urbanization are temporary conditions, brief interruptions by an overweening species of the long biological march. But those who see plant growth in parking lots, on slabs, and in and alongside roads as weeds to be controlled should equally be interested in observing and studying the process.
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