Previously in At the heart of the Mystery of the Ocher of Provençal Colorado :
Zoé and Eliott recovered the fifth lightlight : l’energyenergy Mineral. Geological and biological developments have been allowed thanks to mineral resources. They are necessary for life on earth.
Zoé only looks at the machine screen and press the orange button, too happy to move forward in their mission. But she didn’t notice something that could upset the rest …
Eliott has disappeared.
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When Zoé landed, she looks around. It is in the middle of an arid steppe. There is no tree, little shrub, the vegetation is short and dry. The Mistral blows hard on his cheeks … But … is it a pebble desert?! she wonders.
– Eliott, have you seen that? Souffle Zoé.
No answer.
– Eliott? Said Zoé turning. BIP-BOP, we lost Eliott!
– The system informs me that it was teleported in a different place, replied Bip-Bop. To find him, you have to make your logic work and find the answer to the following enigma:
My first is a small isolated bay by the water,
My second is what we hope when we are in trouble,
My last one is the canine of animals carnivorescarnivores.
My everything is a speciesspecies unique in the world threatened with extinction.
Zoé does not know if the riddle is simple or difficult. She thinks for a few seconds. Her brainbrain is boiling. Toothpick? Doesn’t it work … Beach Aide-Dent? Still not … and core-aid-clocroc? Neither !
A few minutes later, Bip-Bop gives him an index.
– You know, the animal that you are looking for is present here, in the Crau cushion nature reserve.
So Zoé stops thinking. She observes and tries to find the animal. Wow, I would never have thought that there was such an environment in France. She sees the horizon as a straight line in front of her. Taken a feeling of freedom, Zoé walks and zigzague between the pebbles covered with lichen.
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– It’s huge bip-bop, admires Zoé, impressed by the landscape.
– And again, it’s nothing! Exclaims Bip-Bop. A few centuries ago, this plain was even greater.
– Ah good ? How so ?
– This steppe environment was created thanks to a river: the Durance, begins Bip-Bop. At the start, this river threw itself into the sea. Then it gradually moved east to throw itself into the Rhône. In its path, the Durance has deposited many polished pebbles from the Alps.
– These are all these pebbles that we see on the ground? Ask Zoé.
– Exactly. When deviation of what is called the deltadelta of the river, or the mouth of the river if you prefer, there were three main phases offloodflood. Then, over time, this whole area dried up. The pebble desert covered the entire surface between Arles, Salon de Provence and Fos-sur-Mer. This represents around 72,830 football fields.
– It’s huge!
– This territory has remained so large for long millennia. But in the 16th century, the Craponne canal was built. It was used to irrigate the water from the Durance on the Crau plain to create a new fertile, light and favorable soil for theagricultureagriculture. It has become a space renowned for hay harvest. But the desert called the cushion of crau, has considerably narrowed. Currently, it represents around 10,378 football fields.
Zoé cannot be returned. This landscape of pebbles already seems immense and almost endless to him.
-So, begins Zoé to verify that she understood, the plain of Crau is between Arles, Salon de Provence and Fos-sur-Mer, all that was dried up before theirrigationirrigation ? And the crau cushions, is it the surface of the desert steppe that remains?
– Exactly ! But men have not only had bad influences on this environment. Since the Neolithic, sheep has grabbed in the coussouls. We also identified 156 sheepfolds dating from the Roman era. Even today, we can see herds of sheep between February and June.
– But what are they used for?
– Sheep help maintain open habitat. It is thanks to them if there are no bushes. Without pasture, some species would no longer live here.
Species, recalls Zoé. It is absolutely necessary to find the species of the enigma to reach Eliott.
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Zoé starts again and walks in all directions to find a species. But she sees nothing.
-Stop, calm down, breathe and observe, advise him Bip-Bop. You just have to take the time to realize that this stony desert is a habitat for many species.
So Zoé calms down. She inspires. She expires. She closes them eyeseyes. There she hears songssongs birds. There are many who are superimposed to create a harmonious melody.
– the Crau Poussouls nature reserve is a very important place for the biodiversitybiodiversity And the birds you hear. The vast majority of calendar lark are in Crau. There are also more than half of the Canepertières Outards. And we can find a typical species of steppe environments: the Ganga Cat. In France, this species only exists in the Crau plain.
That’s it, Zoé feels ready. She opens her eyes and she sees these birds in the middle of the pebbles or … on lots of pebbles?!
– BIP-BOP? Why are there a lot of pebbles everywhere?
-Ah finally, he replies. I thought you would never ask me the question when however, they are very visible. The heaps can measure a meter or even a meter fifty in height!
– And when did they be trained? questions Zoé again.
– During the Second World War, began Bip-Bop, happy to tell the story. The Germans occupied France and they were afraid that their enemies, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union, would land planes here.
– It is true that they would have had the place, remarks Zoé. It’s all flat and very large.
– That’s it! So the Germans took forced workers in the surrounding villages and had them built such large lots that they can be seen from the sky. Like that, no plane could land here.
– But, did it have to disturb the animals that lived there? worries Zoé.
– This is where the story is beautiful: the heaps of pebbles were colonized by lots of species. Birds, reptilesreptiles and even amphibiansamphibians Now use heap cavities for part of their or more biological cycle …
– It’s a very beautiful story. Finally, a dark moment of humanity turned into a conservation tool.
– Today, the strongest impact for biodiversity would be to move pebbles, or even just to return them. So you have to be careful not to move them.
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Gently, Zoé gets closer to observe the biodiversity that houses the heaps. She is not very reassured when she saw schools, lycoses and other small animals that can be a little scary. But their presence is important for the balance of this environment. There is also a beetlebeetlethe Bupreste de Crau. It is only here, in the plain of Crau. And there, on a rock, she sees a large locust.
Suddenly she thinks: What if the small isolated bay by the water was a cove? Would that make a cove aide-cocroc?
– Crau locust! exclaims Zoé, happy to have resolved the enigma. The unique species in the world threatened with extinction is Crau’s locust!
– Bravo Zoé, congratulations bip-bop by blinking. Crau locust is a species that is only present here worldwide
– How is it?
– Crau locust has a very low dispersion capacity. Its wings are atrophied, that is to say that they are abnormally small, and this locust is quite heavy. So he does not fly and does not jump very far. He therefore does not have the ability to get out of the cushion of crau. It is threatened with extinction largely due to the fragmentation of its natural habitat. But scientists have set up a project called Life Sos Criquet de Crau to try to save it.
After this explanation, Zoé hands the machine to a pebble and pressing the blue button. A light flies to the antenna of the machine before being absorbed. The usual little tinkle is followed by an inscription: 6 / 7.
– This time, you recovered the energy of life, specifies Bip-Bop. Life exists everywhere, even in the most remote deserts. It forms a complex and interconnected network which allows the maintenance of the balance of ecosystemsecosystems. It allows pollination, fertilization of soil or even the regulation of climateclimate. The very habitability of the earth depends, in part, on the presence of life, whether animal, vegetable or even that of microorganismsmicroorganisms. Now, more than a step!
More than a step … Think Zoé smiling.
Then, the ground begins to tremble, Zoé will be able to find her brother.
In your opinion … where Eliott had gone and why had he disappeared?
Response to the next episode!
Thanks to Laurent Tatin, biologist of the wildlifewildlife savage and former scientific manager of the reserve, that Futura was able to interview for the writing of this episode.
