Editing Arrakis (section)

== Environment and the spice ==
A desert planet with no natural [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]], in ''Dune'' it is established that Arrakis had been "His Imperial Majesty's Desert Botanical Testing Station" before the discovery of [[melange (fictional drug)|melange]], for which it is the only natural source in the universe.<ref name="Dune"/> Melange (or, "the spice") is the most essential and valuable commodity in the universe, as it extends life and makes safe interstellar travel possible (among other uses).<ref name="Dune"/> The planet has no surface water bodies,<ref name="Dune"/> but open canals called [[qanat]]s are used "for carrying irrigation water under controlled conditions" through the desert.<ref name="Term QANAT">{{cite book |last=Herbert |first=Frank |title=Dune |url=https://archive.org/details/dune0000herb |url-access=registration |chapter=Terminology of the Imperium: QANAT |year=1965|publisher=Philadelphia, Chilton Books }}</ref> The Fremen collect water in underground reservoirs to fulfill their dream of someday [[terraforming]] the planet, and pay the [[Spacing Guild]] exorbitant fees in melange to keep the skies over Arrakis free of any satellites which might observe their efforts.<ref name="Dune"/> As indicated by its large [[Salt pan (geology)|salt flats]], Arrakis once had lakes and oceans; [[Lady Jessica]] also notes in ''Dune'' that wells drilled in the sinks and basins initially produce a "trickle" of water which soon stops, as if "something plugs it."<ref name="Dune"/>

[[Paul Atreides]] recalls that the few plants and animals on the planet include "[[saguaro]], [[Ambrosia dumosa|burro bush]], [[date palm]], [[sand verbena]], [[evening primrose]], [[barrel cactus]], [[incense]] bush, [[smoke tree]], [[creosote bush]]&nbsp;... [[kit fox]], desert hawk, kangaroo mouse&nbsp;... many to be found now nowhere else in the universe except here on Arrakis."<ref name="Dune"/> The most notable life forms on the planet are the giant [[Sandworm (Dune)|sandworms]] and their immature forms of [[sandtrout]] and [[sand plankton]].<ref name="Dune"/> Sandtrout encyst any water deposits;<ref name="Dune"/> predator fish are placed in the qanats and other water storage areas to protect them from the sandtrout. It is suggested the sandworms are an [[introduced species]] that caused the desertification of Arrakis;<ref name="Children">{{cite book |last=Herbert |first=Frank |title=[[Children of Dune]] |year=1976}}</ref> In ''[[Children of Dune]]'' (1976), [[Leto II Atreides]] explains to his twin sister [[Ghanima Atreides|Ghanima]]:
<blockquote>The sandtrout [...] was introduced here from some other place. This was a wet planet then. They proliferated beyond the capability of existing ecosystems to deal with them. Sandtrout encysted the available free water, made this a desert planet [...] and they did it to survive. In a planet sufficiently dry, they could move to their sandworm phase.<ref name="Children"/></blockquote>

The environment of the desert planet Arrakis was primarily inspired by the hydrocarbon (ie. oil and/or natural gas) wealthy Mexico and the [[Middle East]]. Similarly Arrakis as a bioregion is presented as a particular kind of political site. Herbert has made it resemble a generic desertified [[petrostate]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=Tom |last2=Glotfelty |first2=Cheryll |last3=Armbruster |first3=Karla |title=The Bioregional Imagination: Literature, Ecology, and Place |date=2012 |publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]] |isbn=9780820343679 |page=230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=flt4Uea3oOcC&pg=PA230}}</ref>