Desert Biome

By : Alyssa Rekich and Abby Cobern

Climates• Hot and Dry desert: Average temperatures range from 20-25

degrees Celsius. The extreme maximum ranges from 43.5-49 degrees Celsius. Minimum temperatures sometimes drop to –18 degrees Celsius

• Semiarid Desert: Summer temperatures average between 21-27 degrees Celsius. It normally does not go above 38 degrees Celsius. Evening temperatures are around 10 degrees Celsius.

• Cold Desert: The average temperature in the winter is between –2 to 4 degrees Celsius. The mean summer temperature is between 21-26 degrees Celsius

Climatologist/ Alyssa Rekich

Precipitation • Hot and Dry desert: Rainfall is usually very low. Sometimes rain starts

falling and evaporates before the ground.

• Semiarid desert: The average rainfall ranges from 2-4 cm annually. The winters bring low concentrations of rainfall.

• Cold desert: The winters receive quite a bit of snow. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 15-26 cm. Annual precipitation has reached a maximum of 49 cm and a minimum of 9 cm. The heaviest rainfall of the spring is usually in April or May

Latitude• Many deserts are found in bands along 30 degrees latitude north and 30

degrees latitude south.

• Some other deserts are between 15 degrees and 35 degrees latitude

• Most hot and dry deserts are near the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn. Cold deserts are near the Arctic part of the world

Climatologist/Alyssa Rekich

Problems in the desert• In some deserts with higher temperatures wild fires could happen. Wild fires could

destroy slow-growing trees and shrubs in the desert and replace them with fast-growing grasses.

• Irrigation used for agriculture, may in the long term, lead to salt levels in the soil that become too high to support plants

• A dust storm is a strong, violent wind that carries fine particles like silt, clay, dust and other materials for long distances. The fine particles swirl around in the air during the storm. The scary thing about a dust storm is that they can spread over hundreds of miles and rise over 10,000 feet

Geologist/ Alyssa Rekich

Mineral Deposits• The desert contains soil that can range from sandy and fined-

texture to loose rock fragments, gravel, or sand.

Mountains • The mountain areas in the desert the soil is shallow, rocky, or

gravely with good drainage.

Geologist/ Alyssa Rekich

Names Of Deserts• Chihuahuan Desert• Sonoran Desert• Mojave Desert• Sahara Desert• Gobi Desert• Lut Desert• Antarctic Desert

Pollution

• Car exhaust• Increased global warming

Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Humans effect Biomes?

• Yes. Like many ecosystems, deserts have hidden organisms that, when humans invade, are destroyed. Beside the obvious degradation of the natural environment caused by humans re-routing water and constructing roads.

Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Major threats

• Rain shortage• Predators• Mining • Tourism• Drilling• Farming• Ranching

Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Natural Disasters

• Earthquake • Volcanic eruption• tornado • melting (Antarctica is a desert)

Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Food Web for Native Animals

Insects

Tarantula Scorpion Lizard

Hawk Fox

Lizard Rodents

Snakes

Biologist/ Abby Cobern

Plants

• Barrel Cactus• Brittle Bush• Chain fruit Cholla • Creosote Bush• Crimson Hedgehog

Cactus• Desert Ironwood • Joshua Tree • Jumping Cholla

• Mojave Aster • Ocotillo• Palo Verde • Pancake Prickly Pear

Cactus• Saguaro Cactus• Soaptree Yucca• Triangle-leaf Bursage

Biologist/ Abby Cobern

Countries

• Hot- Australia, Arabian Peninsula, Mexico/S.W. USA, S.W. Africa, Argentina, South America, North Africa, Indian, Pakistan

• Hot and Cold- China, Mongolia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, S. W. Africa, W. China

• Cold- Argentina, South America, Middle East, Antarctica

• Coastal- Peru, Chile• Semi- arid- USA

Biologist/ Abby Cobern

Are the Biomes “Protected”?

• About 1/3 are protected• The Biomes protected are the ones in the

Artic

Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Energy Pyramid

Tertiary consumer

Secondary Consumer

Secondary Consumer

Primary Consumer

Producer

Biologist/ Environmentalist/ Abby Cobern

Sources

• http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/deserts.html

• http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/biodesert.php

• http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/features/

• http://www.kidzworld.com/article/707-dust-storm-on-the-loose#ixzz1JyXjDzK1