DesertRenée Nolan, Rachel Nauert, Christine Campbell,

Taylor Sutton

Hot and Dry• There are 4 major North

American Hot and Dry Deserts. The Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin

• Outside of the US there are Hot and Dry Deserts in the Southern Asian realm, Neotropical (South and Central America), Ethiopian (Africa), and Australian

Precipitation and Temperature

• Rainfall is lowest on the Atacama Desert of Chile, where it averages less than 1.5 cm. Some years are even rainless. Inland Sahara also receives less than 1.5 cm a year. Rainfall in American deserts is higher—almost 28 cm a year.

• Because the temperature is so high, evaporation exceeds precipitation and sometimes rain evaporates before it reaches the ground.

• The daily temperature is very extreme due to the low humidity, which allows more heat to come through the atmosphere during the day and escape at night

• Temperatures range from 20-25° C. The extreme maximum ranges from 43.5-49° C. Minimum temperatures can be as low as -18° C.

Animals• The dominant animals are

small, nocturnal burrowers and kangaroo rats.

• There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds.

• There are almost no large mammals.

• Most of the animals come out in search for food at dusk to avoid the heat.

Vegetation• Mainly ground-hugging

shrubs and short woody trees.

• Leaves are very small and have water conserving characteristics. They have very thick cell walls that help prevent water loss.

• Dominant plants include yuccas, ocotillo, turpentine bush, prickly pears, false mesquite, sotol, ephedras, agaves and brittlebush.

Cold Desert

Cold Deserts

• Characterized by cold winters with snowfall

• In the Antarctic, Greenland and Nearctic Realm

• Short, moist, and fairly warm summers

• Fairly long, cold winters

Temperature

• The mean winter temperature is between -2 to 4° C.

• The mean summer temperature is between 21-26° C.

Rainfall• There is high overall rainfall

throughout the winter and occasionally over the summer.

• The mean annual precipitation ranges from 15-26 cm. It has been as high as 46 cm and as low as 9 cm.

• The heaviest rainfall of the spring is usually in April or May. In some areas, rainfall can be heavy in autumn.

Plants• The plants are widely

scattered; about 10 percent of the ground is covered (but in some areas of sagebush it is about 85 percent)

• Plant heights vary between 15 cm and 122 cm.

• Most plants are deciduous and have spiny leaves.

Animals• Widely distributed animals

are jack rabbits, kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and antelope ground squirrels. (All except the jack rabbits are burrowers.)

• In some areas, population density of these animals can range from 14-41 individuals per hectare.

• Deer are found only in the winter. Antelope Ground Squirrel

Cities and Conservation Issues

• The cities in the cold desert biome are not very big. Nuuk, Greenland has a population around 14,000.

• Few conservation issues. Global warming affects the plants and animals.

Coastal Desert

Temperature and Precipitation

• Annual temperatures: maximum- 35C minimum- -4C

• Annual precipitation: maximum 37cm minimum 5cm

Plants• Some plants have extensive

root systems close to the surface where they can take advantage of any rain showers.

• Plants have thick and fleshy leaves or stems that can take in large quantities if water for future use.

• The plants living in this type of desert include the salt bush, buckwheat bush, black bush, rice grass, little leaf horsebrush, black sage, and chrysothamnus.

Animals

• Animals have specialized adaptations for desert heat and lack of water

• Animals include: insects, mammals (coyote and badger), amphibians (toads), birds (great horned owl, golden eagle and the bald eagle), and reptiles (lizards and snakes

•A few Costal deserts are located in:

-Sechura Desert- South of Piura region in Peru

-Atamaca Desert- Northern Chile

-Namib Desert- Southern Africa

Issues in the Desert• Sudden rain can cause flooding and a lack of rain, even in a Desert, can cause

changes in abundance and scarcity in resources

• Global warming is said to have something to do with this

• Human populations around deserts take this already scarce water

• Wildfires

• Desertification,the lack of ability to sustain life,has become more common

• Invasive creatures have been introduced to the desert

• Digging for fossil fuels

• Soil aridity can cause some plants/shrubbery to not be able to live in the desert biome anymore

• Some deserts have been used as nuclear testing areas

• Nuclear wastes have also been dumped in the desert

Solutions

• Limit the taking of water, digging of fossil fuels, off roading vehicle misuse

• Not introducing invasive creatures

• Less disturbing of the biome