The Desert Biome

The Desert Biome

1. The Desert Biome Two main types: Hot and Cold By Jeremy Fell

2. Abiotic Characteristics : Hot Desert Sand Sparse water Large amount of sunlight Air Extreme temperature, usually very hot during the day and very cold during the night The latitude of hot deserts is usually between 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator Elevation in a hot desert varies depending on the desert, with deserts such as the Sahara being relatively flat, with other deserts such as the Mojave deserts being very mountainous.

3. Abiotic Characteristics : Cold Desert Snow Ice Soil Large amount of sunlight during the summer, minimal amount of sunlight during the winter Air Extremely cold temperatures The latitude of cold deserts is usually between 30 and 60 degrees north or south of the equator Once again, elevation in a cold desert varies depending on the area, with some parts being flat, and other parts being very mountainous

4. Plants : Hot Desert Barrel Cactus Cholla Cactus Prickly Pear Cactus Saguaro Cactus Senita Cactus Cottonwood Desert Saltgrass Joshua Tree Juniper Stinging Nettles Tumbleweed Brittlebush

5. Plants : Cold Desert Bitterbrush Many types of grass Many types of lichens Many types of mosses Rabbit brush Sage brush Many types of wildflowers

6. Animals : Hot Desert Armadillo Lizard Bobcat Camel Coyote Desert Tortoise Desert Kangaroo Rat Sonoran Desert Toad Sonoran Pronghorn Antelope Scorpion Snake

7. Animals : Cold Desert Penguin Coyote Badger Great Horned Owl Bald Eagle Caribou Snow Geese Snowy Owl

8. Climate : Hot Desert Usually less than 250 mm of annual precipitation High temperatures during the day, much colder temperatures at night Scorching hot summers and mildly hot winters Climate : Cold Desert Also l ess than 250 mm of annual precipitation Mildly cold temperatures during the day, freezing temperatures at night Mildly cold summers and freezing cold winters

9. A climatograph for the Saharan Desert A climatograph for the Maudlandia Antarctic Desert Climatographs

10. World Distribution A map of the distribution of hot deserts Cold deserts are found in Antarctica, Greenland, Northern and Western China, Turkestan, and the Nearctic area

11. Bioaccumulation One major factor that is affecting the ecosystems of cold deserts, is global warming Because of the rising temperatures, some of the ice in cold deserts is melting This is destroying the habitat of the native animals, and many of these species are endangered

12. Intrusive Species An example of an instrusive species in a hot desert is Buffelgrass This is a type of grass in the Sohoran Desert Buffelgras s is a non-native species, that spreads quickly and kills off surrounding species of grass It can survive long periods without water, and in the summer, it becomes very dry and flammable During the wildfire season, this makes the grass very dangerous The only way to remove Buffelgrass is by hand, which is a long process, especially as it spreads rapidly

13. Energy Flows There are many examples of food webs in desert biomes, with several examples of producers, consumers and predators, however not as many as other biomes An example of one of these is desert grasses (producer) are eaten by jack rabbits (consumer) which are then eaten by coyotes (predator) These food webs usually revolve around water, as this is where the primary producers (plants) will grow mos t often

14. Succession in Deserts An example of succession happening in a desert is when a whirlwind is formed These reach very high speeds and kill most of the vegetation and animals in the area Then, the tamarisk, a pioneer species, will begin to grow again and turn the desert clay into fertile land This allows more plants such as ocotillos, cacti and yucca trees to grow again Animals such as desert rats and tortoises begin to return as well Climax species then begin to grow, and usually about 30 years after the whirlwind the area returns to a climax community

15. Predator-Prey Interactions Some examples of predator-prey interactions in hot deserts include: The interaction between hawks (predator) and lizards (prey) The interaction between scorpions (predator) and insects (prey) The interaction between snakes (predator) and desert kangaroo rats (prey)

16. The End

17. Sources http://www.buzzle.com/articles/desert-plants-list.html http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert_plant_page.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_climate http://wildtracks.wordpress.com/world-ecosystems/desert-ecosystems/cold-desert-ecosystem/ http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/desert/where.htm http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/biomes.htm http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/environment/weather/sunlight-hours http://www.ehow.com/about_5263593_cold-desert-plants-animals.html http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3168 http://mojavedesert.net/glossary/mutualism.html  

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