The DesertAaron and Leilana

Climate

Temperature Range- 90-100 Degrees Fahrenheit

Annual Rainfall- 15 cm

Vegetation

Vegetation is very rare, plants are almost all ground-hugging shrubs and short wooden trees

Barrel cactus’

Desert sage

Elephant Tree

                                               

        

Animals

Small nocturnal carnivores and there are also insects (Dung Beetles), arachnids (Scorpions), reptiles (Gopher Snake) , and birds (Greater Roadrunner)

Some common ones are, geckos, owls, desert foxes, and jerboas.

Location (Latitude)

There are deserts all over the middle east and central Africa, as well as North and South America and parts of Asia.

The American deserts are in the western United States, Mexico, and in Chile. There are also large areas of desert in Australia.

Limiting Factors

Limiting factors of the desert include; competition for water and shelter from the excessive sunlight.

Competition among plants is rare since there are so few plants and so much available sunlight

A factor that limits the growth and development of an organism, population, or process

Net Primary Production

The net primary production of desert is about 200 kilocalories per square meter per day

Human Impact: Negative

Irrigation used for agriculture may lead to high salt levels in the soil, inhibiting the growth of plants

Grazing animals can destroy desert plants and animals

Potassium cyanide used in gold mining can poison wildlife

Nuclear waste is sometimes dumped in deserts, also, nuclear testing is often done in the desert

Desert Culture

In North America, ancient cultures centered on the great basin in modern Utah, Arizona, and Nevada

Nearly all desert cultures rely on gathering wild seeds and plants and hunting small game

Social groups are usually small and nomadic

Cold Deserts

When you hear “desert” you usually think of hot, arid climates, but, in fact, there are also cold deserts

Temperate deserts are mild cold deserts, they occur in temperate regions at higher latitudes—and therefore colder temperatures—than those at which hot deserts are found.

Cold deserts occur at the poles and in and around the arctic circle

Cold Deserts (cont.)

Cold deserts are defined by heavy snowfall in the winter, very little liquid water, and sparse wildlife

There are cold/temperate deserts in northern China, Peru, Iran, Turkmenistan, and other places around the world

The wildlife of cold desserts includes: foxes, rabbits, lizards, rats and small deer-like mammals such as antelope.

Vegetation is rare, but includes sagebrush, cardon cactus, small, woody trees, and grasses