DESERTS

By Elisa MillerKeystone College

DESERTS

Types of Deserts: Hot and Dry Cold Deserts

Gobi Desert in Asia Desert of Antarctica

LOCATIONS

Cover 20% of the Earth’s land mass

Latitudes: 15-28° North and South of the equator

LOCATIONS

CLIMATE Less than 10% rainfall per year

Hot Deserts: 20 to 25° C Maximum Temperature: 43.5 to 49° C

Cold Deserts: Winter: -2 to 4° C Summer: 21 to 26° C Antarctica: -89.2°C to -93.4°C

SPECIAL FEATURES

Desert animals are small Don’t have to drink at all All the water they need from their food Burrow under ground Nocturnal

Desert plants: Hairy leaves

WILD LIFE

Hot and Dry Deserts: Insects Arachnids Reptiles Birds Mourning Wheatears Horned Vipers

Cold Deserts: Antelope Ground Squirrels Jack Rabbits Kangaroo Rats (etc.)

PLANTS

Hot and Dry: Minimal plant life

Cold Deserts: No plants Maybe few grass or

moss Lichen Algae

THREATS TO ECOSYSTEM

Itself Global warming:

Dry up watering holes Increased number of wildflowers (kill shrubs and

slow growing trees) Irrigation for agriculture:

Increased salt levels in the soil Grazing animals Potassium cyanide used in gold mining Off-road vehicles Oil and gas production Nuclear waste may be dumped in deserts Nuclear testing grounds

REFERENCES

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert.htm http://explore.ecb.org/videos/VLC_media?P1=VLC038&REFERER=OTHER http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/desert/desert.shtml http://web.hcsps.sa.edu.au/projects/deserts/projects/group24/index.htm http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/desert-

threats/ http://www.google.com/imgres?q=gobi&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-

a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1600&bih=736&tbm=isch&tbnid=JAZZkIsSS0i8zM:&imgrefurl=http://roaringworld.com/category/travel/page/3/&docid=QZbzsjiZkyEYnM&imgurl=http://roaringworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Gobi.jpg&w=600&h=393&ei=TealTsvjBdHssgb3uIXQDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=414&vpy=372&dur=627&hovh=182&hovw=278&tx=165&ty=99&sig=106717984606887167711&page=1&tbnh=157&tbnw=209&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0

THANK YOU