DESERTS

By Hina Javed Trish Tieu and Melody Cruz

TemperatureHot Deserts-43.5 to 49° C (summer)

20 to 25° C (winter)Cold Deserts- -2 to 4° C (winter)

21 to 26° C (summer) Rainfall- less than 30 percent per year

CHARACTERISTICS Adaption's to low

rainfall Plants:

Water-storing leaves and stems

Thick epidermal layers to reduce water loss

Salt tolerance Plants are mainly

ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees

Adaptions to low rainfallAnimals

Nocturnal (avoid sun’s heat) Rodents have highly concentrated urine and feces

Soils are course-textured, shallow, rocky or gravely with good drainage

Clouds are scarce

TYPES OF ORGANISMS Plants

Low growing shrubs Water storing plants

• Insects and arachnids• Reptiles• Mammals • Birds

SAHARA DESERT: FOOD WEB Producers

Cacti Rabbit Brush/Sage Brush

Primary Consumers Desert insects [locust, yucca moth, ants] Rodents [Kangaroo Rats] Reptiles [Lizards]

Sahara Desert

SAHARA DESERT:TOP CARNIVORES

Small Carnivores Tarantulas Scorpions Lizards Snakes

Large predators Knit Foxes Hawks

COLD DESERTS The deserts that occur

in Greenland, Antarctic and the Nearctic areas are called cold deserts

characterized by cold winters with snowfall and high overall temperatures throughout the winter and sometimes the summer too

The main plants in this area are deciduous

ATACAMA DESERTFOOD WEB

Primary Producers Low growing shrubs Low growing bushes

ATACAMA DESERT

Primary consumersRabbits Squirrels Rats Seed-eating birds

ATACAMA DESERT

Top Consumers SpidersFoxesOwlsHawks

HUMAN IMPACT Slow-growing vegetation is quickly damaged

by off-road vehicles.

Live stock are destroying much of the plant cover in deserts.