Desert

Macie, Ethan, Allison

Where is ecosystem located?

There are several deserts found in America.

The Great Basin desert covers Nevada and parts of California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.

Desert is in California and Arizona.

The Mojave Desert which is the driest and hottest desert in America is in California, Nevada, and New Mexico and the Chinuanuan desert lies in Arizona and New Mexico.

Describe the abiotic factors of your ecosystem Antarctica’s desert is dry and very cold.

Australia’s desert is very hot.

It has not rained for 400 years in the Atacama Desert.

Producer : Saguaro Cactus. How does your producer rely on other organisms in the desert to survive? It relies on other plants for shade

It relies on its own seeds to grow again

It relies on bats to spread seeds

How do other organisms of your ecosystem rely on your producer to survive? Pack rats eat the juicy fruit from cactus.

Woodpecker makes nests in cactus.

Harris hawks make their homes in saguaro cactus.

The elf owl relies on shelter in the cactus.

The long nose bat, white winged dove and butterflies drink from the cactus flower.

Doves also use open flowers for shade

The coyotes and javelin pigs eat the cactus fruit

When the cactus dies it becomes a home for many animals { black widow spider}

How do humans affect your ecosystem? Humans make a Saguaro boot to hold food.

The Indians take fruit from the cactus for food.

Choose one biotic or abiotic factor in your ecosystem & describe how a change in one of these could your ecosystem.

Change: Took out nurse tree

No nurse tree to protect the cactus.

If the cactus dies then many animals will be affected.

No cactus then the animals will die. Such as elf owl, monarch butterflies, hummingbird and American Kestrel and many, many more.

Other interesting facts: Deserts receive less than 16 inches of rain a year.

The video game Mario Kart shows a race track in the Kalahari desert.

Deserts cover 20% of the land area in the world.

Sources Used

Bash, Barbara. Desert Giant. San Francisco, C A: Little, Brown and Company, 1989. Print.

 Paul , Bennett, Paul. Desert Habitats. Milwaukee, W i: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2007. Print.

Gerald Legg. Life in the Desert. Danbury, CT: Childrens’ Press, 2005. Print.

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