HOT AND DRY DESERT

LOCATIONS

• There is a lot of desert in Africa and Asia
• Much of Australia is desert as well
• Some of north and south America is desert region

PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE

• About 20% of the Earth's deserts land is covered with sand
• Nearly 50% are plains where eolian deflation has exposed loose gravels
• Remaining 30% are exposed bedrock crops, desert soils, and fluvial deposits
• Oases are where about the only vegetation grows

CLIMATE

• The climate is highest near summer
• The high climate contributes to less rainfall
• There is only about 10 inches of rain a year
• Most deserts only have water precipitation
• Some have snow however

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PLANTS

• Cactus (obviously)
• Agave
• Yucca

CACTUS ADAPTATIONS

• Spikes- spikes defend against consumers
• Roots- roots are close to surface to take advantage of less rain
• Stem- stem is thick and expandable to hold as much water as possible
• Spines- spines shade stem, keeping it cool and keep it dormant all the time

ANIMALS

• Lizards
• Snakes
• Camels

CAMEL ADAPTATIONS

• Hump- hump stores water for later use
• Feet- big feet allow camel to stay on top of sand near oases
• Fur- thick fur provides shade for rest of body
• Nostrils+eyelashes- keep sand out of nose and eyes

RELATIONSHIPS

• Bees pollinate desert flowers (mutualism)
• The bees get some food and the flowers get pollinated
• Birds sit on top of rhinos and camels (commensalism)
• The birds get a ride but the camels and rhinos are not affected

ENERGY FLOW

• Bugs eat desert plants and get some energy
• Lizards eat bugs and get a portion of energy
• Snakes eat lizards and get some energy
• Birds eat snakes and get energy
• Decomposers eat the dead bodies of animals

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IMPACT OF HUMANS

• Humans are overpopulating the world and build into desert biomes
• The desert animals' homes are being over run by humans
• Many plants are killed making room for buildings and roads
• Animals' homes are lost forever and some are even killed
• This is occuring in the desert near human population

HUMAN IMPACT CONT.

• Over population is the cause
• The populations of birds, lizards, snakes, and many plants are being affected
• Humans kill several plants which affects the whole food chain

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• We could hold back from building into deserts
• Stop killing organisms when space is needed
• Use the space we have instead of creating more