Download Desert

Desert
Introduction:
Deserts are known to have a very harsh and tough environment.
Yet lots of plants and animals have adopted to live in those areas
according to the conditions held by each type of desert. Deserts
occupy about one fifth of the earth’s land surface. There are
two main types of desert biomes. These are hot and dry desert
and cold desert. The two types of deserts differ greatly, yet
they tend to share some similarities. In order to make a
comparison between the two types of deserts, this essay will
discuss the differences that exist between the two deserts in
terms of the location, animals, plants, climate and soil nature, and
people’s thought of the desert.
Subject
Starting with hot and dry desert, as its name reveals is hot and
dry. In total, there are eight hot and warm deserts. Four of
these are located in the United States and these include Mojave,
Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chihuahuan. The other four include
Southern Asian realm, Neotropical, Ethiopian, and Australian.
Most of the hot and dry deserts are located near the Tropic of
Cancer or the Tropic of Capricon. Due to the high exposure of
this desert to the sun, the only animals that are able to live in the
hot and dry desert are the animals that can burry themselves
under the ground during the day. In other words they can live
under the ground by digging holes and they come out at night
since it will be a little cooler. Examples of these animals include
small nocturnal carnivores, burrowers and kangaroo rat. Some
insects, reptiles, and birds can also exist in the hot and dry
desert.
Moving on to the cold desert, a cold desert is characterized
by having snow in the winter. This in other word means that the
temperature in the cold desert does not just drop few degrees in
the winter like the hot desert, it will have snow. There are three
cold deserts and these include: Antarctic, Greenland, and
Nearctic realm. Most of the cold deserts are located neat the
Arctic part of the world. Some of the same animals found in hot
and dry deserts are also found in the cold desert but in this case
the animals have to burrow in order to escape from the cold and
stay warm. Animals found in cold deserts include: kangaroo rats,
kangaroo mice, jack rabbits, grasshopper mice, squirrels, and
pocket mice.
Moving on to the second point of comparison, plants. In the
hot and dry desert, some short plants such as shrubs and woody
trees exist. The plants that live in this desert include: yuccas,
ocotillo, turpentine bush, prickly pears, false mesquite, sotol,
ephedras, agaves, and brittlebush. Some of these plants have
microscopic openings in the epidermis of the leaves. These are
called stomata and they are used for gas exchange especially
when the evaporation rates are low at night. In general, the
plants that live in the hot and dry desert are short, small, and
thick.
In the cold desert, most of the plants found there usually
have spiny leaves. The cold desert has almost inappropriate
weather for plants to grow. It can never reach an acceptable
warmness level for plants to survive. There are some exception
plants which include grasses and mosses. However, there is one
main characterized plant that exists in the cold desert and this is
called deciduous. These plants can vary from 15 cm to 122 cm in
height.
Climate and soil nature is the third point to be discussed in
this essay.
Generally, the hot and dry desert experiences a
warm weather throughout the four seasons. Small amount of
rainfall fall during the winter season. The temperature is usually
very high since there is only little amount of humidity that works
to block sun rays. More than twice the amount of solar radiation
is received by the desert surfaces during the day and more than
twice the heat is lost at night when compared to humid regions.
The average annual temperature ranges from 20-25 degrees
Celsius. The extreme maximum temperature ranges from 43.5 –
49 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature sometime reaches 18 degrees Celsius. Since there is less chemical weathering, the
soil is usually course textured. Since there is very little water
on the surface available, some of the soil solidifies becoming
rocks and other stays as gravel.
The cold desert is characterized by having a long cold
winter season experiencing snowfall and high amounts of rainfall.
Cold desert usually have very short summers in which the weather
is warm and moist and rainfall is rare. The average winter
temperature ranges from -2 to 4 degrees Celsius and the average
summer temperatures ranges from 21 to 26 degrees Celsius.
The soil is of salty nature and usually is heavy. The soil contains
some pores which help in the filtering or leaking of the salt.
People usually visit desert areas for tourism and
recreational purposes.
Recreational purposes include rock
climbing, biking and hiking. Some people just like to visit the
desert to examine the amazing sand colour and the pattern of
rock formation. Some people like to take their vacation in the
desert since it is a quiet place and they want to take a break
from their business and busy life. Deserts uses widen to include
road building projects, mining, and grazing.
conclusion:
, differences and similarities between the hot and dry desert and
cold desert are clearly illustrated through examining location,
animals, plants, climate and soil nature. The deserts are used
greatly by people for tourism and recreational purposes.
References:
1) <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert.htm>
2)
<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/deserts.h
tml>
3) <http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceasweb/kids/biomes/desert.htm>