Download Desert biomes

Desert biomes
By David, Michal, and Alex
Climate
Cold Deserts
Snows in the winter
Temperature in winter ranges from -2 to 4° C and in the summer 21 to 26° C a year
Rains in the spring.
Averages out to 15 - 26 cm of rain a year
Never warm enough for plants to grow
Climate
hot-Dry deserts
Temperature ranges from 20 to 25° C
The extreme maximum temperature ranges from 43.5 to 49° C
Have very little rainfall in short periods between long rainless periods
Averages out to under 15 cm of rain a year.
Winters have very little if any rainfall
Warm throughout the fall and spring season
Plants
cold deserts
In areas with little shade, about 10 percent of the ground is covered with
plants. In some areas of sagebrush it reaches 85 percent.
The height of scrub varies from 15 cm to 122 cm.
All plants are either deciduous and more or less contain spiny leaves.
Sego Lily
Bitterbrush
Rabbit Brush
Sage Brush
plants
hot-dry deserts
Vegetation is very rare.
Plants are almost all ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees.
All of the leaves are replete (packed with nutrients).
Turpentine Bush
Prickly Pears
Brittlebush.
Adaptations: the ability to store water for long periods of time and the ability to
stand the hot weather.
soil/agriculture
Hot-Dry deserts
Soils are course-textured, shallow, rocky or gravely
with good drainage and have no subsurface water.
They are coarse because there is less chemical
weathering.
The finer dust and sand particles are blown
elsewhere, leaving heavier pieces behind.
Human impact
cold deserts
Irrigation altars steams, rivers, and canyons
Animal grazing altars the plant community and agriculture
Increased of tourists in the settled deserts is disrupting the preserved biotic soil
crusts
Desert landscape is being replaced with concrete, houses, lawns, etc,
Irrigation may in the long term lead to salt levels in the soil that become too
high to support plants
Oil and gas production may disrupt sensitive habitat
Nuclear waste may be dumped in deserts, also used as nuclear testing
grounds
Human impact
hot-dry deserts
Increased grazing has degraded riparian zones and altered the desert plant
community and agriculture
Irrigation has altered streams, rivers, and canyons
Exotic and sometimes invasive species have been introduced that can quickly
colonize and dominate the landscape
Increased visitors to parks and natural areas have affected the biotic soil
crusts of even the most preserved areas
The growth of cities and ensuing suburban sprawl is replacing the once desert
landscape with concrete, lawns, homes and picket fences