Desert

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Welcome to the Desert Biome page. This page belongs to Chris L, Marti C, and Bill M. We hope you learn a lot about Deserts!

The desert's climate is a dry tropical climate with high pressure zones. High pressure isn't always good because when the cold air desends it becomes warm instead of rain, and then the heat evaporates the water so it can't come down as rain. Also, the ground is very hot because the sun's rays are beating directly down onto it. There is not a lot of atmosphere to protect radiant energy. The desert has 1 inch of rain per year and the average temperature is 64 degrees Farenheit. The latitude range for the desert is 15 -28 degrees north and south of the equator.

Out of the whole world, deserts cover one fifth of the earth. There are a lot of deserts in Africa. Some deserts are Saharan in Africa, Thar in Pakistan, the Kalahari in Southwest Africa, and the Great Australian. One great desert is the Mojave desert, the elevations range from 2000 - 5000 feet. Its located in between the Sonoran desert and the cold Great Australian desert, Sonoran to the south and Great Australian to the north. The climate has extreme fluctuations of daily temperatures, strong seasonal winds, and clear skies. The temperatures go from 8 degrees Farenheit in January to 119 degrees Farenheit in August. The average temperature from Spring to Summer is 90 to 100 degrees Farenheit. The wind is 25 - 75 mph, but in November to January it's calm. the humidity is 40% most of the year and can get to 50%. Also the Mojave desert has a rain shadow and gets 5 inches of rain per year.

The desert is all around the world and has a big community of organisms. Deserts have different kinds of animals, some we would not recognize. The animals in the hot deserts have to be able to withstand the heat, sand, little amount of water, and few plants. Some animals that fit are reptiles such as lizards and geckos. Both of those reptiles can take a lot of heat and can live with little water. They are ectotherms so their body temperature is conducted by the environment. For example, if the temperature was 84 degrees out, the organisms body temperature would be 84 degrees.

The desert has all five kingdoms. In kingdom moneran there are prokarotes because they can survive harsh climates such as the desert. In kingdom protista there is desert varnish which is algae and it lives on rocks. This algae makes the face of the rock green. Another kingdom is fungi, which includes all the lichens and desert crust. One other kingdom is plantae, it includes a wide variety of cacti, desert lily, and popcorn flower. Some plants have adapted to the lack of the water by using dew for moisture and taking in water through their leaves and stems. The last well known kingdom is kingdom animalia. Some organisms from this kingdom that live in the desert are reptiles such as lizard's and gecko's. Other animals are roadrunners in the bird group, jackrabbit's, cammel's, and kangaroo rat's in mammals. The way animals survive in this harsh climate is adapting. One adaptation is the animals tissue. Roadrunners lower their temperature at the night time when it is cooler. They use absorb rays of the sun. The kangaroo rat cools off in the desert when they are digging holes in the ground. The desert iguana cools off by hiding in holes, and hiding around plants. If it exceeds a certain temperature the animal will die. For four or five months a year the deserts heat exceeds this temperature which makes it extremely hard to survive. That period of time is called thermoneutrality. Luckily, most desert animals have evolved both behavioral and physiological mechanisms to solve the heat and water problems that the desert has brought them. The animals have the most remarkable adaptations for avoiding heat.



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