Mia DePallo
Biome- Desert
Climate- Hot and Dry Deserts temperature ranges from 20 to 25° C. The extreme
maximum temperature for Hot Desert ranges from 43.5 to 49° C. Cold Deserts
temperature in winter ranges from -2 to 4° C and in the summer 21 to 26° C a year
Location of biome; country where biome is located- Deserts take up 8.6 million
square miles (22 million square kilometers) of the earth's surface. Some of the
worlds largest deserts, the Sahara, Australian, and the Arabian, lie between latitude
30° south and latitude 30° north.
Threats facing biome-The deserts of the world are growing. Not in a productive
way but, in a non-productive manner. Desertification is the process that turns
productive into non- productive desert as a result of poor land-management. It
occurs mainly in semi-arid areas bordering on deserts. Due to desertification, these
areas are slowly absorbed into the desert they border.
Desertification reduces the ability of land to support life, negatively affecting wild
species (even those specially adapted to life in the desert), domestic animals,
agricultural crops and people.
World map illustrating biome-
http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/desert/desert.htm
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php
http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/desert/index.htm
Flora
Scientific name-Genus, Species- filamentosa
Common name-Yucca Plant
Life cycle- 1.25 to 1.5 inches large, each with 6 creamy, yellow-green sepals,
crowded into 12 to 18 inch, many-branched clusters with an unpleasant odor. The
trees bloom mostly in the spring, although not all of them will flower annually.
Reproductive cycle- At the end of every May, across the Midwest and Great Plains,
yucca plants sprout a stalk of white flowers. Inside some of these flowers lurks a
plain little white moth. These yucca plant and their yucca moths are the classic
textbook example of "mutualism."(one depends among another)
What it eats to survive-Yucca get fluids and nutrients from the ground up through
their stems ... and minerals get pulled up from the soil and transported through the
entire plant
3 facts1. The Yucca is in the Lily family.
2.Yucca is the state plant of New Mexico.
3.Yuccas bear edible parts such as fruit, seeds,
and flowers.
http://www.desertusa.com/flora.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/desert-biome-animals-and-plants.html
Vertebrate
Scientific name- Felis Rufus
Common name-Bobcat
Life cycle-In the wild, with considerable luck, a bobcat can expect to live perhaps 10
to 12 years, although in captivity, it may live for more than 30 years.
Reproductive cycle-A bobcat's mating is a lot like a regular house cats mating.
That's one similarity that they have. Bobcats will have one litter of kittens a year. A
litter of bobcats consists of 2 to 3 kittens. When food is scarce, a bobcat will not have
a litter at all.
What it eats to survive-The bobcat's diet consist of rabbits, squirrels, mice,
gophers rats, and fish. They're good at catching all their prey because of their
hunting ability.
3 facts1. The Average Bobcat weights 15-20 pounds.
2.The most common place for bobcats is the Southwest desert.
3.A bobcat won’t kill healthy large prey unless it’s desperate.
"The Bobcat (Desert USA)", http://www.desertusa.com/april96/du_bcat.html (June
5, 2000)
http://desertwildlifeservices.com/bobcat.htm
Invertebrate fauna
Scientific name- Pandinus imperator
Common name-Black emperor Scorpion
Life cycle- the emperor scorpion’s life span is about 5 to 8 years in captivity, but
much less in the wild.
Reproductive cycle- Scorpions perform a mating dance by clasping each others
pincers and dancing around. The young develop in eggs inside the female, then after
35 days to one year, 20-50 young hatch inside the female and emerge alive and
crawl onto the mothers back.
What it eats to survive- Black emperor scorpions eat crickets, spiders, mealworms,
and pinkie mice.
3 facts1. In the wild, emperors are said to burrow into termite mounds and make their
homes there.
2. If given a choice they will spend the vast majority of their time hiding in a hole,
only venturing out to hunt.
3. The emperor's size, relatively low toxicity, and life span make it the most popular
scorpion in the pet trade, which has led to such over-collecting in the wild that it is
now a threaten to extinction.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/desert/desert.shtml
http://treatmentscorpionbites.com/black-emperor-scorpion-facts
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/scorpions/EmperorScorpion.php