Desert Biome
By: Abiman, Kartar, Owais, Visha
Overview
• Section 1: Physical Landscape
• Section 2: Plants
• Section 3: Animals
• Section 4: Human Influences
• Section 5: Major Deserts Map
Introduction Video
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0zIQjzmnT8
Physical Landscape
Background
Information
• Deserts are usually located along the Tropic of
Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn.
• The deserts located near the mountains are
formed by the "rain shadow" effect. The "rain
shadow" effect is a process of how air moves up a
mountain which makes it cold and lose its ability to
hold any moisture, but when the air gets through
and down the other side of the mountain the air
becomes warmer and has the ability to hold
moisture again. The more moisture the air can
absorb, the less precipitation that area will have,
which later forms a desert.
• There two different types of deserts, hot deserts or
cold deserts. The fact that deserts typically have
little to no vegetation causes them to have extreme
temperatures. They are made up of sand, rocks,
and gravel and receive very little rainfall each year.
•
Weather/ Climate
• During the day the temperature goes up to 100
degrees F and is freezing cold during the night.
The temperature is so extreme because of the lack
of vegetation and there's only about 10 to 20
humidity to trap the climate. If it gets too hot, it can
cause mirages and hallucinations.
• One type of storm in the dessert is a whirlwind. A
whirlwind forms when the hot air and the cold air
collide and start to spin very quickly. Sandstorms
are also a type of storm in the desert. They can
also be deadly if you get caught in one. It can strip
away your skin if you're not careful and get caught
in the storm. Sandstorms can be started of 12
mph.
• Desserts receive less than 25 cm of rain each
year. From December to March the dessert
receives the most rain in the year. In each of those
months the desert can receive up to 1.3 cm of rain.
Habitat
• Deserts cover one-fifth of the world.
• Deserts are the most fragile ecosystem on our planet
because of the harsh extreme of heat and lack of
moisture. The desert is a region of extremes. It is
usually extremely dry, extremely remote and extremely
hot. It can also be extremely cold at night (especially in
the winter), extremely windy (especially in the summer).
• Deserts can be sandy, stony or covered in pebbles. The
land can be flat or have rolling hills. It can have cliffs,
canyons and unique rock formations. Some lie below
sea level and others rest up on plateaus and mountains.
• There are two types of deserts - hot and cold. Hot
deserts receive what little moisture they get in the form
of rain.
• Cold deserts receive their moisture in the form of snow.
Desert oases occur where the water table is the
near the surface of the desert. Some desert oases are
big enough to support lush date palms, groves of fruit
trees, flower gardens and irrigated fields.
Questions
•
What would happen if something were to
change the landscape of a particular biome?
•
If there were no landscapes, then there would
be no plants or animals because animals depend
on plants and no human influence because
it’s going to be a dead land.
•
What if the temperature were to rise or lower
significantly?
•
If the temperature were to rise or lower
significantly then there going to be confusion for
the animals that do they need to hibernate or come
out in the open. Also for the physical landscapes
like plants, trees, flowers and more would die
cause of the temperature. Furthermore, the climate
would also change in the dessert because certainly
the dessert can't go lower than -10.
Questions Continued
•
What if a developer wants to build on the
land; what if an animal becomes extinct?
•
If a developer is going to build in the
dessert biome then then all the livings in the
dessert will all be extinct or endangered
because of all the pollution the workers going
to make, their going to take the sand out of the
dessert like almost most of the sand in the
dessert and their going to cut the plants like
cactus, brittle bushes, Joshua tree, and herbs.
Also if the developer wants to build a land on
the desert biome then we wouldn't be able to
live cause of the land, and there is no fertile
land to farm, so we wouldn't be able to survive.
Questions Continued
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What if a plant were destroyed, or if the rainfall greatly
increases or decreases?
If the plants were to destroyed then:
#1. No food for animals
#2. The oxygen on earth will decrease especially in the
desert biome like the cactus because Cactus are an ideal plant for
the desert because they produce more oxygen at night than other
desert plants. This is because they use a mechanism called
Crassulacean. (Acid Metabolism which allows them to
photosynthesize during the day while exchanging the oxygen for
carbon dioxide at night).
If the rainfall greatly increases then it is going to be cold, there is
a chance that there could be fertile soil, new plants will grow in
the dessert, the precipitation will rise from 25 cm a year to 100 cm
a year and the oxygen level will rise in the desert also you could
build on the land .
If the rainfall greatly decreases then it's going to get 25 % hotter,
some animals or plants may die because of the heat, The
precipitation will decrease from 100 to 80 cm a year.
Questions
•
What's the precipitation of the desert biome
in spring, summer, fall and winter?
•
What is the largest desert in the world? Where
is it located?
Examples
1. Arabian desert is completely
covered with sand and has some
of the most extensive stretches of
the sands dune in the world.
It stretches from Yemen to the
Persian Golf and from Omen to
Jordan and Iraq. With an area of
2,330,000 square kilometres. The
dessert biome is in Saudi Arabia.
2. Australian dessert covers a
large portion of Australia. The
desert is located in the central and
North-western area of Australia.
The size of the desert is 1,371,000
square kilometres.
Plants
Background
Information
•
•
How Plants Survive
Plants survive in the desert because they adapt to the
weather conditions. Plants that can survive with little water and
extreme heat this are called xerophytes. Reducing transpiration
which means when emission of water vapour from the leaves of
plants, increasing water storage and growing during early hours
and cooler seasons are the three main ways that xerophytes stop
water loss.
•
•
Types Of Plants
Cacti and succulents are one of the most common plants
that live in the desert. Crassulacean acid metabolism is a special
type of photosynthesis that succulents have. Cacti are a plant that
contains water when cut in half.
•
•
•
Special Features
Plants have to adapt to the desert so they could live in the
area that is extremely hot and that has little water. Plants that live
in the desert have adapted a skill which could prevent loss of
water.
Questions
•
What if a developer wants to build on the land; what
if an animal becomes extinct?
•
The developer would destroy the plants and the habitats
of animals. If the animals extinct like a camel we wouldn't be
able to travel in the desert.
•
What if a plant were destroyed, or if the rainfall
greatly increases or decreases?
•
If plants were destroyed animals and humans wouldn't
have food to eat and the rainfall greatly increases the plants
will get flooded or if it decreases the plants won't have enough
water to feed themselves.
•
What will happen if the plants hadn't adapted to the
weather conditions and the biome?
•
If they hadn't adapted to the weather conditions and the
biome the plants won't be able to live and animals and
humans won't have any food to eat.
Questions Continued
•
What is the importance of understanding the
interdependent roles of plants, animals, the physical
landscape and the influence of humans on the biomes of
the world?
•
It is important to understand interdependent roles of
plants, animals, the physical landscape and the influence of
humans on the biomes so we know how the plants interact
with the physical landscape, the animals interact with the
plants and how the influences of the humans affect the plants
and animals. Interdependent means that all members of the
group need each other.
•
•
What will happen if something were to change the
landscape of a particular biome?
The plants will not be able to grow their and also if plants don't
grow no animals will have food to eat and the animals will die.
•
•
What if the temperature were to rise or lower
significantly?
The plants and animals
that got adapted to the weather conditions will die cause of the
change of temperature.
Questions
•
What will happen if plants hadn’t adapted to
xerophytes?
•
•
Why can’t plants grow on different biomes?
Examples
1. These plants have adapted to
the weather conditions in the
desert and also this plant has
water inside it and travellers
cut the cactus open and drink
the water.
2. This plant can survive the
extreme heat and lack of water
because these plants adapted
a special skill.
Animals
Background
Information
•
Types of animals and special features
•
Addax: Addax is a type of antelope and they tip to survive is not drink water,
instead they get moisture from licking dew and other plants.
•
Camels: A Camel is the main animal in the desert. A Camel has protective eyes
blocking the sand from going into their eyes because of their big eyelashes and
these thick eyelashes shield their eyes from the hot, dry sun. Also the camel has
big nostrils that allow the camel to open and close their nostrils so the sand
doesn’t go up their nose.
•
Fat Sand Rat: Fat Sand Rat has efficient kidneys which they can produce
concentrated urine which allows them to eat halophyte plants (plants grown in
the water) and survives harsh extreme heat and lack of water.
•
Gila Monster: The way it adapts to the desert is by colouration of the monster.
Gila monster has poison to kill its prey.
•
Lappet Faced Vulture: The immense broad wings, with widely spaced primary
feathers, are ideal for soaring and gliding for long periods, using few wings beats
Road Runners: Its carnivorous habits offer it a large supply of very moist food. It
reabsorbs water from its feces before excretion. A nasal gland eliminates excess
salt, instead of using the urinary tract like most birds. It reduces its activity 50%
during the heat of midday. Its extreme quickness allows it to snatch a humming
bird or dragonfly from midair.
Information Continued
• These are some animals that live in the desert
imagine how many more there might be.
Animals adapt to the desert with these special
features, without these features they would be
able to live in that biome. If animals don’t live
in this biome then they will not be able to
survive and the plants would be able to survive
because of favourable climate and will not be
able to have transportation. If other animals
come into to the desert then the resources of
the animals that already live in the desert will
be lowered causing them not to survive.
Questions
•
What would happen if something were to
change the landscape of a Desert?
•
If they changed the landscape of the desert the
animals would not adapt to the new environment
because these animals have special features so they
can adapt to the desert for example the camel has
protective eyes blocking the sand from going into their
eyes because of their big eyelashes and these thick
eyelashes shield their eyes from the hot, dry sun. Also
the camel has big nostrils that allow the camel to open
and close their nostrils so the sand doesn’t go up their
nose. If the landscape changes the climate will change
because that landscape has its adapted climate and this
climate would affect the animals and plants and its
surroundings. There might be things that the desert
animals cannot adapt to such as if the camel were to be
in a landscape were the climate is cold then the camel
would freeze because it doesn’t have those special
Questions Continued
•
What if the temperature were to rise or
lower significantly?
•
The animals can’t live in the desert
because the weather is not favourable then
these features of the animals in the desert
won't help causing the animals hard to survive
and will affect their way of living. Their
surroundings won’t be able to support the
animals such as food because the plants won’t
grow due to unfavourable climate. If the plants
die then there will be a loss of food and
oxygen making it harder for things around
plants harder to live.
Questions Continued
•
What if the developer wants to build on the
land; what if an animal becomes extinct?
•
If the builder builds on the land the animals will have
to leave their habitat and their surroundings in the new
habitat will affect the animals and can make these
animals extinct and will affect other animals because if
one animal becomes extinct it will harm the food chain
or web then other animals in the biome would get
affected because their food chain or web might change
because there might be something that a camel eats
and so does another animal in the biome causing that
food to become extinct because their predators are
eating them in excess and if that food gets eliminated
out of the food chain or web then the prey of that food
will have a bigger population which will eat their prey
more because of the population of predators eating their
prey in excess causing that prey of the animal or food to
become extinct and this goes on and this causes
disturbance in the food chain or web causing it to
collapse just because of the landscape changing.
Questions Continued
•
•
What if a plant were destroyed, or the rainfall greatly
increases or decreases?
If a plant were destroyed in the desert than lots of things will
happen for example if a plant is destroyed then food will not be an
option for some animals because that is what the depend as their
food. Another disadvantage for plants being destroyed is that oxygen
is lost which can affect everything around it. Just as kartar said the
cactus is important because cactus is an ideal plant for the desert
because they produce more oxygen at night than other desert plants.
This is because they use a mechanism called Crassulacean( Acid
Metabolism which allows them to photosynthesize during the day
while exchanging the oxygen for carbon dioxide at night.) If the rainfall
increases some parts of the desert will start to become green for
example the Sahara desert parts are started to become green due to
the increase of rainfall and causing the animals that live in the desert
to lose their habitat. If the rainfall decreases in the desert then the
desert will become hotter than its usual temperature which may
become unbearable for some animals and causing death. The usual
amount of rain in a hot desert should be less than 10 inches per year.
Questions
•
•
•
What if other animals came in the
desert from other biomes?
Can other animals live in the desert?
Examples
1. This is a picture of an addax
who survives without water by
licking dews and other plants.
2. This is an Lapped Faced
Vulture the immense broad
wings, with widely spaced
primary feathers, are ideal for
soaring and gliding for long
periods, using few wings beats.
Human Influences
Background
Information
• There are many ways human activities can impact
the desert biome, at least where there is an
existing ecosystem. Development by mining or
residential use is one way, as would be redirecting
the limited water supplies for agricultural use
elsewhere.
• Off-road riding (for example ATV’s and dirt bikes)
can damage desert plants and pollute the soil, as
well as disrupting the activities of wildlife. The
vehicles leave tracks on the soil, which will scar
the land for decades. These tracks also kill off
vegetation. When vegetation is harmed, so are the
animals, since when vegetation decreases in
population, so does the animal population. Animals
that hide in the sand can also be harmed. For
example, the sand viper which hides so well in the
soil, can become an accidental victim of offroading mayhem.
Information Continued
• The human impact on desert biomes is that the world
used to be full of deserts, but because of humans, it is
now made into roads and houses for humans.
• Military training in deserts can also cause destruction of
plants and animals.
• The desert is very fragile in many ways, because of the
low amount of water and plants. Most plants that live in
the desert take a long time to grow. For example, the
saguaro cactus takes two centuries to grow. Once
plants are destroyed, it will take many years for them to
grow back. Since soil in the desert is held down by the
plants roots, once plants are destroyed the soil is too.
The soil will quickly erode away in the strong winds.
• Killing rodents or predators that invade farms impacts
the food chain that exists in the desert. Although it may
not appear so, most deserts support fragile ecosystems
that are easily damaged by roads, mineral refuse, or oil
contamination that can come from industries or mines.
Questions
•
What would happen if something were to
change the landscape of a desert?
•
Human influences can change the landscape of
the desert because as I mentioned before, they
participate in industrial and recreational activities which
harm the desert in many ways. For example, building
roads and residential areas, riding ATV’s or mining for
oil. Also, as my group members mentioned before, the
wild life and vegetation would get harmed because they
either die instantly or slowly because they are not used
to the new environment. Moreover, if the landscape
changes the climate will change because that
landscape has its adapted climate and this climate
would affect the animals and plants and its
surroundings.
•
Questions Continued
•
What if the temperature were to raise or lower
significantly?
•
If the temperature were to raise or lower
significantly then the humans would have confusion and
they would have to constantly have to change their way
of life if they lived in a desert surrounding. Also industrial
workers would have to put off their work because the
temperature dramatically changed and workers could
also get sick because they were not ready for this quick
temperature change. But in a long run, this would help
the desert because the desert is better off without any
human influences. If the humans do influence the
desert, they should do it in a good way by being ecofriendly, not polluting and not disrupting any plants or
animals.
Questions Continued
•
What if the developer wants to build on the land;
what if an animal becomes extinct?
•
If a developer wants to build on the land it will be bad for
the whole desert biome because the developer is influencing
the desert in bad ways by disturbing and destroying animals
and vegetation and also by polluting the area. Also if the
developers build on the land, it will be a bad influence
because animals will lose their habitats and they would have
to come into new habitats which they are not used too. If an
animal becomes extinct then the whole food chain or food web
would collapse and other animals will start to starve and
slowly all the animals will become extinct. This could also be
bad for humans because we eat some of those animals in our
daily life. For example, some people eat camel. So humans
should just leave the desert biome alone for the best.
•
Questions Continued
•
What if a plant were destroyed, or the rainfall greatly
increases or decreases?
•
If the plants were destroyed, then some animals would
not have food, but also some humans that live in the desert
area would not have food too and they could starve to death.
Also it would be harder to breath for the humans because
more plants would be destroyed and plants breath in carbon
dioxide which we breath out and let out oxygen which is what
we breath in. Also, if cactus die then that would be a huge
loss because they produce a lot of oxygen at night more than
any other plant. Furthermore, if the rainfall greatly increases or
decreases, then the humans that work or live in the desert
biome could be surprised with the weather and will have to
make necessary changes quick so they don't get harmed or
get sick. Moreover, if the rainfall dose greatly increase then a
lot of workers will have to cancel their jobs because of heavy
rainfall and it could get too hot or cold, or places could get
flooded, or plants wouldn't get enough water.
Questions
•
Are human influences destroying the
desert biome?
•
How can humans influence the desert
in a positive manner?
Examples
1. Rusty cars are left to rot in the
desert, causing wildlife and
vegetation disturbances. As
you can see, the life bear the
cars is starved of the nutrients
it needs to grow. This is
pollution which can be avoided.
2. Oil companies drill for oil in the
desert, making buildings and
other machinery which will be
left to pollute the desert.
Major Deserts
Glossary
• Crassulacean= Crassulacean acid metabolism is a special type of
photosynthesis that succulents have
• Reducing transpiration= which means when emission of water vapour
from the leaves of plants, increasing water storage and growing
during early hours and cooler seasons are the three main ways that
xerophytes stop water loss.
• Xerophytes= Plants that can survive with little water and extreme heat
• Halophyte plants= Plants grown in the water
• Rain shadow effect= is a process of how air moves up a mountain
which makes it cold and lose its ability to hold any moisture, but when
the air gets through and down the other side of the mountain the air
becomes warmer and has the ability to hold moisture again
• Mirages= Something that appears real or possible but is not.
Bibliography
• http://library.thinkquest.org/C0113340/text/impact/impact.desert.html
http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/biomes/project.cfm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_impact_do_humans_have_on_the_d
esert_biome
• http://library.thinkquest.org/C0113340/text/impact/impact.desert.html
http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/biomes/project.cfm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_impact_do_humans_have_on_the_d
esert_biome
• www.desertanimals.net
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090731-greensahara.html