Desert Biome the Ecology All Over the

Desert Biome The ecology all over the world is different and the desert is an extreme environment. Deserts are found over one fifth of the earth surface. To be classified as a desert the rainfall is a criterion. The Iquique, Chile received only 0.6-inch rainfall for a twenty year period. Even in the worlds driest desert, like the Atacama Desert there is infrequent rain and it may also receive snowfall. (Bowman, 37) The most cases of rainfall is usually lesser than 50 cm for a year.

Great desert areas are the Sahara, Mexico, and other smaller deserts are found in the lower latitudes and are hot deserts. There are also cold deserts, like the desert at Utah and Nevada and some places at western Asia. There are vegetation and animal life found in the deserts that are suited to the harsh climate and the vegetation and all biomes are special. The ecology consists of both the biotic and non-biotic factors. (Thinkquest) Biotic factors include all living forms like animals, plants and even fungi and bacteria.

The other end is the abiotic, meaning the non-living things that affect living organisms. This includes the soil, water, rainfall, ponds, and generally weather and other climatic factors. These factors comprise the ecosystem of the desert. If one of these factors get changed, or in someway corrupted -- for example, the extinction of an animal could upset the entire ecosystem. (Thinkquest) Thus we have the biotic and abiotic factors, and of the abiotic factors which feature in the desert is the soil and climate.

The desert soil has nutrients but the lack of water does not make it productive and does not contain any subsoil organic matter. (University of California) Soils often have abundant nutrients because they need only water to become very productive and have little or no organic matter. The soil is sandy and has low salt concentration. 1 Mountains of the desert have large bases of minerals, and in the Central Andes, the places like Potosi, Corocoro, and farther south, in the Puna de Atacama, have great mineral wealth.

(Bowman, 62) Desert biomes are different from the rest of the world. The classification of desert biomes are based on the types of the deserts, thus hot and dry desert, where temperatures are high and the solar radiation is direct and more. Thus temperature can range from 20° C. To 25° C. some time to 49° C. Likewise at night the temperature can drop to -18° C. There is almost no rain or long rainless periods. The lowest rainfall is in the Atacama Desert of Chile and Sahara.

In such a desert the plant life consist of small shrubs and short woody trees. Leaves have designs to conserve water and are seen with thick cuticle. The cacti conserves water by making thorn like leaves and stems often do the function of leaves. (University of California) There are small animals and a few large mammals found in the desert. The animal found in the desert survives because of its ability to store water, like the camel.

There is also less shelter for animals to use as shield from the fiery sun. In warm deserts the vertebrates that are not mammals - like lizards, snakes and so on are found. More reptiles and insects dominate the system rather than mammals. The mammals except the kangaroo and the camel are small, like mice for example. (University of California) These are the biomes of this type of desert. In the cold desert there are very cold winters and snowfall and lot of rain in winter and even summer.

Such deserts are found in the Antarctic, Greenland and the Nearctic. (University of California) The mean temperature is between minus 2 to 4° C. And high temperature is between 21-26° C. In this type of desert the soil is heavy, and is salty. The sagebush is the major vegetation and the desert has deciduous plants with spiny leaves. Animals found are jack rabbits, rats, mice, antelope and squirrels. (University of California) Most deserts have a considerable amount of specialized vegetation, as well as specialized vertebrate and.