Deserts

By: Stevie T., Justin H., Kate B., and Jacob D.

GeographyA desert is a defined as a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all.

Where Deserts Are In the World

How People Influence the Desert

Humans can influence the environment of a desert through

• Constructing roads and buildings

• Travelers littering

• Adding irrigation

• Vehicles polluting air quality

Top Nine and types of deserts

Top Nine Biggest Deserts1. Antarctic Desert2. Sahara Desert3. Arabian Desert4. Gobi Desert5. Kalahari Desert6. Patagonian Desert7. Great Victoria Desert8. Syrian Desert9. Great Basin Desert

Types of Deserts• Polar Deserts• Mountain and Basin Deserts• Regs Deserts• Ergs Deserts

Mojave Desert

The Mojave desert is a hot/cold desert, meaning it is often cold in the winter and very hot in the summer. But also varies with the elevation. This also means the organisms that live in the Mojave desert have to be able to survive in extreme temperatures and climate changes.

In a single day in the mojave the climate is often very extreme reaching hot tempatures 120 degrees F and even hotter in the summer, And often much cooler when the sun goes down. In the winter, the temperature often stays below freezing at night but worms up to a comparatively comfortable temperature in the day. Because of these extremes, it is full of organisms with unique adaptations.

The Mojave desert averages less than 12 cm of precipitation a year. Some places on earth get more than that in a coupple days.

In The Mojave desert temperatures are different weather you are at the top of a peak or at a bottom of a valley

Precipitation and tempatures

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg. High 62 66 71 79 87 97 103 101 95 84 70 62Avg. low 34 38 42 47 54 62 68 67 61 51 40 33Precipitation 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.5

How do weather patterns impact environment and the organisms in

it• The climate patterns in the Mojave desert determent what animals and plants can live in the Mojave. There are some plants that are only fond in the Mojave desert because of the climate.

• Animals must adapt to the extreme climate and lack of water to survive in the Mojave desert.

• The Joshua tree is one of the most characterazistic plants of the Mojave desert and extends southward to the Mojave –Sonoran Desert.

Botanist

Abiotic Factors

Abiotic Factors of a plant in the desert are very important. Cactus take advantage of the lightest rainfall by having roots close to the soil surface. The water is stored in thick stems for the long dry summer. When water is no longer available in the summer, many desert shrubs drop there leaves but cactus continue to photosynthesize because they have fixed spines instead of leaves. The many spines of the cactus shades the stems keeping them cooler. Many Barrel Cactus lean to the south so that a minimum of body surface is exposed to the drying effect of the sun.

The cactus thorns also protect the cactus from herbivores because the thorns are as sharp as a needle that will poke the animal and it might even pierce the thing that attacks it.

Adaptations

Cactuses can store waters in side of them to make energy for themselves.

The Pear Flower comes off of the Pear Cactus.

The Welwitschia can live up to 2,000 years.

Tumbleweed is a plant that can roll over the ground.

Growth may be as little as ¼ inch per year in the Barrel Cactus.

Ten Plant Names

1. Prickly Pear Flower2. Welwitschia3. Organ Pipe Cactus4. Saguaro Cactus5. Flora Cactus6. Brittlebush7. Old Man Cactus8. Tumbleweed9. Desert Salt grass10. Barrel Cactus

Links for Pictures and the Pictures http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/sjws2/PricklyPearFlower.html Prickly pear flower http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Welwitschia-mirabilis-female.jpg Welwitschia

http://www.terragalleria.com/photo/?id=usaz33451&keyword=arizona-wildflowers&page=1 Organ Pipe Cactus

http://www.ablogtoread.com/bovet-saguaro-sportster-meteorite-watches/ Saguaro Cactus http://www.top-photogalleries.com/photos/photogallery/Cyprus_Flora_-_Cactus_flower,_Secret_Valley,_Paphos,_Cyprus_3/30/30/690/0/Yes.html

Flora Cactus http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/brittle_bush.htm Brittlebush http://www.art.com/products/p14429406-sa-i2966423/rob-tilley-old-man-cactus-desert-botanical-museum-phoenix-arizona-usa.htm

old man cactus (could not get picture) (Click link to see picture) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tumbleweed_038_.jpg Tumbleweed http://www.markrshepard.net/WeedsOfOregon/Distichlis.stricta.html Desert Salt grass http://home.howstuffworks.com/golden-barrel-cactus.htm Barrel Cactus

Zoology

Three Omnivores• Elf owls mainly eat snakes

but can eat berries when possible.

• Coyotes like meat but when necessary eat plants

• Cactus wrens eat bugs, seeds and other food that they find under rocks.

Three Carnivores• Sidewinder rattlesnakes eat

small owls and bugs if necessary.

• The giant harry scorpion eats bugs smaller than itself with the occasional small mammal

• Bobcats eat small mammals and owls it will never ever eat plants

Three herbivores• Land iguanas

eat fruits and parts of cactus.

• Mule dears eat bushes and shrubs.

• Kangaroo rats eat seeds.

Animals survive in the desert by storing water and learning ways to keep themselves cool

A decomposer found in the desert is the lichen (like-en) crust. It is a colorful layering that grows on anything from damp bark to freshly cooled lava to frozen rock. It is composed of a bond of algae and fungi that is so strong it is impossible to break and is defined as its own species.

• The water that can be used is extremely important because no water means no animals which means no life. Also the temperature underground is cool enough to sustain life in the heat.

Resources

• Google Images• Ask.com• Yahoo Answers