By: Hannah S.

Zoology of a Dessert

What is a Dessert?A dessert is a Ecosystem. It is home to many animals. This ecosystem usually homes animals that are used to warmth. Colder desserts don’t have as many animals. Desserts have plants and animals like any other ecosystem but it is warmer. Desserts are a very important ecosystem.

Animals Cold-blooded MammalsSnakesInsectsLizard

Kangaroo RatKit Fox

Rattl

e Sn

ake

Kang

aroo

Rat

HabitatAnimals like mice live in the spines of cacti to protect

themselves from predators like hawks and coyotes.Animals can live in the sand. The dessert has a to of

sand and there is a to of places that you can live because of the large supply of sand.

Dead plants can also provide a place to live. Bugs can live under dead plants. Small animals like mice can live under dead plants as well.

Animals can live in caves. Animals like foxes and coyotes can live in caves. Caves are very dark and so the animals that live in there can sleep in the day and hunt at night.

Biotic and AbioticBioticBiotic means that anything living things.

AbioticAbiotic means anything that is non living.

Animals can use plants that are living for food.

Dead plants can provide shelter t any small animal like a mouse. They can also provide a home for bugs if need.

Anther place animals can live is in the sand. Sand is not living and therefore is abiotic.

FactsIn the Eritrean costal dessert in Africa animals

like the gazelles, skinks, geckos, and the dikdiks are seen by many people because of the fact that they roam freely around the area of Djibouti.

Fewer animals live in cold dessert because of the fact that it is colder then most desserts and that they need warmth to live. Animals that don’t need warmth to live can live there but some animals can’t withstand the cold.

Animals that live in Desserts are usually cold-blooded animals.

SourcesI only know a few links I don’t know were I found some all the sources but I used the links on the wiki.

 "KDE Santa Barbara." Kids Do Ecology. Web. 02 Dec. 2010. <http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/index.html#terrestrial>. Then I went to the Dessert section of the site.

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