Desert+period+8

Prezi link:
[] **Video link:** [] **Facts/characteristics of the Biome:** There are 4 different types of desert's.


 * 1) Hot and Dry desert[[image:biomesduff/hot.jpg width="159" height="118"]]

Rain is usually very low and/or concentrated in short bursts inbetween long dry periods.The evaperation rate usually exceeds the rainfall amount. The soil is course-textured, shallow, rocky or gravely with good drainage and no ground water. Most plants are ground-hugging shrubs that can retain large amounts of water. The animals are usually small nocturnal carnivores who burrow into the ground to avoid the heat of the day and to retain greater amounts of water.
 * 1) Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria, Simpson, Gibson, Tanami
 * 2) bilby, dingo, kangaroo, quokka, rabbit-eared bandicoot, marsupial mole
 * 3) Arabian Desert
 * 4)  dromedary, dung beetle, camel, civet, Egyptian vulture, flamingo, fox, gazelle, hedgehog, arabian horse, peregrine falcon, porcupine veiled chameleon, hare, hyena, ibex, jackal, jerboa, lesser bustard, lizard, locust, oryx, sand cobra, scorpion, skink, viper
 * 5) Chihuahuan
 * 6) big free-tailed bat, coyote, diamondback rattlesnake, kangaroo rat, roadrunner, vampire bat
 * 7) Kalahari
 * 8)  gazelle, gerbil, meerkat, ground squirrel, hyena, jackal, springbok
 * 9) Mojave
 * 10) bighorn sheep, coyote, desert tortoise, jack rabbit, pupfish, sidewinder
 * 11) Monte
 * 12)  armadillo, cavy, jaguarundi, puma,tinamou, tuco-tuco
 * 13) Sahara
 * 14) addax antelope, barn owls, cape hare, dama deer, desert hedgehog, dorcas gazelle,fan-tailed raven, fennec fox,gerbi, horned viper, jackal, jerboa, mouse,Nubian bustard, ostrich,sand fox, shrew,slender mongoose,spiny-tailed lizard, spotted hyena
 * 15) Sonoran
 * 16) barn owl, big free-tailed bat, black widow spider, bobcat, chuckwallas, coati, collared peccary, desert iguuana, desert tortoise, dragonfly , elf owl, gila monster, kangaroo rat , pack rat, Mexican gray wolf , mule deer, pupfish , rattlesnake , red-tailed hawk , roadrunner , scorpion, sidewinder, tarantula , turkey vulture, wild burros
 * 17) Thar
 * 18)  dromedary, great Indian bustard, Indian spiny-tailed lizard, jackal, sandgrous

These deserts occur mostly moderatly cool to warm climates. The cold winters are followed by moderatly long, warm summers. The adverage rainfall in these areas are between 8 and 13 centimeters. The soil is fine-textured with a moderate salt content and has good drainage. Some plants have extensive root systems to take advantage of any and all rainfall. Some plants in this biome include the salt bush, buckwheat bush, black bush, rice grass, little leaf horsebush, and the black sage bush. Some of the animals have adapted abilities to survive the desert heat and the lack of water. Some toads seal themselves in a pouch and remain inactive for up it 8 months, until the rainy season arrives. Other animals include: insects, mammals (coyote and badger), amphibians (toads), birds (great horned owl, golden eagle and the bald eagle), and reptiles (lizards and snakes).
 * 1) Coastal desert[[image:biomesduff/coast1.jpg width="212" height="111"]]


 * 1) Semiarid desert[[image:biomesduff/semiarid.jpg width="159" height="100"]]

The summers are long and dry with winter bringing small amounts of rainfall. Summer temperatures range from 21 degrees to 27 degrees C. The adverage temperature in the day does not go above 38 degrees C and the evening temperature are cool, being around 10 degrees C. Cool nights help plants and animals reduce loss of moisture. In addition, condensation of dew at night may exceed rainfall amounts in some deserts. The adverage rainfall amount is between 2 degrees and 4 degrees C. The soil can range from fine and sandy to loose rock fragments and very gravely. In areas such as mountain slopes, called the upper bajada (upper slopes), the soil is shallow and rocky with good drainage. The lower bajada (lower slopes), the soil is sandy and fine-textured. Neither has any subsurface water. Some of the plants found in a semiarid desert are: Creosote bush, bur sage, white thorn, cat claw, brittle bushes, and jujube. Just some of the animals found there include: mammals such as kangaroo rats, rabbits, and skunks; insects include grasshoppers and ants; reptiles such as lizards and snakes; and birds such as burrowing owls and the California thrasher.


 * 1) Cold desert[[image:biomesduff/cold.jpg width="165" height="118"]]

These deserts are characterized with cold winters and high overall rainfall throught the winter and sometimes in the summer. They have short, moist, and moderately warm summers and long, cold winters. The mean temperature in the winter is between -2 and 4 degrees C and the mean summer temperature is 21 to 26 degrees C. The annual percipitation amount is 15cm to 26cm, with the heaviest amount falling in April or May, and sometimes in autumn. The soil is heavy, silty, and salty. Plant life is widely scattered with plant height varing between 15cm and 122cm. Most plants have spiney leaves. The most widely distributed animals are jackrabbits, kangaroo rats and mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and antelope ground squirrels. All except the jackrabbit are burrowers. Deer are only found here in the winter.

**Location of the Biome**:

**Consumers/Animals living in the biome** : The usual animal is a lizard if you think of a desert. But did you know there are also numerous of other animals there as well? There are spiders, kangaroo mice, and other non-vertibrates. The animals in a desert are usually burrowers to avoid the hot sun and to retain mositure. Most animals are on the smaller size of the scale because the larger animals have more trouble retaining body moisture and staying cool.

**Producers/Plants living in the biome:** The usual plant life in a hot and dry desert is an ocassional low shrub bush while the semiarid desert and and shade area ranging from 15% to 85%. The coastal desert is the dryest desert of them all, with the Atacama desert desert receiving an adverage of 1.5 cm a year! The cold desert has an adverage of 15-26 cm of percipitation a year. In comparision, the Southeast desert in North America gets an adverage of 26 cm a year.

** Dominant (keystone) species in the biome: ** With the little amount of rainfall in a desert, the keystone species is the bushes and cati provide most of the water for the animals in the area.

**Average Temperature Range for the biome:**
 * Hot and Dry desert- annual temperatures are 20-25 C with the extremes being 43.5-49 C
 * Semiarid desert- Summer temps are 20-27 C with the extreme maximum being 38 C and the minimum being about 10 C
 * Coastal desert- Summer temps are 13-24 C and winter temps are 5 degrees C or less
 * Cold desert- The summer temp is usually 21-26 C and the winter temp is ususally -2 - 4 degrees C

** Annual Precipiation for the biome: ** To have an area classified as a desert, there needs to be less then 10 inches (25 centimeters) of percipitation