The Desert

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Locations in the World
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Classifying A Desert

• Deserts are classified by their
• Elevation
• Precipitation
• Vegetation
• Soil and Mineral Conditions
• Organisms living there

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The Climate

• The average annual precipitation is between
  4-10inches
• In places like the Sahara Desert located in
  Northern Africa summer temperatures usually
  exceed 40 degrees Celsius.
• However, in the Gobi Desert located in Central
  Asia, winter temperatures drop to as low as 30
  degrees Celsius.

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Vegetation

• The desert houses many types of vegetation.
• Primarily Cacti,
• but after a rainfall flowering plants
  wildflowers do bloom for a short time.

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Survival of Vegetation

• Desert plants, like animals have to adapt to the
  extreme weather.
• The cactus is classified as a Xerophyte, this
  means that it has the ability to store water.
• Phreatophytes are plants that have adapted to
  arid environments by growing extremely long
  roots, allowing them to acquire moisture.

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Organisms
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Survival of Animals

• Animals in the desert must survive in a harsh
  environment. Adaptations are numerous in the
  desert. There are many things animals have done
  to adapt to the lack of water and the extreme
  heat.
• Jackrabbits use their large ears to radiate heat,
  to keep cool.
• Animals like the kangaroo rat, and the kit fox
  spend the majority of the day underground, and
  rely on the water found in bird seeds to hydrate
  them.
• And camel have the ability to store large amounts
  of water for long periods of time.

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PREVAILING WIND PATTERNS
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Ocean Currents
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Soil Type

• The deserts soil is composed of sand with many
  mineral deposits hidden in it. Such as, Agate,
  Amethyst, Calcite, Diamond, Jade, Halite, Quartz,
  and Opal.

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Carbon Cycle
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Nitrogen Cycle
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Phosphorus Cycle
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Primary Succession

• The first things to live in the desert, would be
  things like lichens. They would then make the
  soil suitable for grasses.

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Secondary Succession

• After grasses were established things such as
  small shrubs and cacti would begin to branch off
  of that.

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Climax Community

• Small shrubs and cacti, then set a foundation for
  the larger cacti to grow, and after vegetation
  comes animal life.

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Intraspecific and Interspecific Competition

• In the desert most competition is based on two
  things, food and water. Like mentioned before
  because water is so scarce plants and animals
  have adapted to form a solution, however animals
  still must compete for the little water that
  falls.

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The Fennec Fox

• The Fennec Fox is a carnivore, it prays on
  lizards rodents, birds and insects. It is a
  classified as a non-threatened animal, this is
  because it is so small and blends in with its
  environment.

Where the Fennec Fox lives
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The Hollow-Eyed Owl

• These are Hollow-eyed Owls.
• There are two reasons for their extinction.
• Over hunted
• They could not adapt fast enough to the
  environment, and did not migrate elsewhere.

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The Jackrabbit

• The Jackrabbit is probably one of the most common
  animals in the Desert, however there are now
  various forms of this rabbit all over the world.
  
• They had to migrate to survive, because the
  deserts were becoming over-populated with this
  species.

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Effects of Humans on The Desert

• Humans have contributed to the extinction of at
  least 3 species in the desert.
• They have ruined parts of the desert soil by
  mining for the precious minerals that are beneath
  it.

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Potential Effects of Decreased Ozone

• If the ozone continues to diminish, the
  temperatures in the desert will become
  excruciating, and rainfall will be even more
  scarce than it already is. Plants and animals
  would be forced to either adapt once again, or
  they would eventually begin to die off.