Overview

This shares the basics of our ecosystem. That includes climate, rainfall, soil, biodiversity, and qualities and characteristics.

Climate

There is less than 250 mm of rainfall per year (10 in). It is arid and dusty. Arid means not having a lot of rain. A desert cannot support life that requires more than 200 ml of water a day. It usually loses more water via evaporation than is gained in precipitation. Due to differences in temperature deserts and polar climates are not the same. Deserts do not have much vegetation.

Soil

The soil tends to be very dry and can range from very coarse to dense and compact. There is a very low salt concentration in the soil. There are plenty of nutrients, but little water, which causes very little vegetation. The vegetation that is there is clumpy.

Qualities and Characteristics

Deserts cover 1/5 of the world’s surface. It's defined as having less than 50 cm of precipitation of water yearly. There are several types of desert, the stereotypical sandy desert, the rocky desert, and the cold, icy desert. Species are typically highly specialized to live in this environment. The desert that we are simulating are similar to the Sonoran and Mojave Desert in its environment.

Rainfall

There is low rainfall or no rainfall just depending on what desert it is. In general though, there is less than 10 inches of rain a year.

Biodiversity

Many plants that have spines provide protection in a arid environment because of their low surface area and hard outer coating causing a reduce in transpiration. During the daytime, insects of all sorts stay in the shade and away from the heat. The same follows for jack rabbits and many other animals in the desert. They tend to stay away from the intense heat of sand hill deserts. Some examples of these animals are grasshoppers, kangaroo rats, rabbits, skunks, ants, lizards, snakes, and owls. Most plants in the desert have root systems close to the surface and not too deep down so that they can take advantage of the very few rain showers. The thick stems of these plants allow them to take in extensive amounts of water to save for further use. Some examples include salt bush, rice grass, black sage and chrysothamnus. Some animals like toads seal themselves in burrows with sticky secretions and remain inactive for up to 9 months until it rains again. Some insects lay eggs that remain dormant until the

environmental conditions are suitable for hatching. 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).