DesertA arid biome with little rainfall and life.

Also Deserts.

Sandy Deserts

Cold deserts.

Annual Rainfall

Deserts are classified if they have less than 50 centimeters of rainfall per year.

Rain usually evaporates very quickly, making some have less than 1.5 cm of rain fall per year.

TemperatureIn the hottest regions, it can go over 45 °C.

The average annual temperature is 20-25 °C.

The average Cold desert temperature in summer is 13-24 °C and the average winter temperature are 5 °C and below.

Biodiversity and Productivity

Deserts have the lowest productivity of any biome on earth.

There are many different life form in deserts, from hundreds of different species of specialized plant life and many specialized invertebrates and vertebrates, although there are not many large mammals that live there. The dominant animals of warm deserts are mostly reptiles.

In cold deserts, there can be snow leopards, sheep, yaks, and numerous medical plants.

AdaptationsMany animals only are active during dawn and dusk or completely nocturnal to avoid heat.

Plant life like cactus absorb moist from the air and some have extremely deep roots to fund water beneath the soil.

Some smaller desert animals burrow below the surface of the soil or sand to escape the high temperatures at the desert surface.

Some birds do urohydrosis to cool themselves.

Many desert animals are paler in color to camouflage and take less heat from the environment.

Some animals sleep away the hottest seasons and hibernate in cold season.

Desert creatures derive water directly from plants, particularly succulent ones, such as cactus.

Camel have humps that help them survive long periods without water. They also have broad feet to walk across sand and long eyelashes so sand wouldn't get in their eyes.

Adaptations continued.Mostly mammals live in cold deserts because they can maintain temperature.

Plants in cold deserts are deciduous.

Deer inhabit some of these areas only in winter, having grown a thick fur coat, and then migrate in the summer season, after shedding this coat.

Small mammals such as kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, antelope ground squirrels, badger, kit fox and coyote, as well as several lizards, all dig burrows to wait out the cold weather.

Threats to Desert BiomesOne of the biggest threats to deserts is city development.

Another human threat is mining.

Global warming is also a threat. It could melt the cold deserts and make it a lot harder to support in hot deserts.

Grazing also could cause damage belay they can trample and kill desert wildlife.

Invasive plants could threaten native plants like the non-nutritive weeds.

Off road vehicles are another threat.