Ecology 6by:Querico A. Marquez and Patricia Louise S. Regala

What is a desert?

• an area where the rainfall is less than 25 cm (10 in) per year.

• areas of the world with very low rainfall, and which also experience extremes of heat and cold.

Characteristics of a desert :

• area of land that receives very little rain

• so dry• few plants and

animals grow in them• areas of extremes• temperatures may be

hot during the day and cold at night

What are deserts generally made of?

• almost all sand and rocks• oasis- spot that has water, where plants and

animals mostly live

Name Location Approx. Area

sq mi sq km

Atacama Chile 50,000 129,000

Dasht- Kavir Iran 100,000 259,000

Gibson Australia 85,000 220,000

Gobi Mongolia and China 500,000 1,295,000

Great Sandy Australia 150,000 388,000

Great Victoria Australia 250,000 647,000

Kalahari Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa 120,000 310,000

Kara Kum Turkmenistan 140,000 363,000

Kyzyl Kum Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan 110,000 285,000

Namib Namibia 50,000 129,000

Nefud Saudi Arabia 50,000 129,000

Rub al Khali Saudi Arabia 250,000 647,000

DESERTS OF THE WORLD

Name Location Approx. Area

sq mi sq km

SaharaAlgeria, Chad, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, and Tunisia 3,500,000 9,000,000

Simpson Australia 60,000 155,000

Sonoran Mexico and the United States 120,000 310,000

Syrian Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia 100,000 259,000

Taklimakan China 120,000 311,000

Thar India and Pakistan 80,000 207,000

continuation …

The four major types of desert :

• Cool Coastal Desert• Cold Winter Desert• Polar Desert• Subtropical Desert

Dry Tropical Climate :

• Temp Range 16 degrees Celsius• Annual Precipitation: 0.25 cm. All months less

than 0.25 cm ( 0.1 in )• Latitude Range: 15 degrees to 25 degrees N

and S• Global Range: Southwestern United States and

northern Mexico, Argentina. North Africa, south Africa, central part of Australia.

Organisms found in deserts :

• plants like cactus• animals like camels, pack rats, horned

toads and rattle snakes

Means of survival of organisms in the desert :

• Existence of oasis• Most animals sleep by day & hunt for food by

night.• Cactus is a source of food and water for animals

and plants.

Desert Trivia :

• driest desert - Atacama Desert, in Chile, is the driest place on earth. No rain had fallen from 1570-1971.

• largest desert - The Sahara, in Chile, is about the same size as the entire United States.

• Sahara’s past - Millions of years ago it was covered in grasslands & forests. Cave paintings confirm that 4,000 years ago running rivers and animal life existed.

Some pictures of deserts :

More pictures of deserts :

• Granite Mountain in the Great Basin Desert

• Zabriskie Point in Death Valley California.

( continuation )

• Death Valley California

• kind of cold desert

What is a chaparral?

An ecological community especially of Southern California composed of a dense impenetrable thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees.

Characteristics of a chaparral :

• forest-like growth of stunted trees and hard leaved- shrubs covering mountain slopes in warm, arid regions of the world

• thick growth of bush and small trees that occur mostly in southern California

• In California, includes such plants as chamise, manzanita, scrub oak and wild lilac.

• Most chaparral plants have small, hard leaves that do not fall off in winter.

Organisms found in chaparral :

• deer• foxes

• quail

• rabbits

• chipmunks

• Scrub Jays

• Acorn Woodpecker

Chaparral Climate:

• In the winter, the temperature range is between 30 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Chaparrals can be found 30-50 degrees N and 30-40 degrees S latitudes.

Mediterranean Climate

• ave. annual temp- 59 degrees Fahrenheit• highest temp- 91 degrees Fahrenheit• lowest temp- 37 degrees Fahrenheit• ave. temp for winter- 46 degrees Fahrenheit• ave. temp for summer- 71 degrees Fahrenheit• ave. temp for spring- 56 degrees Fahrenheit• ave. temp for fall- 65 degrees Fahrenheit

References:

• Young People’s Encyclopedia• The Children’s Pictorial Book of

Knowledge• Junior Encyclopedia• The Merriam Webster Dictionary• Two-Can First Encyclopedia• The World Book Encyclopedia• Collier’s Encyclopedia

The End