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Surely if they ask you, in which ecosystem on Earth do you think is hotter, you would answer without any doubt: in the desert! And, these peculiar ecosystems are well known for the influence of the sun's rays and their high temperatures. But what else do you know about deserts?
In Ecologista Verde we want to offer you the possibility that you know a little more about the desert or desert ecosystem, its characteristics as fauna and flora, climate, hydrography, types of deserts and various names of deserts of the world.
Characteristics of the desert ecosystem: climate, temperature, hydrography and biodiversity
The desert is one of the drier biomes that exist on our planet, due to high temperatures and low rainfall. These climatological characteristics, added to the aridity of its soil, which is mainly covered by desert sand, give rise to bare and lonely landscapes, in which hardly any species inhabit.
So that, both the fauna and the flora of these biomes is scarce and, in fact, the few species that we can find show great traits of adaptation in order to be able to survive in one of the most hostile biomes on Earth.
Hot desert climate
Deserts are distributed in zones:
- Steppe or semi-arid areas: Average rainfall of 250 to 500 mm per year. They are usually located on the limits of these biomes.
- Arid zones: its annual precipitations are between 25 and 250 mm.
- Hyper-arid zones: they are so dry or arid that they can go years without rain. The temperatures of these zones can have a very wide variation, in fact they can vary by more than 20 degrees Celsius.
Cold desert climate
The temperatures mentioned above are the most frequent in the warm ones, but in the cold ones, where there really are areas where there is no rainfall, they are also very extreme.
For example, Antarctica, the largest desert in the world, has an average temperature of about -20ºC.
Hydrography
As we have indicated before, rainfall in the desert biome is irregular and very scarce. The main reason this is so is that there are tropical anticyclones constantly. The desert areas that least suffer from this water shortage are the semi-arid or steppe areas because they are on the edges or limits of the biome, already close to other types with less presence of tropical anticyclones. Thus, in one of these areas it can rain an average amount between 150 mm and 170 mm per year. Even so, the months with the highest drought are usually more than half a year. In the rest of the inland areas, rainfall does not reach 150 mm per year and the whole year is dry or arid, with a climate more extreme than that of the edges.
There are areas in the deserts where rivers flow a few times a year and are called uadis, but they only carry water just after the scarce rainfall, which usually falls in a short time in the form of a downpour, and immediately dries up again, leaving the path of the river marked in the sand and remaining dry the rest of the year. In fact, wadis rarely reach the seas because their water is absorbed, evaporated or stagnant very quickly.
Desert ecosystems: types of deserts
Although at first it may seem that this is not the case, there are various types of deserts:
- Deserts in trade wind or tropical regions.
- Mid-latitude deserts.
- Deserts due to barriers to humid air.
- Monsoon deserts.
- Coastal deserts.
- Cold deserts or cold desert areas.
- Indlandsis, polar desert or polar desert areas.
Flora of the desert ecosystem
As we have mentioned previously the desert vegetation and flora it is scarce. This is due to low rainfall and low soil humidity, since water is a vital and essential element for the growth of species and their development and without it, many plants are unable to photosynthesize.
Therefore, vegetable species that we can find show adaptations to make up for the lack of this resource, such as physiological structures that make perspiration difficult, thus presenting a short stature and very homogeneous forms. In addition, its walls are usually fleshy, succulent and succulent in order to be able to store water as a supply and thus use it in conditions of scarcity.
Another adaptation of desert plants is found in their leaves, these being, on many occasions, small and hard, that is to say spikes and thorns, in order to avoid the loss of water that occurs due to evaporation. Conversely, its roots are large and elongated, covering as much of the surface as possible to obtain the water and nutrients it needs.
Can you think of species that have these characteristics? We present you some listings with some of them and images.
List of desert plant species
These are some of the most common desert plants, although there is much more desert flora.
- Biznaga
- Beavertail cactus
- Agave americana
- Banana Yucca
- Organ Cactus
- Desert willow
- Joshua tree
- Date palm
- Ocotillo
- Rolling machine
- Mesquite
- Nopal
- Desert sotol
In the image below you can see a desert sotol plant and in this other article we show you 25 names of desert plants.
Desert ecosystem fauna
Although, at first glance, as in the case of vegetation, the desert fauna It is quite poor, in fact there are several species of animals that have developed their habitat in this biome, being able to adapt and get used to its peculiar characteristics.
The reptiles, for example, they are some of the easiest animals to find, since they are cold-blooded animals, which allows them to combat the extreme temperatures of the desert, although it is common to find them buried in burrows or under the sand, to protect themselves from the rays of the sun. We can also find numerous insects, beetles, ants, scorpions and spiders that use the same techniques.
On the other hand, we can find small mammals such as foxes or rodents, which have light coats, to camouflage themselves in the desert sand and nocturnal habits, so that they sleep during the hottest hours and take advantage of the cooler hours of the day to look for food. In contrast to these, we can find large mammals, such as dromedaries and camels, capable of storing large amounts of water in the body to survive high temperatures. This is something that they can achieve thanks to the humps and other parts of the body, although it is not water that camels and dromedaries store most in their humps, but they mostly contain fat, as a reserve for survival in an extreme ecosystem.
Finally, we can find some birdsBoth small in size such as owlets and turtle doves, even larger ones such as vultures. The latter feed on both carrion (dead animals) and small mammals and have one of the most surprising characteristics in terms of adaptation to the desert, which is the absence of sweat glands.
Desert Animal Species List
These are some most common desert animal names, but it is true that there are many more, also taking into account whether it is a hot desert or a cold one.
- Camel
- Dromedary
- Rattlesnake
- Egyptian cobra
- Thorny devil
- Black scorpion
- Camel spider
- Mice
- Meerkats
- Coyote
- Adax
- Dingo
- Desert Fox
- Buzzard
- Vulture
- Turtledove
- Big roadrunner
- Guanaco
- Penguins
- Seals
In the image below you can see a guanaco running through the desert. If you want to know more about desert fauna, we recommend this other post about What animals are in the desert. Also, to learn more about the animals of cold deserts, we recommend this article on What animals live in the North and South Pole.
Deserts of the world
Finally, we offer a list of deserts of the world, mentioning some of the best known:
- Antarctica
- Arctic
- Sahara
- Gobi
- Sonora
- Kalahari
- Namib
- Great Sandy Desert
- Great Victoria Desert
- Atacama
- Karakum
- Negev
- Taklamakan
- Arabian desert
- Rub al-khali
- Syrian desert
- Judean Desert
- Desert and Xerophilic Mount of Arabia and Sinai
If you want to read more articles similar to Desert ecosystem: characteristics, flora and fauna, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.
