When someone thinks about deserts, the very first thing that comes to mind is sand dunes.Deserts are barren lands that have little to no rainfall. However, arid deserts are just one of the many types of deserts that people are aware of.A desert is an area that receives less than 10 in (25 cm) of precipitation each year. Deserts cover about one-third of the surface of the Earth and are found on every continent. The location of a desert depends on the latitude and the wind patterns. Most deserts are formed due to the lack of moisture as it is removed from the air over the tropical rainforests or mountain ranges.Environmental Facts About The Desert BiomePeople tend to assume that desert regions are hot and dry and made of only sand dunes. There are actually two types of deserts. There are hot deserts as they receive their main form of precipitation from rainfall and there are cold deserts that receive their main form of precipitation from snowfall.Most hot deserts are hot and dry during the day and are quite excruciating for plant and animal life, while the temperature suddenly drops at night in these arid regions. Moisture in the air helps retain heat from the sunlight, but due to the lack of sunlight as soon as the Sun sets, the temperature drops at night. Cold deserts on the other hand are formed due to the wind blowing in these regions and the lack of moisture. These areas lose their moisture as rain over the ranges and until the rain is blown into these cold areas, the wind lacks any moisture making it dry.Plants and animals in hot and dry deserts, as well as cold deserts, have to face lots of difficulties. The extreme temperatures make it impossible for normal plants to grow in these arid regions and therefore only plants that endure the desert heat in hot deserts and the cold winters in cold deserts can grow. Even animals found in these regions have different lifestyles. Desert animals in hot deserts have the ability to store water in their bodies or substitute it by feeding on plants. Desert animals in cold winters survive in the cold weather by making holes in the ground to keep warm and they have thick fur.The largest desert on Earth is the Sahara Desert in North Africa. The Mojave Desert is a perfect example of a dry desert as the temperature in this dry desert is recorded to be the hottest in North America. The Las Vegas Valley is a part of this desert as well. Another American desert that is quite unique is the Great Basin Desert as it receives its precipitation in the form of snow. The Gobi Desert in Asia is a cold desert as it is located between mountain ranges, highlands, and grasslands. The Gobi Desert is known as a rain shadow desert.There are also some unique deserts that can be found, like semi-arid deserts which aren’t like hot and dry deserts. Semi-arid deserts have hot and dry summers but are followed by winters that have rainfall. Semi-arid deserts can be found in North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. The Kalahari Desert in southern Africa is a semi-arid desert as it receives quite a lot of rainfall. Another type of unique desert is the coastal desert which has more humidity than other deserts. Heavy fogs blow over these regions, but rainfall is rare in coastal deserts. The Atacama Desert in South America is a coastal desert.Deserts are important for the environment as they help in the formation and concentration of important minerals. Minerals like gypsum, borates, nitrates, potassium, and other salts are formed in deserts after the water evaporates due to the heat. Some deserts in China, the United States, and Namibia have minerals like gold, bauxite, and diamonds. Desert regions are also important as they hold almost 70% of the oil reserves in the world. Besides mining, deserts are also an important part of archaeological findings as the arid conditions are perfect to preserve human artifacts and remains.Fun Facts About The Desert BiomeThe desert biome is quite fascinating as the difference in temperature over a region can have drastic effects on its flora and fauna.Desert animals tend to be mostly nocturnal, as they sleep during the day and come out to hunt during the night when the temperature is much more tolerable in hot and dry desert regions. Plants on the other hand don’t grow much taller as the desert biome can only provide shelter to smaller animals. Shrubs and smaller trees help to provide shade to animals in harsh weather conditions.Some deserts have such high temperatures that during rainfall, the water evaporates into the air before it can even hit the ground. Due to this, plants in these regions tend to store their water in their roots or stems and animals either store it in their bodies or eat things that contain high levels of water. Plants that store water in their stems are known as succulents. Some deserts also have plants that have taproots that venture 30 ft (9.1 m) underground in order to find water. The giant saguaro cactus that grows in a hot desert can live up to 200 years. The elf owl is an animal that is nocturnal and during the day will stay inside a cactus and come out during the night to hunt. Camels are known to live in hot deserts and can survive without water for a week and consume about 30 gal (113 L) of water in less than 15 minutes. The reason they can survive is that they store water in their bodies.As most deserts are dry, strong winds grind the pebbles and sand into a fine dust. Desert storms are quite dangerous as the swirling clouds of dust can choke anyone caught in a storm. These storms take place after a thunderstorm in the desert regions as the dry, cool wind starts to whip up sand and dust at a startling speed. Storms in the Gobi Desert can reach almost Beijing, 1000 mi (1609 km) away.Deserts cover almost 20% of the world’s land and are growing day by day. This process is known as desertification. There are several factors that are leading to this, mainly human activities. The Sahara Desert, which is the world’s largest hot desert, is expanding at the rate of 30 mi (48.2 km) per year.Cold Desert Biome FactsCold deserts tend to have moist and short, warm summers while the winters are fairly long and cold. These deserts are mostly found in polar regions like the Antarctic, Arctic, and Greenland.During the winter, polar deserts receive a lot of snowfall as well as rainfall. Surviving in a cold desert is quite difficult as it is dry and windy due to which the evaporation rate is quite high. This type of desert also lacks moisture, which makes it easier for ultraviolet light to reach the ground easily. Even though a cold desert isn’t hot, the weather can be quite dehydrating.Desert plants in this region are typically 5.9-48 in (15-122 cm) in height depending on the area they grow in. Most desert plants shed their leaves and have spiny leaves. The plants that can be found in cold deserts are bunchgrass, shad scale, lichen, and camel’s thorn. The Great Basin Desert contains shrubs and brush plants that cover the whole region. The Namib Desert in southeastern Africa has a unique two-leaved shrub known as welwitschia. This shrub produces colorful cones and grows about 4.9-6.5 ft (1.5-2 m) in height.The population of animals in these deserts is scattered and depends on the area. Jackrabbits, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and antelope ground squirrels are some of the animals found here. Deer are also found in these areas as they have thick fur coats enabling them to endure the cold. They migrate during the summer season as they shed their fur. Animals that dig holes in the ground or seek shade under trees during the winter and summer are jackrabbits, gazelles, and viper snakes. Other than that many animals like badgers, kit foxes, and coyotes also inhabit cold deserts.Sahara Desert Biome FactsThe Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert, located in northern Africa. It is one of the hottest deserts with harsh climatic conditions. The word ‘Sahara’ is derived from Arabic which means ‘desert’. This desert covers almost 11 countries including Egypt, Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morrocco, Niger, Sudan, Western Sahara, and Tunisia.The average temperature throughout the year is almost 86 F (30 C). This desert receives little to no rainfall. Even though the Sahara has an arid environment, the temperature drops quite quickly at night. Also, due to a lack of humidity, this desert has cool nights. The desert is covered in sand dunes, salt flats, gravel plains, plateaus, and even mountains where snow has been surprisingly found. Even though the climate is quite harsh, around 2.5 million people inhabit this desert. People of Berber or Arabic roots can be found here with permanent settlements around areas that have oases. Some communities have a nomadic lifestyle and they travel from place to place with their cattle. Camels are the main mode of transport to travel in the desert because they can handle the heat and can carry heavy loads. The trade routes of the Sahara were quite famous at one points for helping trade between Ancient African countries. The minerals that were found in this desert were transported through camel caravans and there is even a record that states that copper, salt, and gold were exchanged using camels between Egypt and Sudan.Sahara has one of the harshest climatic conditions and the flora and fauna found here have adapted to this extreme climate. The plants that grow in the Sahara Desert are cacti, date palms, and acacia trees. These plants store water in their deep taproots. The shallow roots help these plants to store the water from the very little rain that this desert receives and also help to store water underground. The arid climate makes it quite difficult for hot deserts like this to have the proper humidity necessary for the growth of plants. Desert plants, therefore, conserve water in their roots and bodies. The desert animals that can be seen here are camels, hyenas, jackals, goats, cheetahs, gazelles, ostriches, Fennec foxes, and different varieties of snakes like the extremely venomous sand viper and scorpions like the deathstalker scorpion.
When someone thinks about deserts, the very first thing that comes to mind is sand dunes.
