The desert biome is actually a big tourist attraction. People enjoy rock climbing, dirt biking, and hiking in the desert. Because body fat retains heat, most desert animals have an adaptation that allows them to store all their body fat in one area of their body. The camel stores all its body fat in its hump.
Facts About Desert Biome
- The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the desert biome. It covers over 300 million square miles.
- The plants that are able to grow in the desert biome store water in their stem. They normally grow spaced out so that their roots can extend and find water.
- The mulga tree has a unique adaptation that enables it to grow in the desert biome,This tree has small leaves that grow upward and act as funnels when it rains.
- Normally, moisture in the air retains heat and helps regulate temperature. Due to the fact that there is very little moisture in the air, there is nothing to retain the heat created during the day by the sun.
- In the United States, the largest desert is the Great Basin Desert.
- Due to the direction of the wind movement in these regions, the land receives dry air because the moisture is removed before the air gets to the region.
- In order for any plants to survive in the desert biome, they have to be able to collect and store what water is present.
- The Great Basin Desert is not the type of desert you would normally picture – it’s unique because it receives most of its precipitation as snow!
- There are some deserts in Antarctica that are known as cold deserts. They are considered deserts because of the small amount of vegetation that grows there.
- Some deserts are so hot that when it rains, the water evaporates in the air before ever hitting the ground.
- In terms of global wind patterns, most deserts are located within the south-eastern and north-eastern trade winds belt.
- Cacti have many adaptions to survive in the desert. Their spines protect them from being eaten by animals and their waxy outer covering keeps moisture from escaping.
- Most deserts are formed because the moisture is removed from the air over the tropical rainforests before travelling to these regions.
- The location of deserts is dependent on two factors, latitude and global wind patterns.
- Cold deserts (like in Antarctica) have very little plants and grasses. The ones they do have only grow during the summer.
- As a result, when the air gets over the mountain range, it is very dry.
- The largest desert on Earth is the Sahara Desert in Africa, This desert stretches over more than ten African countries.
- Deserts can also be created when the air they receive passes over a mountain range first.
- Most deserts are located between 15′ and 35′ latitude, both north and south of the equator.
- When the air rises to move over the mountain range, it cools, and the moisture in the air is lost as rain.
- The future for the desert biome is one that many worry about. Issues including global warming continue to cause changes to the natural pattern of weather behaviours.
- The driest desert on Earth receives on average 1 centimeter of rainfall every 5 to 20 years.
- There are already projections that claim the diversity of plants and animals in the desert biome will decrease by at least 15% over the next 50 years.
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