Desert Ecosystem

There are deserts on every continent in the world except for Europe and Antarctica. This is because temperatures there are either too cool or moist, although there are some deserts that are cold in temperature--any land that receives less than 10 inches of water each year is considered a desert. Deserts are extremely dry and hot in most cases; the heat is also due to the fact that there are not many clouds over the desert, so the sun shines directly on the ground and plants. This means that the plants and animals living there must find a way to stay hydrated, and most of the organisms do this by storing water in their bodies or plant parts.

The 'ground' of the desert is mainly made up of sand, but there are some desert ecosystem environments that contain pebbles and rocks as well. Over time, due to the sun and wind, some of the sand turns into dunes, and there are sands of many different colors in the desert as well. Instead of seeing tan or brown sand in these environments, you may find that there are beautiful shades of orange and red sand for you to bottle up and take home.

Of course, cacti live in the desert ecosystem, since these plants are able to thrive on the water they have stored. When the 'legs' of the plant are broken, you can even get water out of them. There are also a number of animals that live in the desert ecosystem, including the hairy scorpion, which you'll want to steer clear from when you're in the desert. There are also different types of ants that live in this environment, such as the harvester ants that gather and store seeds for dryer seasons, and honeypot ants--some of the ants in the colony eat large amounts of sugar that swells their abdomen. When they can no longer move, the rest of the ants in the colony feed off of this sugar. There are also a number of reptiles that live in the desert. Rattlesnakes are quite common in desert areas, and the frilled lizard will change its whole appearance to appear more threatening and ward off predators. A wide frill appears around the lizards face to make it bigger and scarier. The shingleback lizard also have a great defense mechanism; it has a tail that is shaped the same way as its head, so when a predator bites what it thinks is the head, the lizard will bite back!

Want to know more about the desert ecosystem? Check out www.nationalgeographic.com to learn more about these exotic animals and plants.