essay on desert animals

Desert Habitat

Deserts are the driest places on Earth—they get fewer than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain a year. Some deserts may get a lot of rain all at once. Then it might not rain again for months—or even years!

Shivering in the Desert

Many deserts were formed 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Some are superhot in the day. In fact the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 134°F (56.6°C) in California and Nevada's Death Valley in 1913. Even though many deserts can reach temperatures of well over 100°F (37.8°C) during the day in summer, they can get cold at night. Why? In most places, clouds and water vapor hold in heat, sort of like a blanket. But deserts don’t have enough clouds and water vapor to do this.

Some deserts are always cold—in fact the biggest desert in the world is Antarctica! Even though it’s covered in snow and ice, it rarely rains or snows in Antarctica, which makes it a desert.

Famous Deserts

Deserts can be huge spaces. For instance, the entire continental United States could almost fit inside Africa’s Sahara desert. The giant Gobi desert in Asia stretches across parts of China and Mongolia . North America has large deserts, too, including the Mojave in California and parts of Nevada , Arizona , and Utah . The Sonoran is a large desert located in Mexico and parts of the Southwestern United States. More than one-fifth of the continent of Australia is covered in desert. The Great Victoria Desert is the largest on the continent.

Look Closely

It may seem like nothing can live in a desert because it’s so dry. But most deserts are full of life, with plants and animals that have adapted to survive without much water. Some plants, like cacti, store enough water in their stems to last until the next rain. Other plants, like mesquite grass, have very small leaves that curl up in the daytime to conserve the water they have. Some desert plants sprout and bloom only when it rains.

Desert animals also have adaptations that help them survive without much water. Kangaroo rats in the Sonoran Desert get water from the seeds they eat. Some carnivores, such as desert foxes, get enough liquid from their prey.

Another trick? Most desert animals stay underground or beneath shady rocks during the day. Many of them come out to hunt for food at night, when it’s cool.

If you plan to explore a desert, be sure to pack water, sunscreen, and protective clothing. After all, you’re not a kangaroo rat!

Deserts 101

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How Desert Animals Thrive in the Hottest Regions of the World

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Key Takeaways

• Deserts are home to a variety of wildlife that have adapted to their environment, demonstrating resilience and adaptability.
• Unique adaptations enable desert mammals, invertebrates, reptiles, birds and rodents to survive in extreme conditions.
• Conservation efforts are essential for protecting desert ecosystems from threats such as climate change & habitat loss.

Deserts, often seen as barren and lifeless, are actually home to a surprising variety of animals. From iconic dromedary camels to bizarre scorpions and sidewinder rattlesnakes in the Kalahari Desert, desert animals have evolved with remarkable adaptations.

These habitats and the unique relationships between desert plants and their pollinators reveal amazing behaviors that ensure survival in these extreme environments. How do animals survive the scarce water and extreme heat of the desert? What secrets do these resilient creatures hold in their fight against the odds?

Let's explore the incredible adaptations that enable life in the harshest of environments.

Desert Biomes and Their Unique Wildlife

Desert animal adaptations: surviving extreme conditions, 3 iconic desert mammals, 3 bizarre desert invertebrates, 3 stealthy desert reptiles, 3 remarkable desert birds, 3 desert rodents, 2 synergistic plant-animal relationships, desert ecosystem threats and conservation efforts.

Deserts — defined as areas receiving less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of precipitation annually — can take various forms, such as hot, cold or coastal biomes .

Hot regions like the Sahara, Kalahari and Arabian Deserts are characterized by scorching temperatures and vast sand dunes. (Unfortunately for "Dune" fans, the only sandworms in these regions are tiny creatures and nowhere near surfable.)

Cold deserts, such as the Gobi Desert, are found in polar regions with very little precipitation in the form of rain or snow. (Yes, even deserts can be cold.) Despite these inhospitable conditions, desert habitats host a remarkable array of animal life, each uniquely adapted to their specific environment, showcasing incredible diversity.

In the Sonoran Desert, for instance, the desert bighorn sheep effortlessly traverses rugged terrain with its sure-footed climbing abilities , putting even the best mountain goats to shame. Meanwhile, the Arabian sand gazelle gracefully roams the dunes of the Middle East, and the desert cottontail and antelope jackrabbit inhabit the windblown deserts of southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

These animals, along with countless others, demonstrate the phenomenon of convergent evolution, where different species develop similar characteristics or abilities due to their shared environment. For instance, kangaroo rats have evolved to survive with minimal water thanks to their super-efficient kidneys.

And let's not forget the bizarre and wonderful: The thorny devil of Australia can drink water by simply touching it with its skin.

Deserts present numerous challenges for their inhabitants, including extreme temperatures, scarce water sources and limited food availability. To survive in these harsh conditions, many have developed large ears to dissipate heat, light-colored fur coats to reflect sunlight, hairy paws for walking on hot sand and other evolutionary advantages.

Additionally, nocturnal behavior or living in burrows helps to avoid the intense daytime heat. Think of it as their own version of extreme desert survival tactics — minus the reality TV cameras.

Consider the Arizona bark scorpion , for instance. Native to the southwestern United States, this small but potent arachnid has venom strong enough to immobilize its prey, so it can conserve energy after delivering that initial sting instead of tiring itself with a long battle.

On the flip side, there's the wild Bactrian camel, native to the deserts of Central Asia. This resilient camel species has adapted to thrive on sparse vegetation and can go for long periods without water, thanks to its ability to efficiently conserve moisture and tolerate dehydration.

No desert animals list would be complete without these three. From giant ears to regulate body temperature to strategic fat reservoirs, these creatures have figured out how to live in the desert as comfortably as they can.

With bushy eyebrows that would make any makeup artist jealous, double-layered eyelashes to keep out the sand and nostrils that can close completely, camels are well-equipped to withstand sandstorms and intense heat.

Their humps — often mistaken as water tanks — are actually reservoirs of fat, providing a source of energy and water when needed. It’s like having a built-in snack pack!

Fennec Foxes

Another well-known desert dweller is the fennec fox , a small mammal native to North Africa and the Middle East. The cute animal easily recognizable by its oversized ears, which not only provide extra-sensitive hearing but also help regulate body heat.

The fox's sandy-colored fur keeps it warm during cold nights in the Sahara Desert and other parts of Northern Africa, and a set of hairy paws provides grip and protection from the hot sand.

Then there's the sand cat. These little furballs have developed a range of adaptations to survive in their arid environment. Their brown fur provides excellent camouflage, and the thick patch of fur on their paws allows them to walk on hot sand without burning their feet — like nature’s version of UGG boots.

While you may not be thrilled to run into one of these in a desert habitat, the very things that make them scary also make them fascinating.

The Deathstalker scorpion, found in North Africa and the Middle East, measures approximately 2.36 inches (6 centimeters) in length but packs a punch with its venom powerful enough to paralyze prey.

Not only does this scorpion have a fearsome reputation, but its venom is also being studied for potential medical applications, including gene therapy for cancer.

Camel spiders — often the stuff of nightmares thanks to their appearance in viral internet stories — are relatively harmless to humans.

These eight-legged desert dwellers play an essential role in desert ecosystems by preying on insects and small vertebrates. With large, powerful mouthparts and four pairs of legs, they capture and consume their prey with ease.

The Namib Desert beetle, on the other hand, has developed specialized wing cases to collect tiny droplets of water from early morning fog. It’s like having a built-in water cooler on your back.

Desert reptiles have evolved unique characteristics and adaptations to cope with their arid environments.

The sidewinder rattlesnake — also known as the horned rattlesnake, due to the horn-like scales that protrude from above its eyes — is a venomous snake found in deserts like the Atacama Desert.

Its distinctive sidewinding movement allows it to maintain only two points of contact with the ground at any given time, avoiding overheating from excessive contact with the hot desert sand.

Meanwhile, the Mojave Desert tortoise and the Sonoran Desert tortoise are shy reptiles found in North America’s deserts. The Mojave Desert tortoise , in particular, is known to inhabit burrows and rock shelters, spending up to 95 percent of its time in these cool, protected areas.

Then there's the Gila monster, a venomous lizard found in the southwestern United States, which survives on limited water sources by deriving moisture from its prey. Who needs a hydration pack when you’ve got this trick up your sleeve?

Other desert animals include a number of bird species, each uniquely adapted to their harsh environments.

Roadrunners

The roadrunner , found in the southwestern United States, is known for its elongated tail and distinctive cry, as well as its ability to thrive in arid environments. (It's not just a clever and lightning-fast cartoon character.)

The lappet-faced vulture — the largest vulture in Africa — plays a vital role in desert ecosystems as a scavenger, using its large bill to tear apart even tough skin, tendons and bone, making carrion available for smaller vultures and other scavengers.

The elf owl, the smallest owl alive , is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. With wings spanning only eleven inches, this tiny predator is able to silently capture its prey while in flight.

Desert rodents, such as pocket mice, kangaroo rats, jerboas and antelope squirrels, have evolved to thrive in arid environments.

Pocket Mice

Pocket mice are adept desert dwellers known for their efficient water use and seed-based diet. They play a crucial role in seed dispersal across desert habitats, contributing to the ecosystem's balance despite the challenges of extreme temperatures and sparse resources.

Jerboas are another intriguing desert rodent species, easily recognized by their sandy-colored coat that provides excellent camouflage and their hopping locomotion, much like tiny kangaroos. If there were an Olympic event for hopping through the animal kingdom, jerboas would definitely take the gold.

Antelope squirrels, on the other hand, are the opportunists of the desert. These omnivores will eat anything from plant material to spoiled animal carcasses, demonstrating the ultimate “waste not, want not” philosophy.

Their varied diet showcases their adaptability and resourcefulness in an environment where food can be scarce.

In desert ecosystems, intricate relationships exist between plants and their pollinators, such as the mutually beneficial bond between yucca moths and yucca plants.

Yucca Moths and Yucca Plants

Yucca moths, the sole pollinators of yucca plants, have specialized appendages around their mouths that they use to transport pollen from one yucca plant to another.

In return, the yucca plants provide shelter and food for the yucca moth larvae, creating a win-win situation. It's like a perfect roommate scenario where everyone does their chores and no one hogs the bathroom.

Desert Bees and Sunflowers

Consider desert bees, such as solitary digger bees (genus Anthophora), which are vital pollinators for desert sunflowers ( Geraea canescens ) in Joshua Tree and other desert environments.

These bees are solitary, nesting in burrows they dig in the sandy desert soil. They collect pollen primarily from desert sunflowers, using it as a food source for their larvae. As they forage for pollen, they inadvertently transfer pollen between flowers, facilitating the sunflowers' reproduction.

Desert sunflowers, also known as desert gold, are well adapted to the arid conditions of desert habitats. They have deep taproots that allow them to access water deep underground, essential for surviving droughts. Their bright yellow flowers bloom profusely after rain, attracting a variety of pollinators, including desert bees, butterflies and beetles.

Despite the resilience and adaptability of desert wildlife, insects and plants, these desert regions face numerous threats.

For example, the Arabian oryx, once extinct in the wild, has been reintroduced through dedicated conservation efforts , such as those by the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary and breeding programs in captivity. However, it still faces the significant hazard of illegal hunting.

Similarly, the Mojave Desert tortoise , which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists as critically endangered, has experienced substantial habitat loss due to urban development, off-road vehicle use and military activities.

Conservation measures, like those spearheaded by the IUCN and other organizations, are imperative for safeguarding desert ecosystems and their inhabitants. The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species helps monitor the status of desert species and prioritize conservation actions.

Protected areas, habitat restoration projects and legal protections against poaching and habitat destruction are critical components of these efforts.

In fact, the creation of the Mojave Desert Tortoise Conservation Area has been crucial in providing a safe haven for the tortoise, while captive breeding and reintroduction programs have helped bolster their population.

We updated this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it's fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.

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Deserts, explained

Deserts may seem lifeless, but in fact many species have evolved special ways to survive in the harsh environments.

Far from being barren wastelands, deserts are biologically rich habitats with a vast array of animals and plants that have adapted to the harsh conditions there. Some deserts are among the planet's last remaining areas of total wilderness. Yet more than one billion people, one-sixth of the Earth's population, actually live in desert regions.

What is a desert?

Deserts cover more than one-fifth of the Earth's land area, and they are found on every continent. A place that receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain per year is considered a desert. Deserts are part of a wider class of regions called drylands. These areas exist under a “moisture deficit,” which means they can frequently lose more moisture through evaporation than they receive from annual precipitation.

Despite the common conceptions of deserts as hot, there are cold deserts as well. The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa's Sahara , reaches temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day. But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the polar deserts of the Antarctic and Arctic, which are the world's largest . Others are mountainous. Only about 20 percent of deserts are covered by sand .

The driest deserts, such as Chile's Atacama Desert, have parts that receive less than .08 inches (2 mm) of precipitation a year. Such environments are so harsh and otherworldly that scientists have even studied them for clues about life on Mars . On the other hand, every few years, an unusually rainy period can produce "super blooms," where even the Atacama becomes blanketed in wildflowers .

Desert animals and plants

Desert animals have evolved ways to help them keep cool and use less water. Camels can go for weeks without water , and their nostrils and eyelashes can form a barrier against sand. Many desert animals, such as the fennec fox , are nocturnal, coming out to hunt only when the brutal sun has descended. Some animals, like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States, spend much of their time underground. Most desert birds are nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food. And among insects, the Namibian desert beetle can harvest fog from the air for water . Because of their very special adaptations, desert animals are extremely vulnerable to changes in their habitat.

Desert plants may have to go without fresh water for years at a time. Some plants have adapted to the arid climate by growing long roots that tap water from deep underground. Other plants, such as cacti, have special means of storing and conserving water.

Deserts, land use, and climate change

Some of the world's semi-arid regions are turning into desert at an alarming rate. This process, known as desertification, is not caused by drought , but usually arises from deforestation and the demands of human populations that settle on the semi-arid lands. The pounding of the soil by the hooves of livestock in ranching, for example, may degrade the soil and encourage erosion by wind and water. In northern China, growing urbanization, which left much of the land unprotected against wind erosion and the buildup of sediment from the surrounding desert, created a desertification problem, prompting the government to build a " great green wall " as a hedge against encroaching desert.

In existing deserts, some species are in peril because of climate change . Global warming threatens to change the ecology of deserts : Higher temperatures may produce more wildfires that alter desert landscapes by eliminating slow-growing trees and shrubs and replacing them with fast-growing grasses.

Many desert plants can live for hundreds of years. But in California, the iconic Joshua tree—the oldest found was 1,000 years old— may not survive a hotter climate , scientists warn. If they don't survive, that could affect species such as the yucca moth, which lays its eggs inside the Joshua tree flower.

Desert bird species could also be in danger from climate change, as heat waves lead to lethal dehydration .

Paradoxically, the effort to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by expanding solar energy has also created some tensions for desert habitats. In the Mojave, the 2013 arrival of the Ivanpah solar thermal plant created concerns about how the facility would affect threatened desert tortoises , and conservationists are working to ensure solar energy projects like these can coexist with wildlife .

Other land use changes also threaten to degrade desert habitats. The downsizing of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument poses a threat to some of the 660 bee species that live in the area, while the prospect of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico could disconnect a third of 346 native wildlife species from 50 percent or more of their range that lies south of the border, including the desert bighorn sheep .

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Desert Ecosystem Essay

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An ecosystem can be described as an environment that is biological and includes all living organisms that could be found in that area. It also includes physical components, which are nonliving, in the area. Examples include the air, sunlight, water and soil. It also describes how the biological organisms interact with these nonliving things in their habitat. Therefore, a desert ecosystem can simply be described as living organisms in a desert together with how they interact with their desert environment.

This ecosystem is present in most parts of the world. It can as well be found in the United State of America, especially North America. These deserts are mostly found between the east of Sierra Mandrel Oriental and the mostly Rocky Mountains. There is also the Transverse, Peninsular Ranges and Sierra Nevada that are majorly due to the western rain shadow. To cut the chase, there are about 3 greatest deserts in North America.

Chihuahuan Desert covers Texas, Mexico, Arizona and New Mexico and is about 140,000 sq miles. Sonoran Desert covers California, Mexico and Arizona and is approximately 120,000 sq miles. Mojave Desert covers Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona and is about 22,000 sq miles (Defenders, 2007). Others include Alvord Desert in the County of Harney south-eastern parts of Oregon, Amargosa in Nevada County of Nye and Baja in California.

Desert climate could be defined as one that does not stand a chance of being classified as polar climate. It is thus characterized by very low amounts of precipitation which is always not enough to enable the proper blossoming of vegetation and hence the term arid climate. Precipitation in desert areas would mostly be less than 250mm each year.

Although some area might experience more than 250 mm of precipitation, these areas would end up losing more in form of vapor and hence end up still retaining their desert nature. The mean temperature varies from an average of 18 0 C for hot deserts to between 0 and -3 0 C for cold deserts. Additionally, these desert environments would always have an annual precipitation

The type of vegetation in this ecosystem has drastically been made to adapt to these harsh climatic conditions. Therefore, these many plants have ended up thriving in these conditions. Such an example is the famous cactus called saguaro which could be found mostly in the Sonoran desert.

Other cactus plants include prickly pear organ pipe and many others. Shrubs are also found in these places for example the desert sunflower in the Baja California. Xeric shrubs can also be found in these ecological regions. They however create some varied associations that are based on conditions of the soil and the general elevation. Therefore to summaries, these desert ecosystems would normally have shrubs and cactus forming the major part of their vegetation.

Just like any other place, there would be animals that are specially adapted to these desert conditions. Snakes and lizards form the first batch of wildlife that is adapted to these harsh climatic conditions. This is due to their ability to survive scarce water conditions due to their thick hardy skin or sometimes spiny to prevent water loss.

Some of the other animals in the desert include the Mexican gray wolf or the famously called el lobo in the Sonaran desert (Elora, 2003). Other wildlife in this desert is the mountain lion, horned owl and the all too famous rattlesnake. Most of the animals in these hot places are usually buff colored or a bit light gray. This is usually so as to provide adequate amount of camouflage. It also acts as a form of preventing absorption of light. Most of these animals could as well be found in other North American Deserts.

A typical food chain in the ecosystem includes the shrubs or cactus acting as the autotrophs or producers. In deserts like the Baja desert, the major consumer of this vegetation is the Mule deer.

The deer along with other herbivores like the Desert Bighorn sheep forms the second level of the food chain. Unfortunately for them, they become the major target of other omnivores and carnivores like the mountain lion and the coyote. However, it all comes down to the decomposers like bacteria who form the fourth level in the food chain (Amsheri, 2005).

These organisms feed on dead plants and animals eventually returning the nutrients to the soil where. An example of a prey/Predator relationship that exists in these deserts is the one between the Big Horn sheep and the Kit fox in the Sonoran Desert. Another relationship is between the coyotes and other small animals in the Baja desert like the rats.

Environmental issues in play in these deserts include the threat from the human population. This is from game hunting and overgrazing in the little remaining shrubs in the desert. This is especially true in the California desert of Baja. Other environmental issues affecting this desert include the continuing expansion of the desert due to increasingly higher global temperatures.

Amsheri, A. (2005). Desert Food Web.

Defenders. (2007). Desert Habitat Facts. Web.

Elora, P. (2003). Sonoran Desert . Web.

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17 Animals Amazingly Adapted to Thrive in Deserts

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The animals that make the desert their home must adapt not only to the lack of water but to the temperature fluctuations that swing from very hot to very cold.

Animals that survive these conditions do so in a variety of ways—whether it's with large ears to radiate heat or thick coats to prevent sunburn and withstand freezing temperatures. Some are nocturnal, helping them avoid the heat of the day, and all of them make the most of very little water.

Here's a look at 17 incredible animals that survive and thrive in the desert.

African Bullfrog

Oxford Scientific / Getty Images

It’s not often you can find a frog that can thrive in deserts and even mountains with elevations of 4,000 feet. The second-largest frog on the African continent, the African bullfrog, has its ways of beating the heat, including burying itself until the weather improves.

During hot, dry weather, the bullfrog can burrow into the ground and lie dormant in estivation. It sloughs off the skin, forming a cocoon to hold in the body’s moisture and absorb water stored in the bladder. It can lie in this hibernation-like state for long periods—even longer than a year—during which it can lose as much as 38% of its body weight.

When the rains arrive, the African bullfrog returns to the surface to feed and breed. It can eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth, from birds to rodents to other frogs.

Costa's Hummingbird

Ed Reschke / Getty Images

The Costa's hummingbird can escape the heat of the hottest summer days by migrating to chaparral or scrub habitats. Meanwhile, when overnight temperatures plummet, the hummingbird enters a state of torpor, slowing its heart rate from its usual 500 to 900 beats per minute to just 50, thus conserving energy.

The little bird gets all the water it needs from the nectar and insects it feeds on, though it doesn't mind taking a sip when a water source is available.

Caitlin Wood / EyeEm / Getty Images

This adorable sand cat is practically a cartoon character—small, cute, and equipped with superpowers for living in the desert. Found in northern Africa and central and southwest Asia, this is the only felid that lives in a sandy desert habitat.

The sand cat's ears are big and set low, which helps protect it from windblown sand and locate prey hiding underground. Its thickly furred paws help it cope with the extremes of hot and cold sand. Indeed, the sand cat can tolerate temperatures from 23 degrees to 126 degrees Fahrenheit. To escape the extreme temperatures, sand cats take up residence in burrows abandoned by foxes or rodents, enlarging them as needed with their powerful but blunt claws.

The cats are active during the day in winter and are nocturnal during the summer.

Arabian Oryx

Nimit Virdi / Getty Images

This herbivore has a white coat to reflect the sunlight of the day, while its dark legs help absorb heat during cold desert mornings. It can sense rain over long distances and can find fresh grasses and plants, and will even eat roots when no other forage is available. It feeds during dawn and late afternoon, resting in shaded areas during the midday heat.

As for water, the Arabian oryx can go for days and sometimes even weeks without a significant drink. It gets its water from the plants it eats.

Arabian Wolf

Shankar S. / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

The Arabian wolf is a subspecies of gray wolf that has adapted to live in impressively harsh desert conditions. This 40-pound wolf has a long coat in winter to insulate it against freezing temperatures. While it has a shorter coat in the summer, the longer fur remains along its back to help protect against the heat of the sun.

The wolf also has extra-large ears to help disperse body heat. To escape the most extreme temperatures, it will dig deep dens and rest in the shade.

The Arabian wolf lives a mostly solitary life and preys on anything from small birds, reptiles, and hares to larger animals like gazelles and ibexes. It cannot go entirely without water, so it sticks to gravel plains and the fringes of the desert.

Desert Hedgehog

PhotoStock-Israel / Getty Images

One of the cutest residents of any desert is the desert hedgehog, found in Africa and the Middle East. Adapted to live in desert and arid scrub habitats, this species of is one of the smallest hedgehogs, reaching only about five to nine inches long. It survives the heat by escaping into its burrow during the day and hunting at night.

The desert hedgehog eats everything from insects and invertebrates to bird eggs, snakes, and scorpions. It can go for long periods without water because it stays hydrated through its prey.

Snow Leopard

James L. Amos / Getty Images

Perhaps one of the most celebrated inhabitants of the Gobi desert, among other areas of inner Asia, is the snow leopard. Its high-altitude home is one of the toughest places to survive, but the snow leopard does so with grace. Its large chest allows it to get enough oxygen from thin mountain air, while its large nasal cavities help warm the air before it hits the lungs.

The leopard's massive paws and extra-long tail help it navigate the rocky terrain with excellent balance, and its long, thick coat keeps it warm in freezing temperatures.

This tiny kangaroolike rodent is native to desert climes across North Africa, China, and Mongolia. Jerboas inhabit deserts across the world, from the Sahara, the hottest, to the Gobi, one of the coldest. At either extreme, you can find a member of the Jerboa family happily burrowing beneath the ground.

These burrowing systems help the jerboa escape extreme temperatures. It has short forearms and well-built hind legs made for digging and folds of skin that can close off its nostrils to sand.

This little creature also has specialized hairs to keep sand from getting in its ears. Its long back legs allow it to travel rapidly using minimal energy. Jerboas can get all the water they need from the vegetation and insects they eat. In fact, in laboratory studies, jerboas have lived off of only dry seeds for up to three years.

Sonoran Pronghorn

Zahm Gary / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Pronghorn, the fastest land animal in North America, can be found across the continent. However, Sonoran pronghorns have adapted to live in a particularly challenging environment. They can eat and digest plants that other herbivores won’t touch, including dry grasses and even cactuses. They have teeth with particularly high crowns to handle abrasive foods and have a four-part stomach to extract as many nutrients as possible.

Their hollow hairs trap heat to insulate them against freezing night temperatures, but they can also raise patches of hair to release trapped heat and cool off on hot days. Though amazingly adapted for desert environments, more frequent and prolonged droughts due to climate change may be more than the species can handle. Only around 200 Sonoran pronghorns remain in the wild in the United States.

Jerome Ang Chua Photography / Getty Images

Being well-adapted to the demanding habitat, meerkats have become iconic figures of the Kalahari desert. They get a good deal of water from their diets of insects, snakes, scorpions, roots, and tubers.

Meerkats make use of burrow systems to escape predators and harsh weather. They can close their ears to keep sand out and have a third eyelid to protect their eyes. The dark coloration around their eyes further protects them by reducing the glare of the sun, so they have a better chance of spotting danger.

Kalahari Lions

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The Kalahari lion is a subspecies of African lion specially adapted to its desert environment. Physically, it has longer legs and leaner bodies, and males have much darker manes. Kalahari lions have more endurance, and they need it. Living in smaller groups, these lions lay claim to larger territories and dine on smaller prey, from antelope to porcupines to birds.

Kalahari lions have a stronger resistance to thirst; they can go for two weeks without drinking water, relying just on prey to meet their moisture needs. They cool down their blood by panting and sweating through the pads of their paws.

Couch's Spadefoot Toad

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This little toad has adapted better to desert conditions than any other amphibian in North America. Couch's spadefoot toad survives by doing, well, mostly nothing. It enters a state of estivation while waiting for the rainy season. The Couch's spadefoot toad typically estivates for eight to 10 months per year, but it can stay in its burrow for twice that long if conditions are especially dry.

When rain does appear, the toads head straight for newly formed ponds. They can lay eggs within the first two days of reappearing, and tadpoles can hatch within 15 to 36 hours. It can take as little as nine days for the tadpoles to transform. The rush is vital because, in the desert, ponds dry up fast. Adults have to eat as many insects as they can before digging a burrow to nap for the next eight to 10 months.

Desert Bighorn Sheep

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An icon of the rugged landscape of the western United States, the bighorn sheep can go for weeks without visiting a permanent water source, getting the water it needs from food and rainwater found in small rock puddles. It also uses its horns to split open barrel cacti and eat the watery flesh.

When green grasses are available, bighorn sheep don’t need to drink at all. However, during summer, they need to drink water every few days. They can tolerate losing up to 20% of their body weight in water and bounce back quickly from dehydration. By being able to survive for long periods away from a steady source of water, they can also better avoid predators.

Desert bighorn sheep can survive slight body temperature fluctuations, unlike many other mammals, which helps them thrive in such extreme heat and cold.

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An owl is a creature you might not expect to see in a desert, but the elf owl is quite at home in hot, sandy environments. These tiny owls are minuscule, standing only about five inches tall, and yet they're tough enough to capture and dine on scorpions, among other prey.

Found in riparian areas of the Sonoran desert in the western U.S., elf owls escape the heat of the day by resting in tree cavities or holes in saguaro cacti left abandoned by woodpeckers. They hunt at night, using their exceptional low-light vision. By getting enough water from the food they consume, they can survive in areas that entirely lack surface water sources.

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Bats are an important part of any ecosystem, but not just any bat can handle the tough environment of a desert. Found in western North America and Cuba, the pallid bat prefers dry habitats of grassland and scrub desert. It has even been spotted in Death Valley.

The pallid bat is unique among bat species because it can control its body temperature, matching its internal temperature with its environment during winter hibernation and rest to conserve energy.

Also unique among bats is this species' preference for catching prey on the ground; it seldom catches prey in midair, as other insectivorous bats do. Instead, it will swoop down on prey, capture it, and carry it to a more convenient location to eat. Though some desert dwellers get all the water they need from their prey, the pallid bat does need a water source nearby.

Ring-Tailed Cat

The ring-tailed cat, or ringtail, is a foxlike nocturnal animal about the size of a cat with a tail similar to raccoons. This animal is most closely related to the infamous "trash panda" and has been nicknamed the "miner's cat" because it's often found in rocky outcroppings and mine shafts.

It can scale anything from cliffs to cacti, rotating its hind feet 180 degrees for excellent grip with its semi-retractable claws. Their climbing repertoire also includes parkour-type ricocheting between distant objects and stemming up tight spaces.

The species makes its home in the western U.S., including in Arizona's Sonoran desert. As is wise when living in harsh conditions, the ringtail will eat just about anything, from fruit to insects to reptiles to small mammals, and it is active at night to escape the midday sun. It can survive without water if its diet provides enough moisture, but it prefers living near a water source.

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The fennec fox lives in the deserts of North Africa. This nocturnal omnivore has enormous ears, which can be as large as one-quarter of its entire body length. These help the animals cool down by releasing heat from the blood that circulates through them. It also has a thick fur coat that keeps it warm on frigid nights, and the fur covering its paws protects it from the hot sand while also helping it to keep from sinking into the soft sand.

The fennec fox eats plants, eggs, insects, and pretty much anything else it finds. It can survive without access to free-standing water, thanks in part to kidneys adapted to minimize water loss.

What Are the Most Common Characteristics of Desert Animals?

Animals can vary tremendously depending on where they live. In the desert, wildlife is best and most commonly equipped with special water needs and hair that serves as insulation from the cold and protection from the heat. That, and more desert-specific adaptations, are below.

• Long eyelashes, thick eyebrows, and hairy ears help keep sand and sun out of animals' eyes and ears.
• Nocturnality means animals can be at their most active when it's cool out rather than during the hottest part of the day.
• Desert animals have plenty of hair, and they need it to keep them warm on cold nights and protect their skin from the scalding sun.
• Their feet are designed to dig burrows and sit on top, not sink into, sand. This could mean wide-set or hairy feet.
• Desert animals don't need as much water, either because they can take what they need from their own organs or from the plants and animals they eat.

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" Paraechinus Aethiopicus (Desert Hedgehog) ". Animal Diversity Web .

" Snow Leopard Facts ". Snow Leopard Trust .

" The Long-Eared Jerboa Stands—And Hops—In A Class Of Its Own ". World Wildlife Fund .

" Antilocapra Americana Sonoriensis (Sonoran Pronghorn) ". Animal Diversity Web .

" Sonoran Pronghorn - Cabeza Prieta - U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service ". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ross-Gillespie, Adin, and Ashleigh S. Griffin. " Meerkats ". Current Biology , vol 17, no. 12, 2007, pp. R442-R443. Elsevier BV , doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.045

Eloff, F. C. " THE LIFE OF THE KALAHARI LION (PANTHERA LEO VERNAYI) ". Transactions Of The Royal Society Of South Africa , vol 53, no. 2, 1998, pp. 267-269. Informa UK Limited , doi:10.1080/00359199809520393

" Couch’s Spadefoot (Scaphiopus Couchi) ". Desertmuseum.Org .

" Desert Bighorn Sheep (U.S. National Park Service) ". Nps.Gov .

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" Antrozous Pallidus (Pallid Bat) ". Animal Diversity Web .

" Ring-Tailed Cat - Los Padres Forestwatch ". Los Padres Forestwatch .

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Desert Animals Summary

Desert Animals Summary will throw light on the life of desert animals. Moreover, it explains how they use different unique ways for adapting to the harsh atmosphere in the deserts . It begins by telling us how deserts are the driest places on earth. The animals living in deserts have to develop their capacity to adapt. For instance, gerbils spend the hottest part of the day in their underground burrows. Similarly, to get water in their mouth, the darkling beetles catch the drops of moisture on their lights and lift them into the air. Moreover, the Rocky deserts of America have ‘Rattle Snake’. Another animal living in the desert is a mongoose. Further, there are camels who have long shaggy coats for keeping warm in winter and shorter, tidier coats in the summer for keeping cool. Further, it explains their ability to survive for many days without food and water.

Desert Animals Summary in English  

The chapter begins by telling us how deserts are the driest places on earth. There are certain types of animals which survive in the desert. They make use of different places methods for coping up with the harsh climate of the desert.

Desert Animals summary begins by telling us about Gerbils. In order to survive the hottest part of the day, they stay in the underground burrows to cool down. Similarly, Darkling beetles catch drops of moisture on their legs.

They do this to lift the legs in the air till the drops of water start to trickle down into their mouths. On the other hand, Camels obtain water from desert plants. Further, it tells us about snakes which live in the desert.

The Rocky Deserts of America have frightening rattler. It can strike with a lightning speed. The snake can avoid people if it can but it coils when anyone threatens it in order to bite. These snakes feed on a variety of prey comprising of mice.

Further, it tells us how snakes do not eat more than once a week. However, some of them like pythons are able to survive for a year or more without eating anything. Furthermore, other animals present in the desert are mongooses.

They prefer hunting together. However, they have to be cautious of dangerous predators. The food they eat is beetles and other small creatures. In order to warn each other, they use a special alarm call if they look at something suspicious.

After that, you will learn how female mongooses have their kittens at around the same time. A whole group in a den raises them. Moreover, they are quite famous snake-killers. Because of their fast reactions, they are able to dodge each time a snake strikes.

As a result, the snake gets tired so the mongoose quickly dives in for a kill. Another animal which lives in the desert is the camel. The man was able to tame them a long time ago. Further, camel gets water from the desert plants.

They are able to survive without drinking water for up to ten months. Moreover, a thirsty camel is able to drink as much as thirty gallons of water within just ten minutes. There are two types of camels. They are dromedary and bacteria.

The former ones have one hump while the latter has two. Their humps are filled with fat which assists them in surviving for a lot of days without any food as well as water.

Conclusion of Desert Animals Summary

Desert Animals Summary explains to us the lifestyle of the animals living in the desert. Moreover, it enables us to understand how they are able to survive the harsh conditions in the desert. All in all, it teaches us how we must also learn how to adjust according to the situations in our life.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Desert biome.

Deserts are extremely dry environments that are home to well-adapted plants and animals. The main types of deserts include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts.

Biology, Ecology, Geography, Physical Geography

Organ Pipe Cactus

The sun illuminates organ pipe cactus set against a dry rock mountain face.

Walter Meayers Edwards

The desert biome covers about one-fifth of Earth’s surface. This biome has a layer of soil that can either be sandy, gravelly, or stony, depending on the type of desert . Deserts usually get at most 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rainfall a year, and the organisms that live in deserts are adapted to this extremely dry climate .

Plants in deserts have adaptations to conserve water. For example, cacti have enlarged stems to store water, as well as spines to protect these water reserves from thirsty animals. Animals such as the black-tailed jackrabbit ( Lepus californicus ) are also adapted to life in the desert: Their extra-long ears help to transfer out excess heat from their body into the air.

The four main types of desert include hot and dry deserts , semi- arid deserts , coastal deserts , and cold deserts . In hot and dry deserts , also known as arid deserts , the temperatures are warm and dry year-round. Some famous arid deserts include the Sahara Desert that covers much of the African continent and the Mojave Desert located in the southwest of the United States. Semi- arid deserts are a bit cooler than hot and dry deserts . The long, dry summers in semi- arid deserts are followed by winters with some rain. Semi- arid deserts are found in North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia. Coastal deserts are a bit more humid than other types of deserts . Although heavy fogs blow in from the coast, rainfall is still rare. The Atacama Desert of Chile in South America is an example of a coastal desert . Cold deserts are still dry but have extremely low temperatures in comparison to the other types of deserts . The Antarctic is an example of a cold desert .

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Deserts as Ecosystems and Why They Need Protecting

What is a Desert?

Deserts conjure up specific ideas about topography: typically, that they are dry and sandy dunes or rock, or a mixture of both. But deserts are far more than this and there are multiple types. How we define the desert biome are not about the types of rock, or the amount of sand, or even the temperature because there are both cold and hot deserts. The simple explanation is that deserts are topographic landscapes that receive little precipitation in a typical year. The threshold is 10 inches, or 25cm. But more than simply having low rainfall, a desert is “arid”. This means a high rate of water loss through plant reclamation (called transpiration) and through evaporation. These two aspects are combined into something called evapotranspiration. This is the amount of water that the landscape would lose when available (1) . For deserts, evapotranspiration ratio exceeds average annual rainfall by anything from 2:1 to 33:1. The higher the ratio, the less available moisture there is. The coarse nature of the soil means most moisture seeps through the top soil rapidly.

Furthermore, what precipitation a desert does experience is erratic. The average rainfall is just that. A desert may receive far more than the “average” in one year and not experience any rainfall the year before and the year after. Deserts will differ depending on their climate and location and their overall aridity can influence many things, not least of all the ecology, food chain, plant and animal types. High evaporation leaves behind higher salt levels, affecting further which plants can grow and the individual size and the numbers of herbivores that may feed on them and, in turn, carnivores. Some experience vast temperature fluctuations, especially hot deserts which may reach unbearable heat during the day and extreme cold at night (2) . This is because the rock and sand absorb heat during the day and releases it at night. There may also be an extreme variation between warm and cool seasons, including extreme winds and storms due to the mixing of cold and warm air.

Types of Desert

There are four broad types of desert: coastal, cold, hot & dry, and semi-arid.

Coastal Deserts

These are generally hospitable and don't have the extreme temperature fluctuation that other types experience. Life is more abundant here, the soil less acidic, and tend to be arid due to adjacent topography such as mountain ranges or lakes and waterway networks that draw off most of the precipitation that they would otherwise experience (4) . Coastal deserts experience a brief winter of moderate average temperatures of 5�C/41�F for winter while summer typical reaches an average of between a mild 13�C/55�F to warmer 24�C/75�F. The precipitation is lower, and this type of desert is better at retaining what little moisture it harnesses - on average around 5 inches or 13cm annually.

What isn't drawn off by mountains drains away from the porous soil to find its way into waterways a little farther away. An example of the coastal desert is the Namib.

Cold Deserts

Not the first thing that comes to mind when we think about deserts but located in the most extreme latitudes, they fall into two broad types:

• A long way from coastal areas and in a cold zone, receiving low precipitation
• In proximity to mountain ranges which draw away precipitation that might otherwise have created tundra or plains

Its annual precipitation falls as snow which may sometimes remain on the ground until the summer before it melts. If the temperatures don't rise sufficiently, it may remain for over a year. Their winters are extremely cold, typically between -2 and 4C (28.4F to 39.2F). Summer temperatures are pleasant and surprisingly warm, typically on average between 21 and 26C which is between 69 and 79F. Precipitation is relative and although fall and winter receives most of it, it is generally lower than other landscape types and it is insufficient to support too much life - hence why they are considered deserts.

An example of a cold desert is the Gobi (5) . Some feel that Antarctica's interior is a desert due to low precipitation.

Hot & Dry Deserts

What we think of as the “typical” desert, usually indicated with the sand dunes of North Africa and the Middle East, isn't quite as empty, hot or bleak as we might think. While they do have hot summers (43-48C or 110-120F), the annual average is a much cooler 20-25C or 68-77F. Night temperatures are an average 10C or 50F. They also experience cold winters, a season in which the low levels of precipitation usually fall to -18C. Summer night-time temperatures drop considerably which is why the annual averages are so extreme. Surface albedo is high - heat acquired during the day is radiated at night. This type experiences no more than 11” (28cm) of rainfall annually while many experience even less than that. Evidence from The Atacama Desert, for example, suggests that some areas have never experienced precipitation. Their barren appearance is broken by the occasional tree; shade and coverage is rare, and this is where you are most likely to see sand dunes.

The Sahara is a hot and dry desert (6) .

Semi-Arid Deserts

Semi-arid deserts have, by definition, higher levels of precipitation compared to the other three types featured here, although not a great deal more. They are also not limited by temperature. They are milder generally, but they can exist farther to the north, meaning there are colder and warmer types. Daytime and nighttime temperatures are not as extreme, and neither are the divisions between summer and winter. There is some debate over whether they should be considered deserts at all but a type of plain or “steppe”. However, others argue that the other topographical features - of low precipitation (1-2” or 2-4cm annually) and high evapotranspiration leave them firmly in the desert category. Examples of colder semi-arid deserts include the Nearctic zones which incorporate Newfoundland and Greenland. Warmer examples are the Sagebrush of Montana and the Great Basin, and much of Australia's Outback (7) . Summer average temperatures are between 21 and 27C while rarely going above 38C as the hot & dry types of desert often do.

A Brief History of the Use, Study, and Conservation, of Deserts

In antiquity.

Deserts, despite a reputation in some quarters as a barren and useless wasteland or as problems to be solved, have been a way of life for many different peoples. Ancient Egyptian society began along the fertile banks of the River Nile which is buffered on both sides by hot & dry desert (8) which they saw as vital to their culture. Some attribute the arid environment of the Egyptian interior to the development of their complex culture and especially their rituals and cults surrounding death. It is particularly believed that the desiccated nature of bodies as found in the desert dying of exposure or from natural causes provided inspiration for their experiments and developments leading to the mummification process. Certainly, the dry environment of western Egypt where the pyramids are located would have been the perfect environment to prevent the sort of cadaver degradation seen in biomes with higher precipitation and humidity. Similar theories have been expressed about the development of mummification in the South American culture of the Chinchorro who lived in the Atacama Desert, quite possibly the driest desert on the planet (9) .

Even before this, the deserts have provided useful environments for resources and hunter-gathering. Various tribes of Native Americans made their homes in the deserts of North and Central America, as did the Kalahari Bushmen and Australian aborigines. Deserts are ideal for tracking animals and provide enough food in the right volumes to support hunter-gathering communities. It's no wonder we find so much archaeological remains in deserts. Firstly, they were well-used by people of the ancient past and secondly, the lack of humidity increases the chances of survival of organic material. Other cultures quickly adopted semi-nomadic lifestyle and took livestock with them on long journeys across the desert, learning locations of water and living off the animal produce, using animal skins as tents for shelter, and utilizing other parts of the animal such as milk, bones, and meat. Even today, peoples such as the Bedouin still roam the deep deserts of the planet although their lifestyle is more semi-nomadic (10) .

The Age of Exploration to the Modern Age

Successive civilizations harnessed the resources available in deserts for millennia, from mining to harnessing water supplies from springs into irrigation to grow crops, and stone, deserts have generally been seen as a resource. It wasn't until the early Middle Ages and the explorations the likes of Marco Polo that we begin to see wonder and observation in the desert biomes, particularly the Gobi (11) . This was part of the Silk Road, the trade route between the Far East and Europe which was vitally important to the Eastern Roman Empire and the Alexander's Greek Empire before it. By Marco Polo's time, the journey was well-established, but his writing was the first volume. Polo and his father were the first westerners to visit China's modern capital. He was famously appointed to the Chinese Royal Court. Today, Marco Polo is one of the world's most famous early explorers, inspiring the likes of Christoper Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan.

It would take several hundred years and the travels of Charles Montagu Doughty before any more important works were to come; his two-volume book Travels in Arabia's Deserts was published in 1888. He would later prove to be one of the most inspirational early travel writers to the modern age (12) . The work included many observations about deserts and their uses, functions, and the sense of wonder. It is valued as much for its vivid descriptions and beautiful writing as it is for its content. Slightly later Antoine de Saint-Exupéry utilized the new transport of flight to bring a new dynamic to travel over deserts; a plane crash in the Sahara almost killed him but he was found by Bedouins (13) . His travels in the Arabian deserts were extensive, as were those of Gertrude Bell - one of history's most famous female explorers. Yet her work could not hold a candle to the phenomenal work of Freya Stark (14) who published 20 books featuring the deserts of the Middle East. Other important figures in the early 20 th century include naturalist Uwe George who lived in several deserts for part of his life and poet Robert Frost who also explored them.

Eremology: Preservation of Deserts as Ecologies and Cultures

Until the early-mid 20 th century, interests in deserts was one purely of exploration and travel, as highlighted in the previous section. The birth of the science of eremology (the study of the desert biome) began in the mid-20 th century and with the dawning of the understanding of such environmental concepts as human geography, ecology, and, of course, conservation. It had been widely known thanks to various travel volumes that deserts were anything but lifeless wastes. One of the earliest remits of the United Nations was conservation. A growing problem in the 1960s concerning such issues as pollution and public health led to the development of a number of environmental standards and conservation issues for the assembly of world powers. UNESCO now has a chairperson dedicated to Eremology, such is the importance of the preservation of the desert biome for cultural and ecological reasons; as discussed previously, various peoples have lived in deserts for millennia and it remains an important part. This role has been in place since 1994. Today, researchers into the desert biome understand the importance of their conservation for these reasons, but also for biodiversity (15) and the unique biological makeup of such landscapes. Many species that live and thrive in desert environments do not exist in other biomes.

Yet eremology is also the study of how deserts are formed. As well as preserving the deserts that we have, it is also dedicated to ensuring that human activity such as climate change, agricultural practices, intensive resource use and other activity does not create deserts in other landscapes, ecosystems and biomes. The UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) (16) now has a delicate balancing act between preservation and holding back desertification.

The Academic, Functional, and Ecological Importance of Deserts

Deserts as rich archaeological sources.

Some of our greatest archaeological finds have come from desert environments. As with anaerobic conditions of wetlands where organic material is cut off from microbes, such material survives in deserts due to the lack of moisture and bacteria that can eventually break it down. This is the reason for the survival of many pre-dynastic Ancient Egyptian bodies from shallow graves in the desert. Without the low humidity and desiccation, they are unlikely to have survived so well (17, p60) . These bodies predate the mummification process and therefore, no embalming fluid or removal of organs that degrade quickly as seen in the later industrial process of the complex society. The same is true with the mummies of the Chinchorro peoples of the Atacama (a cold desert). What is most remarkable about these mummies is that they predate the Egyptian society by some 2,000 years and they used some of the same techniques at times (9) .

But the archaeology of deserts is about far more than simply the preservation of artefacts and their improved chances of survival. Various archaeological disciplines examine other areas of the desert.

• Desert Phenomenology / Experiential Archaeology : This is an archaeological approach that seeks to understand how people live in the deserts, their life experiences, and how they perceive their local environment(s). It includes their sensory experiences of day-to-day living
• Desert economy : Deserts have always been vital for resources and economy. Sand and stone have been used to build structures where wood is sparse as is the case with Ancient Egypt. But they are also sources of precious metal and gem mining
• Water : Deserts are areas of low precipitation and low humidity which seems in direct conflict to the requirement of water for all living things. It's a great source of examining technologies from the simple to the complex, of acquiring, harnessing, storing and preserving water and its supply. But more than that - what importance (practical or spiritual) do those people place on water?
• Deserts landscape archaeology and human geography : Particularly of the routes crossing deserts and the links between cultures within them, at the borders of deserts, and further afield. The study of routes can include migrations of people, when and how they move, the logistics of movements and regular pathways such as the Silk Road

Water engineering and mechanics are also of interest to archaeologists of desert areas. It's an interesting area of study that shows both human ingenuity and human potential for self-destruction. The irrigation of Mesopotamia during the first civilizations is one of the most remarkable feats of both. In the first instance, filtering water from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers to the desert interior allowed for the building of enormous cities. The region, despite having lush valleys around and between the rivers, had much lower precipitation than Egypt which relied on annual Nile flooding (18) . Yet the irrigation that allowed for the civilization to develop was also its downfall as over-irrigation led to consistent crop failure as water evaporated, leaving behind salts that would eventually saturate the land (19) .

Desert Ecology and Biodiversity

The reputation of deserts as cold and lifeless is unfounded and it has arguably led to desert biomes being ignored in research literature compared to others (20) . Many certainly seem bereft of life, certainly during the day in summer in hot deserts when temperatures are potentially scorching, and winter in some cold deserts where subzero temperatures make life difficult. However, they are abundant with both flora and fauna. What is so great about deserts as biomes, is their unique biological profile. Species exist in these environments that simply do not appear elsewhere. The Mojave Desert is a case in point; it's one of the harshest environments on the planet with a humidity level that rarely goes higher than 40%, yet it maintains abundant biodiversity throughout the seemingly barren topography (21) . All species have adapted to live in this harsh environment and many are protected because of their geographical limitations and delicate ecological requirements of coping with the high temperatures and dry environment.

Typical botany include succulents such as cacti which do not have leaves like other species, but spines to protect the fleshy body of chloroplasts adapted to store water, and shallow roots to quickly absorb the little moisture that makes it into the topsoil before evaporating away or soaking through. Similar specialization is also true of fauna which have high water retention, do not have the capability to perspire, and tend to be cold-blooded and small. Larger animals and mammals are rare although this is not always the case.

• Kangaroos, for example, which live in the hot desert climate of Australia are warm-blooded mammals and must find shelter during the hottest part of the day to avoid overheating. They have, however, developed a great defense mechanism against extreme heat in that they lick their bodies and the saliva cools the blood (22)
• Camels survive well in deserts because of their high water retention and survive quite happily in temperatures up to 48C / 120F.

These are two rare examples of both warm-blooded and larger animals that live in hot desert environments.

But what about cold deserts? They have received less attention than their hotter or semi-arid counterparts. We do understand that as they are in the extreme latitudes, that means most cold deserts tend to experience periods (months) of continual dark in the winter and periods of continual sunshine in the summer. This too has an impact on local biodiversity. Like their hotter counterparts, plants must be drought resistant. But succulents do not survive in these environments because of the cold. The most common type of plant in cold deserts are grasses and they form in clumps on rocks and in areas where the little moisture is most abundant. Shrubs occur in some places and the types of plant you might see on scrubland, but this is rare. Trees are also rare with only a handful of species such as the camel thorn acacia in the Gobi (23) and the pistachio tree which grows in the cold deserts of Iran.

Animals in cold deserts are warm-blooded and larger than their hot desert counterparts. Typical examples include types of deer and antelope present in most cold deserts, sheep and goats likewise, and in South America llamas and alpacas. As far as carnivores are concerned, this is the realm of the wolf, the snow leopard, and jackals, depending on where in the world the desert is located. Small mammals are much more abundant and cold blooded reptiles are less abundant. In fact, scorpions appear in just one cold desert - the Iranian Desert.

Deserts as Climate Indicators

Desert is one biome type that researchers and conservationists do not want to expand all the while ensuring that the deserts we presently have do not disappear. The major reason for this is that desert is of low agricultural quality, low biodiversity, and an extreme environment. Climate change presents a risk of desertification of present marginal landscapes. We know this occurs from paleoenvironmental data (24) . Many of our deserts contain the remnants of ancient lakes, indicated by former water channels and preserved biotic and abiotic materials indicative of previous presence of water. As deserts are the most extreme environments on the planet, they are prone to the most change. Radiation is intense - both in terms of how much deserts receive and how much they reflect back into the environment. The expansion of desert can directly impact global average temperatures further, increasing water evaporation in adjacent areas. Even though the plant and animal species that exist in hot deserts are well-adapted to those environments, we know from studies that such organisms are treading a fine line over environmental tolerance; some are even at their limits, according to the IPCC (25) .

Both The Sahara and The Namib are extremely hot deserts and in recent years have experienced some of the hottest temperatures to date. Pakistan and Iran have also experienced record dry spells and high temperatures in the last decade. Even semi-arid desert climates are experiencing an increase in hot and dry spells, becoming more parched and experiencing wildfires in areas where scrub, brush and tree cover is more abundant. California, for example, has always experienced summer wildfires but the season for the fires is getting longer with the increased drought the state is experiencing. Continued drought, lowering precipitation and a dropping of the water table means plants cannot grow as abundantly. This creates a high risk of expanding desertification. The risks are highest in the 50�S-50�N range which is the latitudes within which the hottest and driest desert climates presently are (26) . Evidence demonstrates that the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula alone show increased water vapor feedback, much higher sensitivity, and increased sensitivity in deserts to greenhouse gas emissions. Simply, deserts become hotter and drier during a warming climate with wider implications for the warming climate. That makes this type of biome one of the most useful types for understanding and tracking climate change now and for the future.

Desert Resources

As well as biodiversity and their cultural significance, deserts are also useful economically due to their unique geological profiles or their environmental formation processes. The desert biome is one of the most important. There are 15 mineral deposit types on our planet and 13 of them are found in deserts. This makes the desert an important place for mineral resources and for local and global economy. The reason this is the case is how water leaches through the ground or through evaporation so quickly that mineral deposits are left behind. We discussed the problem with irrigation in Mesopotamia in the archaeology section where increased salt deposits made agriculture more difficult. This is a similar but natural process and it leads to the formation of large metal deposits in particular. Typical mineral resources found in desert regions (both hot and cold) include salt and borates, and gypsum. Borates occurred in high density in the Great Basin Desert here in the US. From there, borate was taken to Death Valley to the emerging railroads and all over the country (27) . This special kind of salt is used to manufacture glass, enamel and other ceramics, and in the pharmaceutical and agrichemical industries. All of it was mined from the dried beds of paleolakes that once existed in the region. It is estimated that the value to the US economy of borates alone has topped $1 billion. The US deserts are also home to copper.

Salts have also proven a great resource for the Chilean economy although today its lithium resources have also taken prominence on the world stage as battery development increases for better power storage and production in the new generation of electric cars (28) . No other desert has as much abundant salt as this desert. It is estimated that during the First World War alone, some 3 million metric tons were mined. Like the US deserts, copper is present in Chile. Australia's deserts are a source of lead and zinc, uranium, gold and silver. As far as non-metal resources are concerned, deserts are also home to clay, beryllium, pumice (where there was past volcanic activity), nitrates and lithium. It is also no great surprise that some of our most abundant oil deposits are found in desert regions, particularly the Middle East, central and South America, in the driest places on Earth. These were once marine environments, but the lakes and seas dried up, allowing for the chemical processes that turn organic material into crude oil to create enormous deposits. Oil is not unique to dry environments though and the most important process is the presence of organic material and the right chemical conditions.

Deserts as a Way of Life

There is some debate whether the Bedouin tribes of the Middle East are true nomads in the traditional sense. They certainly perceive their lifestyle in this way although technically they live a semi-nomadic life. In summer, they settle on lands bordering deserts where agriculture is possible and food crops for livestock is abundant. They tend to move around a lot more in the fall and winter time during the rainy season (29) . There are different groups of Bedouin tribe who name and classify themselves based on the types of livestock and animals that they rear. For example, there are camel Bedouins which comprise the largest tribes and are distributed over the widest areas of the Middle East, incorporating most of the Levant (Jordan, Syria, Iraq) the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa including Egypt, Libya and Sudan.

Much of their lifestyle is unchanged since the Bedouins first roamed the lands although not completely. They have adapted to many aspects of modern life including motor vehicles to move around where possible. Just as the technologies of Bedouin tribes have changed, so have the concept of a home which can be a tent, a stone building or even the desert land (30) . They are ethnically Arab, and most are now Muslim. Relationships between other ethnic Arabs and Bedouins has always been mixed. They have sometimes suffered horrifically at the hands of national governments while some Arab people perceive the Bedouin as “pure” or romantic much in the same way that other countries romanticize other lost traditions such as the Roma travelers of Eastern Europe or the Amazonian “lost” tribes who have only had limited contact with the outside world. At the end of the 20 th century, less than 1% of the population in countries where Bedouins still roam maintain that lifestyle.

The Bedouin are not the only nomadic or semi-nomadic life. The Marsh Arabs so brutally oppressed by Saddam Hussein in the early 1990s were semi-nomadic, as are some elements of the Kurdish peoples of southeastern Turkey. Some aspects of Mongolian life in the Gobi Desert, and the Sami people of northern Scandinavia and the arctic islands such as Svalbard continue in their semi-nomadic traditions. Like their counterparts to the south, they too are increasingly moving to permanent settlement.

Desert Topographical Functions

Deserts are vital in many ways ecologically. Firstly, they are home to 17% of the human population who have adapted or adapted to the various desert biomes. Water is vital to life and although they lack this necessary resource, their unique ecosystems provide survival and resources for the plant and animal species that live there (31) . Deserts carry out vital planetary environmental functions too. Most of these species have adapted to the uniquely harsh environments of both hot and cold deserts and everything in between. Often, these species do not exist in other types of environment. For that reason alone, it's necessary to conserve desert spaces and to avoid encroaching on them unnecessarily or altering them for other purposes. They are home to various livestock such as camels, goats, and antelope that provide food and livelihood for people. Desert shrubs and trees that produce fruit such as dates, figs, and olives (32) , are important food crops globally.

Many are not aware that deserts are a net carbon sink, providing some relief from the increase in greenhouse gases. This will be problematic while carbon emissions continue to increase, and world governments will need to do something about it in the future. The discovery was made when researching bacteria in the desert. Research suggests that bacteria located in massive aquifers beneath the sand and in the sands itself, are capturing carbon from the air. In theory, the aquifers could hold more than the entire global population of plant material at present at 20 billion metric tons (or 22 billion imperial/US tons) (33) .

Finally, deserts, due to their location, are important sources of generating renewable energy . It is no coincidence that the world's solar arrays are located in the hottest places on the planet. Smaller solar panels convert light into energy, but the large arrays in the deserts work differently. They harness the heat and use mirrors to reflect and divert into the array, to generate much more energy per square foot. Deserts are also useful sources of wind power. There are always desert winds, but at certain times of the year wind is much higher which can also generate energy (34) .

Leisure and Tourism

Deserts attract millions of visitors every year. From the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa where visitors may see the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, to Jordan's city of Petra, Carthage and others, they are great places to see well-preserved archaeological ruins of the past. Here in the USA, there are plenty of other examples of ancient cultures in the desert. The Chaco culture, Pueblo peoples such as the Anasazi and Hohokum lived in the deserts of modern New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona. The Anasazi houses at Mesa Verde is incredible site, as is the Casa Grande monument in Arizona, built by the Hohokum Culture. In South America there are many sites and artefacts recovered from the Atacama. In short, people have settled deserts for hundreds of thousands of years and the dry nature makes such remains attractive to visitors (35) .

Not that culture and history is the limit of desert leisure and tourism. Some visit to see natural wonders such as Grand Canyon in Arizona, the great salt plains of the Atacama Desert or take a 4x4 vehicle or a hot air balloon ride across the sand dunes of the Arabian deserts. The semi-arid Monegros Desert in northeastern Spain plays host to an annual music festival called Monegros Desert Festival while the cold and arid landscapes of Greenland and Iceland draw visitors from all over the globe. The wide-open spaces of deserts can host great numbers of people without putting too much of a strain on local infrastructure. Despite the strain that tourism can put on these delicate ecosystems, they are providing much-needed money and jobs to areas. Ecotourism is helping developing nations especially find ways of preserving those landscapes (36) when historically, deserts have been neglected both in the conservation debate, and the funding and planning.

Seven Continents: Seven Deserts

Africa: namib (coastal).

Geological data suggests that at 43 million years, the Namib Desert in southwestern Africa is the world's oldest desert, but by no means its largest (that would be the Sahara). Most remarkably, nothing has changed there for some 2 million years, surviving multiple Ice Ages (37) . It consists almost entirely of sand dunes and gravel plains and is one of the most inhospitable places in the world and it runs right up to the South Atlantic coast. It takes up almost half the surface area of Namibia. It's long history and dry environment makes it a perfect searching ground for archaeologists and anthropologists; it's home to some of the oldest cave art in the world, preserved almost perfectly due to the desiccated conditions. Twyfelfontein is overshadowed by Brandberg for cave art, but the richness and diversity attract tourists and researchers alike (38) . It's hardly surprising that people settled here; Twyfelfontein contains one of the deserts few natural springs. The Namib Desert contains several national parks and reserves which home several species of zebra, jackals, and hyena. These warm-blooded mammals are in a precarious position due to the heat and dryness of the environment. Yet not all the Namib is desert. While the north is dry and sandy, the south is more like a semi-arid region with succulents, and the central region is full of gravel and gypsum plains.

Antarctica (Cold)

The world's last continent is subject to international treaties that no single country can claim it. Yet most developed nations have scientific settlements on the cold, dry and mostly inhospitable land (38) . What little life there is clings to the boundaries of where the land meets the sea and a few rocky outcrops. This includes penguins, albatrosses, seals, some species of gull and tern, and many types of insect . The interior is a different matter entirely. Covered in year-round snow and ice which is, in places, nearly 2km thick (1.2 miles) it is surprisingly one of the driest places on Earth. There is little precipitation and the snow and ice present has built up over hundreds of thousands of years. Rather than four seasons, it has just two: summer where it is always sunny where the sun never sets, and winter where it is always dark and the sun never rises. It's at the pole, so experiences the most extreme conditions of the planet. This especially means the temperatures. In 1983, the Russian Vostok Station recorded the coldest ever temperature on planet Earth at -89.2 �C (which is -129�F). In 2010, satellite data appeared to suggest a lower temperature than this was recorded but it was never confirmed or backed up by other data (39) .

Asia: Gobi (Cold)

Straddling China and Mongolia, the Gobi Desert is Asia's largest. There are steppe and mountains to the north, more desert to the west, plateau and plain to the south. Its fame lies in the being the center of the Mongolian Empire which conquered much of Asia and into Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. It's creation as a desert is largely one of unfortunate topography; it's formed by something called “rain shadow” (40) . The plateau and plains to the south draw off moisture from that direction. The Indian Ocean is a hotbed of rainwater during monsoon season but the Gobi sees none of it. It is a cold desert, but it is largely sandy. This creates a striking and unusual sight during the coldest periods of frost-covered sand dunes. It experiences most of its moisture in the winter which arrives in the form of snow run off. Its summer is hot: hotter than most other cold deserts with temperatures reaching up to 37C (or 99F) while the coldest temperatures recorded are around -32C (-27F).

The Gobi is useful for archaeologists as with any desert, but it's also been one of the richest sources of fossil findings for paleontology including the first evidence of dinosaur eggs (41) . It's home to many modern protected species including snow leopards, wolves, multiple species of camel, gazelles, and polecats amongst others. The Gobi is home to some of the world's largest copper mines, some of which have been steeped in controversy. There are few better examples of the ecological dangers of desertification in the 21 st century. Its continued expansion has been put down to increased carbon emissions, agricultural activity and deforestation. The Gobi formed naturally, but it is humanity fueling its expansion (42) .

Australasia: Gibson Desert (Semi-Arid)

Not the largest of Australia's deserts (that's Great Victoria Desert), Gibson Desert is considered one of the most interesting because it is largely pristine (43) . It's amongst the purest deserts in the world. The semi-arid landscape is located between a giant lake of salt (Lake Disappointment) and two other deserts (Great Victoria and Little Sandy). It's largely a gravel bedrock base and the most abundant plant is grass, typical of semi-arid deserts. The red sandy plains of the desert are often held up as the typical topography of the Australian Outback although in reality, the interior of Australia is a mix of desert types. Several other notable facts about the Gibson Desert include the belief that it was the home to the last indigenous tribe to make contact with western civilization (the Pintupi). During a drought in the 1980s, they left their desert home to search for help. Increasing urbanization and urban landscape infrastructure on the border with neighboring deserts means its of conservation interest to prevent habitat loss of many species that call the Gibson home.

In 2015, researchers were surprised to find an extensive oasis in which was a new type of snail that has made a home there (44) . Deserts, like other biomes, continue to remain a source of the discovery of new species as well as presenting new problems for conservation and ecology in balancing out increased desertification against the preservation of existing deserts.

Europe: Tabernas (Semi-Arid)

Spain is home to several deserts, most of them semi-arid as Europe's climate is simply not hot enough for the kind of hot and dry deserts seen in North Africa and the Middle East. Covering 200sqkm, the Tabernas has slightly higher rainfall and cooler temperatures than its neighbors and most typical semi-arid deserts but it maintains the criteria that determines what is and is not a desert. What little precipitation it receives usually falls in the form of torrential rains. Its interesting climate does not end there; the Tabernas is a microcosm of several types of desert in such a small area. Some of the areas of the southern lowlands are hot desert, the bulk of it is semi-arid, but the highest uplands to the north have signs of cold desert (45) .

This precipitation means it has more abundant biological life than most other deserts. It's a haven for species such as sea lavender which are threatened in other parts of Spain but thriving in the Tabernas. In winter, toadflax flowers, creating a vivid white appearance to the desert. Animal species include the peregrine falcon which is an internationally protected bird of prey, jackdaws (a common type of corvid - related to crows - seen across Europe), ladder snakes, and North African hedgehogs. Yellow scorpions, tarantulas and a spider called Black Widow which is related to the deadlier spider of the same name make up the arachnids.

North America: Mojave (Hot)

Like the Gobi in Asia, the Mojave was also created and is maintained by rain shadow meteorology . The phenomenon has created the driest environment in the North American continent and straddles the states of Nevada and California, while edging across the Utah and Arizona borders too. Of all the deserts on the continent, the Mojave is the smallest; winter temperatures are comfortable (25C/80F) in the valleys and much colder on the mountains. They rise quickly through the spring and summer, rarely falling below 32C/90F, sometimes topping 38C/100F in the highest part of the summer season (46) . Its most associated with the Joshua Tree; the desert's border is said to end where the Joshua is no loner present. This is the desert on which Las Vegas is located, bordered by the Great Basin Desert and the Tehachapi Mountains. Geologically, it is simple to trace these borders because both the Garlock and San Andreas Faults have created the mountain ranges that enclose it to the west and south - the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains.

Economically, the Mojave is the most important desert tourist destination in the US due to the presence of Las Vegas to the east and organized tourism into the desert's interior. This generates money for the local economy and especially for conservation issues in the State Parks, National Parks and National Preserves that have been established within its boundaries. Finally, the Hoover Dam is within its boundaries, preserving water for the settlements in the Mojave and providing hydroelectric power although this has not been without controversy or damage to the ecosystem (47) .

South America: Atacama (Cold)

We have already described Atacama as potentially the driest place on Earth. This is not a title granted lightly. Its precipitation is so negligible that it's considered virtually zero. It's possible that parts of the Atacama Desert have never experienced rain. Its age is likely to exceed 200 million years. If this is true, then it is far older than the Namib which has a confirmed 43-million-year history. Some of the weather monitoring stations which have been in place for decades have certainly never registered rainfall. Elsewhere in the desert, the average annual rainfall is about 15mm (about half an inch) while some areas experience around 1mm. The highest peaks have year-round snow cover which may have been there for decades having fallen and never melted away. Medium height mountains have no glaciation even in the coldest months of the year. Due to its aridity and alien environment, the Atacama has been used as location filming for recent Hollywood productions set on Mars.

It is home, perhaps surprisingly, to some striking flora and fauna that make use of the limited moisture available. The most arid areas - those that may never have experienced rate - are unable to support many forms of life, although a study showed some microbial life in those areas (48) . Thyme and saltgrass are abundant in some areas, the pimiento tree, and some succulents. In those areas where rainfall does occur, flowering seasons are short and colorful, presenting the notion that the desert is lusher than it appears. There are few lizards or amphibians, and the wettest areas on the Pacific Coast are home to humboldt penguins, flamingoes, while the limited mammals include chinchilla and American grey foxes.

Future Challenges for Deserts and Ecological Researchers

Loss of desert through increased precipitation.

As more rain falls, as more moisture is retained from meltwater run off, more water passes through any rivers and lakes that might form seasonally in these deserts, this will change the environment over time. Far from being a good thing, it puts the biome at risk, changing it from a desert into something else. The biodiversity is at risk and potentially threatened species could die out in those areas or become extinct; this is a particular concern for species that exist in just one desert on the planet. An example of this is the increased rates of desert songbirds in the US experiencing dehydration (49) . Such birds , because they are warm blooded and because they fly at elevations to which warm air rises (plus a lack of suitable shade), are far more susceptible to dehydration and as the climate gets hotter, some deserts are getting drier. This is a risk for all desert-dwelling warm-blooded creatures, but especially birds.

Increased Desertification of other Biomes

the encroachment of existing desert into nearby grasslands and forest as those environments because hotter and drier, and partly through direct interference by humans for deforestation and encroachment of agricultural land for both crops and for grazing land. Roots of such plants bind soil together; it's critical at the best of times but when it comes to marginal landscapes (areas prone to flooding, drought, mineral leaching and subject to even minor fluctuations in weather patterns) the situation is even more precarious and more care needs to be taken to prevent desertification. When those root systems are removed, the quality of the soil decreases. It becomes difficult for native species to continue to thrive and desertification risk increases. A good example of this is The Dust Bowl when the great plains of the central states of the US were hit by overintense agriculture and natural drought at the same time (50)

Politics of Conservation

Bison and buffalo numbers in North and Central America were in a precarious situation a century ago, but recent conservation efforts are seeing their numbers increase. Yet belief in the restoration of bison to certain environments has not met with universal approval. Sometimes, local politics gets in the way. This is certainly the case with the northern end of the Chihuahua Desert where efforts to re-introduce bison along the US-Mexico border has met with hostility. Documentary evidence from pre-Columbian peoples in what is modern Mexico suggests that bison were common along the borders of the desert and the grasslands to the north. But this is not confirmed; nor is it accepted on all sides where the validity of ranching is being challenged in Mexico and the US (51) .

Balancing Sustainability Against Conservation

Deserts have always been centers of mining activity. As discussed above, they naturally develop oil and precious metals and gem resources through their unique geology . This industrial mining and prospecting can have multiple negative effects on the surrounding desert which present multiple sustainability challenges . If oil spills, it is an ecological disaster that could cause long-term or even permanent damage to the landscape. Even when safety is observed 100% and in sites where there has never been such an ecological disaster, the infrastructure of the mine can create problems. Human settlements at the site will include roads to get to and from the mine, carbon emissions from the vehicles, roads causing environmental degradation (52) . These are all problems that need to be addressed when planning and building a mine. If it is placed in an area where there are threatened species, this too can create problems for those species. In the Sahara, potassium-cyanide poisoning is an ongoing problem around the gold mines (53) .

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Introduction

Types of Deserts

Cold deserts are farther from the equator than hot deserts. Though they are very dry, the main reason they have few plants is that it is so cold there. A cold desert covers much of Antarctica. The Gobi in central Asia is another cold desert.

Life in a Desert

Few people live in deserts. Groups who do include the Tuareg of the Sahara, the San of the Kalahari, the Bedouins of the Middle East and North Africa, and the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Many desert dwellers live in oases. An oasis is a place in the desert with a supply of fresh water.

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• Introduction

Population and community development and structure

Biological productivity.

• Selected deserts of the world

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• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Desert
• USGS - What is a Desert?
• National Geographic Society - Desert
• MIT OpenCourseWare - Deserts
• DesertUSA - What Is a Desert?
• Untamed Science - Desert Biome
• Pressbooks at Virginia Tech - Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook - Desert
• University of California Museum of Paleontology - The desert biome
• Young People's Trust for the Environment - Desert Regions
• Geosciences LibreTexts - Deserts
• desert - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• desert - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Desert plants and animals have many peculiar adaptations that enable them to survive long periods of moisture shortage and to take maximal advantage of short, infrequent wet periods.

Perennial plants commonly survive dry times by becoming physiologically inactive. In some cases they remain alive but are desiccated until water becomes available, at which time they rapidly absorb moisture through aboveground parts, swelling and resuming physiological activity. Some plants can absorb dew, which for many is the main water source. Mosses and lichens adopt this strategy, as do some flowering plants, which are sometimes called resurrection plants .

Other desert plants survive dry periods through underground organs such as bulbs, tubers, or rhizomes . These structures are inactive, requiring and using little water until triggered to grow by rain soaking into the soil. They then grow rapidly, using food reserves stored within, flowering and setting seed before soil moisture becomes substantially depleted once more.

Certain plants, including large woody plants and some herbaceous perennials , can remain physiologically active to some extent through dry periods. Plants employ several strategies to carry this off: water storage organs, such as the succulent stems of cacti, euphorbias, and ice plants, hold water until it is needed; very deep root systems reach soil moisture at depth; and certain features, such as leaves of reduced size or hairy or reflective leaves, reduce water loss.

Another typical feature of desert floras is their large proportion of ephemeral plants, which survive dry periods as resistant, dormant seeds. After a rain, the seeds germinate at once and the plants grow quickly, flower early, and complete their reproduction within a few weeks before the soil dries out again. It is primarily plants with this response that cause the deserts to bloom after infrequent storms.

Desert animals show many comparable adaptations to infrequent moisture availability in deserts, resulting in little activity during the usually dry times and intense activity in the brief, infrequent wet periods. During dry conditions many desert animals remain underground in holes or burrows in which the air is relatively cool and humid; more than half of desert animals are subterranean in their habits. Some, such as snails, may remain dormant for long periods, while others, such as burrowing mammals, emerge to feed only at night when conditions are cool and much less dehydrating. Reproduction may cease altogether in years of extreme drought , as it does in some lizards.

It is now clear that in several regions desert environments are expanding—a process called desertification . This process may be defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, or dry, subhumid areas that results from various factors including climatic variation and human activities. In areas where the vegetation is already under stress from natural or anthropogenic factors, periods of drier than average weather may cause degradation of the vegetation. If the pressures are maintained, soil loss and irreversible change in the ecosystem may ensue, so that areas formerly under savanna or scrubland vegetation are reduced to desert.

There is some evidence that removal of vegetation can also affect climate , causing it to become drier. Bare ground reflects more incoming solar energy and does not heat up as much as ground containing vegetation. Thus, the air that is near the ground does not warm up as much and its vertical movement is reduced, as is atmospheric cooling necessary for condensation and ultimately precipitation to occur.

The main regions currently at risk of desertification are the Sahel region lying to the south of the Sahara , parts of eastern, southern, and northwestern Africa, and large areas of Australia , south-central Asia , and central North America . The arid regions with the longest history of agriculture—from North Africa to China —have generally less well-vegetated deserts. Plant-based desert classification systems from these regions contrast with those from places without such a long history of human usage, such as Australia and the Americas, probably because degradation of the vegetation has been occurring in the Old World regions for a much longer time. Systems incorporating desert vegetation types in Australia and the Americas recognize and include vegetation types with a prominent woody plant (shrub) component and tend to exclude some less arid but heavily altered vegetation types. The present extent of deserts in the Old World is thought to be significantly greater than it would be had human impact not occurred. Support for this view is found in various places, such as the several-thousand-year-old rock art from the central Sahara that illustrates cattle and wildlife in regions now unable to support these creatures.

In the highly stressful desert environment , productivity is generally very low; however, it is also highly variable from time to time and from place to place. (For a full discussion of productivity, see biosphere: Resources of the biosphere .)

Temporal variations are caused by the occasional input of moisture; this allows the vegetation to grow for only a short period before arid conditions resume. Spatial variations are due in part to the structural patchiness of the vegetation itself, as surface soil beneath shrubs is several times more fertile than it is between shrubs. Shrub roots contribute to this process by retrieving nutrients from the deep soil and depositing them in litter on the soil surface beneath the shrub canopy. Windblown litter that accumulates around shrubs and the microbial flora found in soil shaded by the shrub canopy also create patchy, fertile areas. Because human disturbance of desert vegetation commonly involves the partial or total removal of the shrub cover, the impact of human disturbance on these ecosystems is significant.

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Essay on Sahara Desert

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sahara Desert in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Sahara Desert

The sahara desert.

The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot desert, located in North Africa. It’s as big as the entire United States! It’s not just sand; there are also mountains and oases.

Climate and Landscape

The Sahara is known for its hot climate, sometimes reaching 50°C! However, it can also be freezing at night. The landscape includes sand dunes, gravel plains, and rocky plateaus.

Life in the Sahara

Despite the harsh conditions, people and animals live here. Nomadic tribes, like the Tuareg, move around to find resources. Animals like camels, foxes, and scorpions also survive here.

250 Words Essay on Sahara Desert

The sahara desert: a brief overview.

The Sahara Desert, stretching over 3.6 million square miles across North Africa, is the largest hot desert in the world. Its vastness encompasses a diverse range of landscapes, from arid plains to sand dunes, and it plays a significant role in the earth’s climate.

Geographical Features

Climate and weather patterns.

The Sahara’s climate is one of the harshest on earth. With temperatures that can exceed 50°C in summer and drop below freezing in winter, it is a testament to extreme climatic conditions. Despite its aridity, the desert experiences occasional rainfall, and even snowfall, in its higher altitudes.

Flora and Fauna

Contrary to popular belief, the Sahara is not devoid of life. Adapted to the harsh conditions, a variety of flora and fauna thrive here. Plants like the date palm and acacia, and animals such as the Fennec fox and Dromedary camel, are common inhabitants.

Human Settlement and Cultural Impact

Human settlements in the Sahara, though sparse, have a rich cultural history. The Berbers, Tuaregs, and other ethnic groups have adapted to the desert life, their culture and survival strategies deeply intertwined with the desert landscape.

In conclusion, the Sahara Desert, while seemingly inhospitable, is a region of extreme and beautiful contrasts. It serves as a reminder of the earth’s climatic diversity and the resilience of life in the face of adversity.

500 Words Essay on Sahara Desert

Introduction.

The Sahara Desert, often simply referred to as the Sahara, is the largest hot desert in the world and the third largest desert overall, behind Antarctica and the Arctic. Spanning across 11 countries, it covers approximately 9.2 million square kilometers, comparable to the size of the United States or China. Its vast landscapes, diverse ecosystems, and historical significance make it a fascinating subject of study.

Geographical Overview

Climate and ecosystem.

The Sahara’s climate is one of the harshest on Earth. With temperatures that can exceed 50 degrees Celsius in the summer and drop below freezing in the winter, the desert is an extreme environment. Rainfall is scarce and unpredictable, and the region experiences high evaporation rates. Despite these harsh conditions, the Sahara is home to a variety of life forms. Species such as the Saharan cheetah, the Fennec fox, and the Dromedary camel have adapted to survive in this extreme environment.

Human Life and Culture

Despite its extreme climate, the Sahara has been inhabited by humans for over thousands of years. The nomadic Berber and Tuareg tribes have historically dominated the Sahara, traversing its vast landscapes and surviving off its limited resources. These tribes have developed unique cultures and ways of life that are intricately tied to the desert environment.

Historical Significance

Environmental concerns and future.

The Sahara Desert is currently undergoing significant environmental changes due to climate change and human activities. Desertification, the process where fertile land becomes desert, is a major concern. The Sahara is expanding southward at an alarming rate, threatening the livelihood of millions of people. Moreover, the desert is also being explored for its potential in renewable energy production, particularly solar energy, due to its vast, sun-drenched expanse.

The Sahara Desert, with its vast landscapes, diverse ecosystems, and rich history, is a captivating subject of study. Despite its harsh conditions, it teems with life and culture. However, it is also a region facing significant environmental challenges. Understanding the Sahara Desert is not just about appreciating its grandeur but also about recognizing its importance and the threats it faces in the wake of a changing global climate.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Essay on Desert

Introduction.

Children have seen a desert in pictures or movies where the camel walks through enormous piles of sand or the hero stylishly drives through them. When seen through such a lens, we feel that a desert is a wonderful place with the fine sand under our feet and gentle winds, giving us a different experience. Through the essay on desert, we will discuss its distinct features and thus make our children familiar with it.

Here, we will see how to write an essay on desert life. A desert is a largely uninhabited area that is mostly covered in sand. The availability of water is so scarce that it does not support vegetation growth. Since the desert is very hot and dry, there are no plants, trees or buildings. This is a unique feature of the desert, and we will understand more about it with some examples of the popular deserts in India through this essay on Indian desert.

Features of Desert

In this essay on desert, we will be discussing the things that we see in a desert. A desert hardly receives any rainfall, and it has a very high temperature, which explains its dry, barren and hot conditions. There are certain patches of land that are fertile in a desert, which are called oases. As we can find a small spring of water in this region, it provides a limited habitat for plants and animals . Date palms are a common sight in deserts. We will also learn about life in the desert through this essay on desert life.

People live in deserts near oases. Both nomads, as well as permanent settlers, can be seen in the desert. Nomads build tents while the others build houses with thick stones and flat roofs. Besides, camels are believed to be the sole dwellers of the desert because of its harsh climate. Camels are known as the ‘ship of the desert’ as they are used as a mode of transport for carrying people and goods. Their physical features like hooves and humps make them favourable to travel in deserts for long periods without food and water.

We can also understand some famous deserts of India through this essay on Indian desert. The Great Indian Desert of Thar, White Salt Desert of Kutch, and Cold Desert of Spiti Valley are some of the deserts that can be visited for a great desert adventure in India.

Types of Desert

In this part of the essay on desert, we will explain four main types of deserts. This will be useful for children to write an essay on desert life. Hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts are the major types of deserts. While hot and dry deserts experience extremely hot weather year-round, semi-arid deserts have hot summers and a little rainfall in the winter. On the other hand, coastal deserts have warm summers and cool winters, and cold deserts are cool throughout the year.

Thus, the essay on Indian desert emphasises that though life is difficult in deserts, we can find minuscule life forms and vegetation. Plants and animals are adapted to live in such extreme conditions, and this is why we can see cacti and camels in abundance in deserts. This essay on desert can be used as a reference for children to write essays .

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you describe a desert to children.

A desert is a large area of land that is covered in sand in all directions. It receives an abundance of sunlight, making it hot and dry. We will be able to see that there is no significant life form or water in a desert, except for some cacti and oases.

What do you know about life in the desert?

Since deserts are extremely dry and hot, it is difficult to survive there without water. Although humans can’t live in deserts, some plants and animals are adapted to live in such harsh conditions.

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4 Morphological, Physiological, and Behavioural Adaptations of Desert Animals to the Abiotic Environment

• Published: June 2016
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Animals can be considered as drought evaders, drought evaporators, or drought endurers. Evaders are small desert animals that avoid overheating of the body on hot sunny days and minimize the need for cooling by evaporative water loss. Evaporators depend on sufficient water intake to enable them to cool their body temperatures by evaporation. Few of these can survive in deserts, and those that do live on the edges of deserts. Endurers are usually very large animals that can endure high temperatures. Many desert animals employ heat shock proteins to minimize the effects of overheating and also use unique strategies to increase excretion of salts. Many related desert taxa employ a suite of characteristics that make them tolerant of high temperatures. To determine whether these characteristics are adaptive requires removing the effects of phylogeny to know which characteristics are special to desert environments.

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Desert Animals Class 6 English Summary, Lesson Plan

Desert Animals Class 6 English Story Summary, Lesson plan and PDF notes is given below. By reading through the detailed summary, CBSE Class 6 students will be able to understand the lesson easily. Once the students finished reading the summary in english and hindi they can easily answer any questions related to the chapter. Students can also refer to CBSE Class 6 English summary notes – for their revision during the exam.

CBSE Class 6 English Desert Animals Summary

Who I Am summary in both english and hindi is available here. This article starts with a discussion about the author and then explains the chapter in short and detailed fashion. Ultimately, the article ends with some difficult words and their meanings.

Short Summary of Desert Animals

The lesson provides the necessary details of various desert animals. The information is provided not only of Indian animals but also of other regions. Their habitat, food and other traits are discussed in the lesson.

Summary of Desert Animals in English

Deserts are the driest and the hottest places on earth. For long periods they get no rain and bear the hot sun. Still so many kinds of creatures live there. It is a wonder how they manage to get water and food there.

The fact is that every creature finds ways to fight the heat, hunger and thirst. The gerbils (a kind of desert rat) spend the hot day in cool underground holes. Dark beetles catch drops of water on their legs.

Not all deserts are seas of sand dunes. Some are rocky and dotted with small bushes while others are sprinkled with colourful flowers during the spring.

There are more than 2300 kinds of snakes around the world. Some are long or poisonous, others are small and harmless. In the deserts of America live rattlesnakes. They are very dangerous and poisonous. They can feel the movement of a person, but cannot hear any sound. They live on mice, and squirrels. The large pythons can do without eating for a year.

The other animal in the desert is mongoose. Mongooses travel in groups and eat small creatures. They hunt together. They too have their enemies like hawks, eagles and large snakes. Mongooses are famous for killing snakes. The female mongooses raise their kitten inside hollow logs or old termite mounts.

Another notable animal found in the desert is the camel. Some are wild, but most are domesticated by people. A thirsty camel can drink upto thirty gallons of water at a time. Normally it meets its need of water from desert plants. It can survive for upto ten months without drinking any water.

There are two kinds of camel. The Dromedary camel has a single hump. The Bactrian camel has two humps. Humps act as storage containers. They are not used for storing water. They are full of fat which keeps them alive for several days. A camel’s mouth is so tough that no thorn can pierce into it.

Summary of Desert Animals in Hindi

रेगिस्तान ऐसी जगहें हैं जिनमें कम पानी होता है और लगभग महीनों तक एक साथ बारिश नहीं होती है और कभी-कभी एक साल में भी। इसलिए, वे पृथ्वी पर सबसे शुष्क स्थान हैं। लेकिन जो जानवर यहां रहते हैं, उनके लिए और साथ ही पानी के बिना लंबे समय तक रहना मुश्किल होता है, खासकर गर्मी के दिनों में। इसलिए वे वातावरण की ऐसी कठिन परिस्थितियों को हरा देने के लिए अपने स्वयं के वैकल्पिक तरीके खोजते हैं। उदाहरण के लिए, गेरिल्स अपने ठंडे बूर में गर्म दिनों के दौरान भूमिगत हो जाते हैं।

डार्क बीटल एक कीट है जो गर्मी को हरा करने के लिए एक अजीब तरीके का उपयोग करता है। वे अपने पैरों से नमी की बूंदों को हवा में उठाते हैं और उन्हें अपने मुंह में छोड़ते हैं। सभी रेगिस्तान रेत के समान पहाड़ नहीं हैं। प्रत्येक की अपनी विशेषताएं हैं। कुछ स्टोनी हैं और छोटे झाड़ीदार पौधों के साथ एक ऊबड़ सतह है। बसंत के मौसम में कुछ रंग-बिरंगे फूल भी लगते हैं।

सांप भी कई प्रकार के होते हैं। लगभग 2300 प्रकार के सांप हैं। वे सबसे छोटे आकार से लेकर 15 सेंटीमीटर लंबे 11 मीटर से अधिक लंबे होते हैं। अधिकांश सांप हानिरहित हैं। लेकिन कुछ इतने जहरीले होते हैं कि उनका एक काट किसी को भी मारने के लिए काफी है। उनमें से अधिकांश प्रजनन के लिए अंडे देते हैं लेकिन बहुत से ऐसे हैं जो अपने युवा लोगों को जन्म देते हैं। अमेरिकी रेगिस्तान प्रकृति में सूखे और चट्टानी हैं। एक बुरी नज़र वाले सांप को बहुत खराब प्रतिष्ठा के साथ रहता है। वह 30 मीटर की दूरी से भी अपनी तेज आवाज सुन सकता है। यह बिजली की गति के साथ बहुत तेज हमला करता है।

रैटलर या रैटलस्नेक भी है। इसका चुनाव लोगों से उतना ही बचना है जितना वह कर सकता है। यदि यह परेशान महसूस करता है, तो यह अपनी पूंछ को सीधा रखता है और घुसपैठिए को दूर ले जाने के लिए तेज आवाज देता है। लेकिन अगर इसकी चेतावनियों पर ध्यान नहीं दिया जाता है और इसे खतरा महसूस होता है, तो यह चक्कर काट लेगी। विचित्र बात यह है कि यह अपनी पूंछ से होने वाली आवाज को नहीं सुन सकता है। अन्य सांपों की तरह, यह जमीन पर उत्पन्न तरंगों के माध्यम से भी सुनता है। इसका मतलब है कि यह कंपन महसूस कर सकता है लेकिन ध्वनि नहीं सुन सकता है।

सांप एक चलने वाले व्यक्ति के आंदोलन को महसूस कर सकता है लेकिन उसकी आवाज नहीं सुन सकता है कि वह कितना जोर से चिल्ला सकता है। आमतौर पर कनाडा से अर्जेंटीना के लिए अमेरिकी महाद्वीप में रैटल स्नेक पाए जाते हैं। उनकी पसंद में छोटे जानवर जैसे चूहे, छोटे पौधे खाने वाले कृंतक (वोल्ट), चूहे आदि शामिल हैं। वे अपने शिकार को मारने के लिए उनके शरीर में जहरीले विष का उपयोग करते हैं। अन्य सांप जानवरों को पूरी तरह से मारना या खाना। उनके खाने की आदतें भी बदलती हैं। कुछ साँप सप्ताह में एक बार से अधिक भोजन करते हैं और कुछ बड़े अजगर एक साल या उससे अधिक समय तक बिना खाए रह सकते हैं।

Mongooses समूहों में शिकार करने जाते हैं। वे हमेशा एक जगह रखते हैं जहां से वे अपने पास शिकारियों को देख सकते हैं। उन्हें बंधी हुई देखना, उनकी नाक को छेद में डालना, चट्टानों को अपने पंजे से दबाना और अपने पंजे के बल जमीन को खुरच कर देखना दिलचस्प है। लगभग 20 के समूहों में उन्हें यात्रा करते हुए देखना बहुत आम है। वे भोजन की तलाश में यात्रा करते हैं। उनका भोजन बीटल, मिलीपेड और अन्य छोटे जीव हैं।

वे अपने भोजन की खोज के लिए समूहों में चले जाते हैं। लेकिन अगर उन्हें ऐसी जगहों पर जाने की ज़रूरत है जो दिखाई नहीं दे रही हैं – जैसे कि झाड़ियों या चट्टानों के पीछे वे संपर्क में रहने के लिए ट्विटरिंग जैसी आवाज़ें निकालती हैं। वे एक जगह रखने के लिए अतिरिक्त देखभाल करते हैं जहां से वे जानवरों को देख सकते हैं जो उनके लिए खतरनाक हैं जैसे बाज, चील और बड़े सांप। कुछ भी संदिग्ध नहीं होने पर, वे एक दूसरे को सचेत करने के लिए एक विशेष चेतावनी कॉल करते हैं।

सांपों को मारने की उनकी क्षमता के लिए मोंगोज को जाना जाता है। ऐसा करते समय उन्हें चोट भी नहीं लगती। उनकी प्रतिक्रियाएं बहुत तेज हैं और सांप पर हमला करने के बाद जल्दी से आगे बढ़ सकते हैं। वे लगातार अपने हमलों से सांप को तब तक परेशान करते रहते हैं जब तक कि वह थक नहीं जाता और उसे मार नहीं देता।

आमों में ख़ास बात यह है कि सभी मादा एक ही समय में अपने बच्चों को जन्म देती हैं। बच्चों को पूरे समूह द्वारा उठाया जाता है। बच्चों की देखभाल करने का मतलब पूरे समूह की बजाय एक की जिम्मेदारी नहीं है। वे उन्हें एक मांद में उठाते हैं जिसका मतलब है कि उन्होंने एक पुराने दीमक टीले के अंदर बनाया है। जब वे भोजन की तलाश में बाहर जाते हैं, तो दो पुरुष सदस्य शिशुओं की देखभाल करने के लिए वापस आ जाते हैं और तब तक प्रतीक्षा करते हैं जब तक कि अन्य वापस नहीं आ जाते।

ऊंट एक और रेगिस्तानी जानवर है। इसे पहले लोगों ने बनाया था, हजारों साल पहले घरों में घरेलू जानवर के रूप में रखा जाता था। ऊंटों में जंगल की तरह अपने वातावरण के साथ समायोजित करने की अद्वितीय क्षमता होती है, वे 30 के छोटे समूहों में रहते हैं, उनके पास लंबे, अनचाहे बाल होते हैं जो उनके शरीर को सर्दियों में गर्म रखने के लिए कोट के रूप में उपयोग करते हैं और यह लंबा कोट दूर गिर जाता है और गर्मियों में छोटा हो जाता है ठंडा रखने के लिए दृष्टिकोण। ऊँट लगभग 30 गैलन, लगभग 500 गिलास पानी पी सकते हैं जब भी वे सिर्फ 10 मिनट में प्यासे हों। इसके शरीर को रेगिस्तानी पौधों से नमी मिल सकती है और ये 10 महीने तक बिना पानी के रह सकते हैं।

ऊंट दो प्रकार के होते हैं- ड्रोमेडरी जिसमें एक कूबड़ होता है और बैक्ट्रियन जिसमें दो कूबड़ होते हैं। रेगिस्तान में पानी के बिना जानवर को जीवित रखने में मदद करने के लिए कूबड़ है। यह भंडारण कंटेनर के रूप में कार्य करता है। लेकिन यह पानी को स्टोर नहीं करता है क्योंकि लोग सोचते हैं और विश्वास करते हैं। ये कूबड़ वसा से भरे हुए हैं। यह वसा ऊंट को तब खिलाती है जब भोजन कम मात्रा में होता है। जब वसा का उपयोग किया जाता है, तो कूबड़ का आकार छोटा हो जाता है क्योंकि इसका उपयोग भोजन के बजाय किया जाता है। ऊंट रेगिस्तान में रहने और समायोजित करने के साथ-साथ कई अन्य तरीकों का उपयोग करते हैं। उनके मुंह सख्त और सख्त होते हैं। वे कांटे भी खा सकते हैं और वे उन्हें चोट नहीं पहुंचाते हैं।