The Fascinating Desert Ecosystem
Published by A desert is an ecosystem where annual rainfall is 10 inches or less. Deserts are dry, inhospitable environments. They occupy over one fifth of the earth’s land.
Deserts form where mean annual rainfall is 10 inches or less. The desert ecosystem is one of the most inhospitable environments for any organism to inhabit. Nevertheless, it is amazing to observe varieties of life forms surviving in the harsh and unfavourable conditions of the desert. Many deserts form beautiful landscapes. When the word ‘desert’ is mentioned, majority of us would visualise deserts as vast, hot, barren lands; however it is actually the dryness and not the temperature that defines a desert ecosystem. Deserts cover about one fifth of the earth’s land.
The arid environment of a desert (Scource: S. Rossi)
The descending air masses occurring near 30 degrees latitude create the dry and hot climate of deserts. Dry air and scant coverage of clouds in in deserts are responsible for the low rainfall and hotness in deserts. Many of us think that there are only hot deserts in this world. Contrary to this common misconception, there are cold deserts as well. In addition, even hot deserts can get very cold at night and during winter. In some hot deserts during winter and at night, the temperatures can reach below zero degrees Celsius. Hot and cold deserts are the two main types of deserts found on earth.
Sahara Desert (Source: sntgmdm)
Cold deserts
Cold deserts are found near or towards the two polar ice caps of the world. It snows quite a bit in this type of deserts. The temperature remains very low throughout the year. Cold deserts are characterised by long, cold winters where the average temperature is below freezing point. As these deserts are often covered in snow, you will find very little vegetation. Mosses, grasses and few scrubs are the few kinds of vegetation in cold deserts. In cold deserts, plants are scattered. They are deciduous and have spiny leaves.
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On May 22, 2012 at 9:53 am
very interesting and informative. Great picutres, love the Kangaroo Rat.
On May 22, 2012 at 10:05 am
Amazing well written article Safa, thanks ^_^
On May 22, 2012 at 10:19 am
nice and well detailed. thanks
On May 22, 2012 at 10:42 am
Very informative. Thanks.
On May 22, 2012 at 11:00 am
Well written, beautiful photos, and informative, Thanks!
On May 22, 2012 at 11:54 am
Thank you so very much Safa ;very interesting.
Eddy.
On May 22, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Good share, Safa. Thank God for the Great Lakes region, where we live! Fresh water is taken for granted, by many of us.
On May 22, 2012 at 12:46 pm
It’s strange to think of snow covered places as deserts. That was a great write-up.
On May 22, 2012 at 6:17 pm
you go…
On May 22, 2012 at 6:36 pm
well written
On May 22, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Nice picture of desert
On May 22, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Interesting topic. Before reading this article, I didn’t know there were cold deserts. Glad to learn more about deserts. Thanks!
On May 23, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Deserts here in the gulf are oil wells, it is very hot during summer and very cold during winter
On May 24, 2012 at 1:29 am
very interesting and informative.
On May 24, 2012 at 2:30 am
very interesting and informative. Great pictures, love the Kangaroo Rat.
On May 24, 2012 at 11:00 am
An awesome share, keep writing Safa
On May 24, 2012 at 2:13 pm
interesting read and love the pictures.
On May 25, 2012 at 12:21 pm
wooww,,,,
On May 28, 2012 at 12:16 am
Great info
On May 28, 2012 at 8:31 am
Nice
On May 30, 2012 at 2:51 am
Again
On May 30, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Oh WOW – superb.
On May 31, 2012 at 2:17 am
I really enjoy visiting our local deserts and the sites are unique and full of history…
On May 31, 2012 at 7:41 am
Interesting article and beautiful pictures!Thanks
On June 1, 2012 at 6:14 pm
A closer look on the desert… never seen one before. Learning new stuffs always make me happy. Thank you Safa ^_^
On June 3, 2012 at 12:30 am
Very good thanks ^_^
On June 8, 2012 at 10:08 am
Does rain ever touch these soils?
On October 13, 2012 at 12:25 pm
never knew so much about desert ! Thanks !
On October 14, 2012 at 4:45 am
Thanks for sharing this information. very good article
On October 20, 2012 at 5:14 pm
Excellent article and well written. Thanks for the share!
On October 20, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Man y feel deserts are bleak, but I like their solitude and stark scenery.
On November 3, 2012 at 1:56 am
Thanks for making such a killer article . I arrive on here all the time and am floored with the fresh information here! You are great! Very nice article. Congrats, to you *