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=The Desert= **Hot and dry desert**: Semiarid desert:
 * Deserts cover 1/5 of the earths surface
 * There are 4 classifications of deserts: Hot & Dry, Semiarid, Coastal, Cold
 * Rainfall is less than 20 in./year
 * The Sahara of North Africa and the deserts of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Australia, the basin and range area of Utah and Nevada and in parts of western Asia are mainly deserts.
 * Most deserts have a considerable amount of specialized vegetation, as well as specialized vertebrate and invertebrate animals
 * Soils often have abundant nutrients because they need only water to become very productive and have little or no organic matter.
 * Disturbances are common in the form of occasional fires or cold weather, and sudden, infrequent, but intense rains that cause flooding.
 * The dominant animals of warm deserts are nonmammalian vertebrates, such as reptiles.
 * The four major North American deserts of this type are the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin. Others outside the U.S. include the Southern Asian realm, South and Central America, Africa and Australia.
 * The seasons are generally warm throughout the year and very hot in the summer. The winters usually bring little rainfall.
 * Desert surfaces receive a little more than twice the solar radiation received by humid regions and lose almost twice as much heat at night then in humid regions.
 * Many mean annual temperatures range from 68-77° F.
 * The extreme maximum ranges from 110-120° F.
 * Minimum temperatures sometimes drop to -0.4° F.
 * Rainfall is usually very low and/or concentrated in short bursts between long rainless periods.
 * Plants are mainly ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees.
 * Leaves are fully supported with nutrients with water-conserving characteristics.
 * They tend to be small, thick and covered with a thick outer layer.
 * Leaves are fully supported with nutrients with water-conserving characteristics.
 * These plants include: yuccas, ocotillo, turpentine bush, prickly pears, false mesquite, sotol, ephedras, agaves and brittlebush, cacti.
 * The animals include small nocturnal carnivores.
 * The dominant animals are burrowers and kangaroo rats.
 * There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds.
 * The animals stay inactive in protected hideaways during the hot day and come out to forage at dusk, dawn or at night, which is when the desert is cooler.
 * The major deserts of this type include the Sagebrush of Utah, Montana and Great Basin, North America, Newfoundland, Greenland, Russia, Europe and northern Asia.
 * . The summers are moderately long and dry, and like hot deserts, the winters normally bring low concentrations of rainfall.
 * Summer temperatures usually average between 70-81° F.
 * It normally does not go above 100° F and evening temperatures are cool, at around 50° F.
 * The average rainfall ranges from 1-2 in. annually.
 * The spiny nature of many plants in semiarid deserts provides protection in a hazardous environment.
 * Many plants have silvery or glossy leaves, allowing them to reflect more radiant energy. These plants often have an unfavorable odor or taste.
 * Semiarid plants include: Creosote bush, bur sage, white thorn, cat claw, mesquite, brittle bushes, lyciums, and jujube.
 * During the day, insects move around twigs to stay on the shady side.
 * Jack rabbits follow the moving shadow of a cactus or shrub.
 * Naturally, many animals find protection in underground burrows where they are insulated from both heat and aridity.
 * These animals include mammals such as the kangaroo rats, rabbits, and skunks; insects like grasshoppers and ants; reptiles are represented by lizards and snakes; and birds such as burrowing owls and the California thrasher.

Coastal desert: Cold desert: > >
 * [[image:DownloadedFile-1.jpeg]][[image:fennec-fox.jpg width="331" height="205"]]
 * These deserts occur in moderately cool to warm areas such as the Nearctic and Neotropical realm. A good example is the Atacama of Chile.
 * The average summer temperature ranges from 55-75° F; winter temperatures are 41° C or below.
 * The maximum annual temperature is about 95° F and the minimum is about 25° F.
 * In Chile, the temperature ranges from 28 to 41° F in July and 70-77° F in January.
 * The average rainfall measures 3-5 in. in many areas.
 * The maximum annual precipitation over a long period of years has been 14.5 in with a minimum of 2 in.
 * Some plants have extensive root systems close to the surface where they can take advantage of any rain showers.
 * All of the plants with thick and fleshy leaves or stems can take in large quantities of water when it is available and store it for future use.
 * The plants living in this type of desert include: the salt bush, buckwheat bush, black bush, rice grass, little leaf horsebrush, black sage, and chrysothamnus
 * Some toads seal themselves in burrows with gelatinous secretions and remain inactive for eight or nine months until a heavy rain occurs.
 * Some insects lay eggs that remain dormant until the environmental conditions are suitable for hatching.
 * Animals living in this type of desert include: insects, mammals like the coyote and badger, amphibians like toads, birds like the great horned owl, golden eagle and the bald eagle, and reptiles like lizards and snakes.
 * Coyotes and Badger are the biggest competitors in the type of biome because they both hunt the same foods.
 * The golden eagle and also the bald eagle are competitors because they as well hunt the same food.
 * These deserts are characterized by cold winters with snowfall and heavy rainfall throughout it and occasionall heavy rainfall over the summer.
 * They occur in the Antarctic, Greenland and the Nearctic realm.
 * The mean winter temperature is between 28 to 39° F and the mean summer temperature is between 70-79° F.
 * The mean annual precipitation ranges from 6-10 in.
 * Precipitation has reached a maximum of 18 in and a minimum of 3.5 in.
 * The main plants are deciduous, most having spiny leaves.
 * Animals living in this type of desert include: jack rabbits, kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and antelope ground squirrels, badger, kit fox, and coyote, and several types of lizards
 * All except the jack rabbits are burrowers.
 * Fun times:**
 * When visiting this biome the most popular thing to do is go on a hike, bike, camp.
 * Here you can explore parks, discover ghost towns, navigate rivers, visit cities, and view historical and cultural sites located in the desert
 * The biomes that are usually close to this type of biome are the tropical Savannah, temperate deciduous forest, or the temperate boreal forest.
 * I would recommend bringing shorts, t-shirts, sandals. At night it gets cold so I would also bring thick pants, sweaters, jackets, and shirts.
 * Its dry there in the desert so bring lots of water.
 * Sad facts:**
 * The biggest threat to this biome is development.
 * Before the widespread introduction of air conditioning in the latter part of the 20th century, few people would think to voluntarily live in a desert, but now it's a big thing.
 * Some endagered speices are: the Ocelot, the Kangaroo rat, The gila monster, the Prairie dog, the Peregrine falcon.
 * Warmer temperatures and less predicable rainfall caused by climate change threatens to upset the delicate balance of desert life.
 * =[[image:index-2.jpg]][[image:glyph_equals_sign_003D_32.png width="115" height="123"]]__**No More Nature!**__ =
 * Importance of this biome**
 * One importance is the impact on the climate around the world.
 * [[image:sun_viewed_through_camera_lens.jpg width="294" height="198"]][[image:globe.jpg width="233" height="202"]]
 * Other pages:**
 * http://biomee.wikispaces.com/Desert+Biome
 * http://biologyprojectwiki.wikispaces.com/Desert+Biome+Life+and+Inhabitants
 * http://desert-biomes.wikispaces.com/
 * http://biomef.wikispaces.com/Desert
 * https://jtscience.wikispaces.com/Desert
 * Sources:**
 * http://montaraventures.com/blog/2007/12/06/geothermal-stealth-renewable/
 * http://drake.marin.k12.ca.us/academics/seadisc/endangeredspecies/2008/Giant%20Kangaroo%20Rat/page3.htm
 * http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php
 * http://www.desertusa.com/
 * http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9k.html
 * http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/biomes/desert.htm
 * http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/desert-life-threatened-by-climate-change-and-human-exploitation-481116.html
 * http://library.thinkquest.org/5788/
 * http://tangledwing.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/desert-hiking-wallpaper-wolves-safe-for-now-solar-car-race-shows-off-new-tech/
 * http://www.pbase.com/desertrat99/image/55619190