The Desert Ecosystem

This image shows all the deserts of the world. Notice there are not any in Europe. The yellow areas are deserts. Click on image for full size (106K JPG) Windows Original

The desert ecosystem is one full of interesting questions. How can anything survive in a place with hardly any water? Why is it so dry to begin with? Well, this section on the desert ecosystem will hopefully answer these questions and many others. But first, let's explain what a desert really is.

You can find at least one desert on every continent except Europe and Antarctica. Each desert is different in some way, but they all have one thing in common. In order for an area of land to be considered a desert, it must receive less than 10 inches of water a year.

How come deserts get such little water? Clouds are scarce in these regions, and we all know that without clouds, there can't be rain, snow or any other precipitation! But clouds also serve another purpose - they block out some of the Sun. The desert gets mighty hot during the day because the Sun beats down on the sand. At night, the desert gets very cold, because there aren't clouds around to keep the heat from escaping to the atmosphere.

There are plenty of differences between the deserts of the world. Some deserts are made of very fine, red sand, others consists of sand mixed with pebbles and rocks. The desert sand started out as rock, but years of weathering by wind and water has created dunes in the deserts. These sands are mostly minerals, and sometimes oil can be found hidden deep within the rocks.

So, what kinds of plants and animals survive in these vast drylands? Are deserts of any use to humans? Let's explore the desert ecosystem and find out! Click on plants, insects and arachnids, reptiles, birds, mammals or a special page for camels to learn more!

This image shows all the deserts of the world. Notice there are not any in Europe. The yellow areas are deserts. Click on image for full size (106K JPG) Windows Original

The desert ecosystem is one full of interesting questions. How can anything survive in a place with hardly any water? Why is it so dry to begin with? Well, this section on the desert ecosystem will hopefully answer these questions and many others. But first, let's explain what a desert really is.

You can find at least one desert on every continent except Europe and Antarctica. Each desert is different in some way, but they all have one thing in common. In order for an area of land to be considered a desert, it must receive less than 10 inches of water a year.

How come deserts get such little water? There are few clouds in these regions, and we all know that without clouds, there can't be rain or any other precipitation! But clouds also serve another purpose - they block out some of the Sun. The desert gets mighty hot during the day because the Sun beats down on the sand. At night, the desert gets very cold, because there aren't clouds around to keep the heat from escaping to the atmosphere.

There are plenty of differences between the deserts of the world. Some deserts are made of very fine, red sand, others consists of sand mixed with pebbles and rocks. The desert sand started out as rock, but years of weathering by wind and water has created dunes in the deserts. These sands are mostly minerals, and sometimes oil can be found hidden deep within the rocks.

So, what kinds of plants and animals survive in these vast drylands? Are deserts of any use to humans? Let's explore the desert ecosystem and find out! Click on plants, insects and arachnids, reptiles, birds, mammals or a special page for camels to learn more!

This image shows all the deserts of the world. Notice there are not any in Europe. The yellow areas are deserts. Click on image for full size (106K JPG) Windows Original

Deserts are very hot and dry places. Deserts get very little rain each year. So how do plants and animals live here? This section on the desert ecosystem will explain how!

But first, do you know what a desert looks like? It is made of sand and rocks. Sometimes the sand is red! There aren't a lot of clouds over deserts, so it gets really hot during the day and cold at night.

Let's explore the desert ecosystem and find out more! Click on plants, insects and arachnids, reptiles, birds, mammals or a special page for camels to learn more!