The Desert © Lanette E. Jensen 2003

What is a Desert? A desert is defined as… A place that has less than 10 inches of rainfall each year. A place where evaporation is greater than precipitation.

Utah’s Precipitation Look at the map showing the average annual precipitation in Utah. Why do you think the amount of precipitation varies throughout Utah?

Utah’s Deserts Look at the map. What are the three deserts that are found in Utah? Can you find… …the Great Basin Desert …the Painted Desert …the Mohave Desert

Most of Utah is a Cold Desert Zone A cold desert has… long periods of cold weather. snow as its most common form of precipitation. sagebrush as the most common form of vegetation.

Utah has a Hot Desert Zone We find a hot desert located in Utah’s extreme southwestern corner. Do you think that it snows in the hot desert zone?

Desert Plants and Trees

Flowering Plants The root of the Sego Lily is like an onion, but tastes much sweeter. The pioneers ate the bulbs when food was scarce. This is our state flower and must not be picked! Hound’s Tongue is a plant that grows 1-3 feet tall. It has a small reddish purple flower and a burr that clings to clothes and fur. ©St. Mary's College of California

More Desert Plants Indian Paintbrush has a beautiful red-orange blossom. It only grows from 12’’-20” tall. The roots of an Indian Paintbrush will tap into a nearby sagebrush and suck food and moisture from them. Yarrow is found through out Utah. It has soft, fern-like leaves. Its flowers grow in flat-topped bouquets. Indian Paintbrush ©El Native Growers

Other Desert Plants Yellow Primrose is a delicate, yellow paper like flower. They are commonly found along dry roadsides. The prickly pear cactus is named correctly! It is pear-shaped and grows close to the ground. Look out for these when you go hiking. Photograph by David Muench/Corbis

Utah’s Cold Desert Trees & Shrubs Can you tell the difference between the sagebrush and the oak brush? Sagebrush Oak brush

Other Trees and Shrubs The Pinyon can be a valuable source of food in the desert. The pinyon nut is a source of food for both wildlife and humans. Utah Juniper The Utah Juniper is often mistaken as cedar trees. The rot-resistant tree trunks are used for fence posts and building traditional Navajo hogans. Pinyon

Hot Desert Trees and Shrubs The Joshua Tree and the Barrel Cactus are examples of hot desert plants. Joshua Tree Barrel Cactus What do you suppose happens to the folds in the barrel cactus when it rains?

Plants Helping Animals Where do birds like to nest in the desert? A cactus of course! Next time you are in the desert, look close at the cactus and you might be surprised. Birds like the woodpecker have adapted to hollowing out nests in the cactus. When they abandon their homes, other birds move right in! Copyright 2001 Steven Holt/Stockpix

What’s For Lunch? A peccary is really the desert relative of a pig. Guess what they like to eat? Cacti! The prickly spines of the cactus doesn’t bother them. Rule #1: Never invite a peccary to lunch! He may make a real pig of himself!

Animal Adaptations in the Desert

Going Underground… “Who-o-o is in the trees? Not these owls! The burrowing owl beats the heat by going underground. These owls will inhabit deserted prairie dog tunnels. It is not unusual for these birds to be seen bobbing up and down from a prairie dog mound!

Let’s Beat the Heat! The Utah Prairie Dog makes his home by burrowing long tunnels and “rooms” in the ground. They find it cooler than staying in the hot desert sun. Each burrow has a front and a back entrance. Prairie dogs live in “towns”. One prairie dog will stand on guard and alert others if danger is near.

Hot Desert Animals Adapt Too! The Desert Tortoise builds underground burrows for shelter from the heat. His waterproof skin and shell plates reduce evaporation from his body to help him survive in the desert. Carrying around your house all day is hard work!

What If I Can’t Get a Drink? Often times there is no water for animals to drink in the desert. How do they get fluids? Many animals, like this kangaroo rat, get most of their water from the food they eat. The kangaroo rat may go all it’s life without a drink.

Beat the Heat… Does the desert look like a dead place in the day? Well, wait until night for the party! Many desert animals have adapted to desert life by being nocturnal, or only coming out at night. There is not much to do during the hot daytime except sleep, then when the hot desert sun disappears they go to work! Hunting and gathering food keeps them busy all night!

Not the Cuddly Sort… Way to go “spike”! Animals like the horned lizard know that the best way to not being eaten is to not be edible. It’s hard for a bird or other creatures to eat a lizard because of his hard and prickly skin. Way to go “spike”!

“Ear-Conditioning”? Do jackrabbit’s use those long ears as fans to stay cool? Not quite, but their ears are helpful in keeping cool. When the rabbit’s warm blood flows through its big ears, the blood cools. Then, the cooled blood flows into the rest of its body—and presto, the jackrabbit is cooled! Now that’s “ear-conditioning”! ©2001 Steven Holt

Plant Adaptations for Survival!

An Extra Thick Skin… Plants have made special adaptations to help them survive in the desert. Have you ever gotten glue on your fingers while doing an art project? Does it feel like an extra skin when it dries? Well, a cactus protects itself much in the same way. They have a thick, waxy coating on their surface. This is one way they keep their water in!

Time to “Stretch” Out… A desert plant must survive with very little water. When it rains the plant needs to soak up as much water as possible and as quickly as it can! Desert plants’ roots grow just under the surface of the ground and spread out as far as possible. In this way, when it rains, the plant can collect its fair share of water. The roots of this cactus are designed to capture and store water when it rains.

Sometimes Bigger is Not Better… Is there a reason that desert plants do not have big and floppy leaves? Do cacti have leaves at all? Look at the picture of the cactus closely. The spines of the cactus are its leaves. If a cactus had large leaves, it would loose a great deal of water through evaporation. In this case, bigger is not better for the desert plants!

Where Does It Belong? Look at the chart, match each desert animal with its description. Coyote Horned lizard Prairie dog Roadrunner Desert tortoise Burrowing owl Great Basin rattlesnake carnivore mammal herbivore reptile omnivore bird cold-blooded amphibian warm-blooded fish

Let’s check… What are some adaptations that plants have made in the desert? What are some adaptations that animals have made in the desert? How do desert animals protect themselves from predators? What two types of deserts will you find in Utah How are they different?