Deserts

Hot Dry Desert Most Hot and Dry Deserts don't have very many plants. Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's land surface. Most Hot and Dry Deserts are near the Tropic of Cancer or the Tropic of Capricorn. Hot and Dry Deserts temperature ranges from 20 to 25° C.

Death Valley

Desert Animals The only animals they have that can survive have the ability to burrow under ground. This is because they would not be able to live in the hot sun and heat. They only come out in the night when it is a little cooler.

Desert Animals Animals are adapted to life in harsh conditions. Animals such are the desert big horn sheep pictured to the right, are very sure footed and adapted to eating the vegetation.

Kangaroo Rat It has adapted to desert life by getting its water from the food it eats. Kangaroo rats do not drink water. Another great adaptation the kangaroo rat has is a cheek pouch, which it can store food in for weeks while finding shelter.

Plants of a Hot Desert Dessert plants conserve water well. Succulents and cacti have a thick fleshy stems and leaves.

Cold deserts A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter instead of just dropping a few degrees in temperature like they would in a Hot and Dry Desert. It never gets warm enough for plants to grow, just maybe a few grasses and mosses. Temperatures in these locales can become very hot—over 100°F in summer. Yet they can also drop to –20°F in winter.

Animal Adaptations The animals in Cold Deserts have to burrow to keep warm. This Bactrian camel lives in Central and East Asia's rocky deserts. Bactrian camels have developed special adaptations to allow them to survive in such a brutal environment.

Threats to Deserts Sonoran Desert National Monument Overwhelmed by Off-Road Traffic and Impacts Tucson, AZ — The Sonoran Desert National Monument is considering banning off-road vehicle traffic altogether because of the resource damage and user conflicts, according to internal memos released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Agency officials cannot cope with the “exponential” increase in recreational demands on the nearly half-million acre federal preserve south of Phoenix – particularly abusive off-roading by excessively large groups. http://atvreport.blogspot.com/2008/01/sonora-desert-under-assault.html