Desert Biomes

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Desert Biomes

• Amy Busch, Amber Reed, Becky Stahl

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Part I

• Becky Stahl

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Biotic Abiotic Features

• Abiotic Sand, Temperature (The temperature in
  the summer ranges from 120 degrees Fahrenheit to
  130 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, during the
  winter, frost covers the sand). Water (Lack
  thereof, 5 inches of water/year), Light.
• Biotic
• Plants Barrel Cactus, Chain Fruit Cholla,
  Crimson Hedgehog Cactus, Pancake Prickly Pear
  Cactus.
• Animals Bobcat, Fennec Fox, Bighorn sheep,
  Jerboa, Coyote, Kangaroo Rat, Camel, Thorny Devil.

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Symbiotic Relationships

• Parasitism The Pilostyle embeds itself into a
  host plant and causes the plant to develop tiny
  red buds.
• Predator-Prey Dingoes eat rabbits. Lizards eat
  flies. Snakes eat rats. Etc, etc

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Tropic Levels
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Cycles

• The cycles dont change much from other
  biomesDeserts have less water

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Limiting Factors

• Habitat Destruction competition both limit the
  amount of organisms that can survive in a desert
  area.

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Succession

• Temperature, human intervention, climate are
  factors that could severely affect life in
  deserts. Any change in these current situations
  could be catastrophic to all organisms.

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Part II

• Amber Reed

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Dingoes

• Dingoes fill the niche of the predators.
• They are mostly like the wild dogs and wolves
  found all over the world.
• There are many dingoes found in Australia, which
  is why humans may consider them pests.
• They have adapted teeth, claws, and social skills
  that allow them to either live in a pack of up to
  ten, or like typical males, live on their own.
• Dingoes mainly have a diet of small game, such as
  rabbits, rodents, birds, and lizards, but they
  will also eat fruits and plants. Among those they
  have also been known to scavenge from humans much
  like a domesticated dog will go through the
  garbage.
• Their main competitor for food would be humans.
  Australians have created the dingo fence to
  keep the dingoes from eating their herds.

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Wallabies

• Wallabies fill the niche of prey.
• They are basically a smaller version of
  kangaroos.
• Some species of wallabies are considered pests
  and have been moved to New Zealand.
• They have adaptations of pouches to carry their
  young after they are born to continue growing.
  They have powerful hind legs to bound along. They
  can also use their legs in defense. They also
  have srong tails used for gripping.
• They are herbivores, which means they only eat
  plants and other vegetation.
• Their main copetition is each other.

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Old Man Cactus
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Old Man Cactus Cont.
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Plant
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Plant Cont.
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Part III

• Amy Busch

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Human Interferences

• In the Yucca Mountains in Nevada, a permanent
  radioactive waste site is almost established.
• These materials would need to be stored for at
  least 1,000 yrs.
• Obviously, radioactive material is not good for
  the surrounding areas or animals that inhabit the
  area.
• Radioactive materials can cause death or cancer
  in any animals or humans that are affected.
• There are other temporary waste sites now, and
  even though they may some day all be taken to the
  Yucca site, the US produces a lot of radioactive
  material right now theres about 50,000 tons of
  it

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Global Warming

• Yes, even deserts are affected by Global Warming!
• In fact, global warming affects deserts more than
  any other area in the world.
• Deserts are already dry, hot places. Global
  Warming has only made this worse.
• Animals that live in deserts have adapted over
  the years to survive in the harsh conditions, but
  they may not be able to adapt fast enough to keep
  up with the changing climate. On the other hand,
  they may be the only ones to survive in future
  deserts that will form due to Global Warming.
• Unfortunately, theres not much to be done to
  prevent these changes.

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Desert Protection Campaign

• Mission Statement
• To prevent the development of The Worlds Largest
  Garbage Dump in the Eagle Mountains.
• They also hope to prevent Metropolitan Water
  District of Southern California desert water
  storage projects from contaminating and
  depleting precious desert aquifers.
• They aim to achieve their goal by working with
  government agencies, environmental organizations,
  and desert communities to restore 29,775 acres of
  desert land.

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Pictures!!
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More Pictures _
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A camel with a hat, for your viewing pleasure P
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Bibliography

• http//animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mamm
  als/dingo.html
• http//www.independent.co.uk/environment/desert-li
  fe-threatened-by-climate-change-and-human-exploita
  tion-481116.html
• http//www.redorbit.com/news/science/883209/manage
  rs_blamed_in_yucca_controversy/index.html
• http//www.uow.edu.au/eng/phys/nukeweb/fuel_types.
  html
• http//www.wadingo.com/abassadors/lyn_watson.htm
• http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic
  le/2009/03/03/AR2009030303638.html
• http//www.ccaej.org/2006/Campaigns/desert/desert.
  html