Nearly one third of the Earth’s total land surface is covered with deserts. When we talk about a desert we often think of a hot, dry, lifeless place but in fact some deserts such as the Gobi are covered with snow for part of the year. Deserts do receive some rain (under 10 inches a year) but it is very unpredictable. The desert biomes also have vast range of temperatures from very hot in the day to near freezing in the night.
A desert biome unlike the other four face no man made threats, in fact, it just the opposite. Because of poor land management a once productive land, especially surrounding an existing desert, can soon become a part of the desert.
The thought that the desert biomes are lifeless wastelands is a misconception that many students will have. The animals of the desert may have special features that make it possible for them to survive, such as oversize ears of the jackrabbits. While other fauna like the kangaroo rat obtain their moisture from the seeds they eat. For some the desert conditions are ideal, like the collared lizard whose dry scaly skin retains water. Other animals that inhabit the desert biome include snakes, rodents, lizards, insects, and camels. The flora of the desert biome includes cacti, Spanish needles, the poisonous dogbane, the elephant tree and winterfat.
