Hot and Dry Deserts

Hello Blog! For the last time, sadly... 😥 Throughout my travels in the desert, I learned so much about the biome’s summer and winter climate, competition that occurs in the desert, different symbiotic relationships, limiting factors, animals and plants of the desert along with useful adaptations, human impacts on the desert, the water cycle, the nitrogen cycle, and I got to study a food web and energy pyramid!  I hope you learned about all of these aspects of the desert biome also and found these facts interesting and useful.  If you would like to research some of these things even more, here are the sources that I used when furthering my knowledge about organisms and different things that I saw while traveling the desert.  I’m going to miss the desert, but tune back to my blog when I travel to my next biome.  Next up is the rainforest! Citations:    “Desert Biome: Climate, Precipitation, Location, Seasons, Plants, Animals.”  Earth Eclipse , 17 July 2017, www.eartheclipse.com

Day 10         Today I learned about the Nitrogen cycle in the desert biome. It was much more interesting than I originally thought it would be! I learned that the cycle can begin through the uptake of nitrates by desert plants. The desert plants that contain Nitrate are consumed by insects and reptiles. The nitrates are then transferred when these primary consumers are consumed by secondary consumers. The nitrates are passed up along the food chain to carnivores that later pass away and allow the nitrates to return to the soil. Once in the soil, the bacteria and fungi mineralize the Nitrogen back into a state that the plants can use. This then restarts the process and the cycle begins again.         This cycle is important because it allows desert plants to grow once they receive the nitrogen. If these plants did not receive Nitrogen they would not grow, which would cause the plants to die. If the plants in the desert died , the primary consumers would be affected because the

Day 9       Today is my 9th day in the desert. I learned about how humans have impacted the desert biome. I was very concerned when I learned that humans have been negatively impacting the desert through exploitation. This results in the drainage of underground aquifers and soil poisoning through salinisation. This is accelerating the rate at which deserts are drying out and having to be killed off. I learned that desert margins are particularly vulnerable and it is there that humans settlements are most at risk of desertification. I also learned that Humans cause pollution which affects the atmosphere of the desert. Humans drill for fossil fuels such as oils which can negatively impact the desert. Humans also use many machines and factories which can further pollute the atmosphere of the desert biome. Organisms living near these factories or machines are affected first and very quickly by this pollution.  Overall, I learned a lot about the negative impacts cause by humans that affe

Day 8      Today I learned about a general food web of the desert biome.   I was able to also see some of these animals in action and I noticed there were cacti almost everywhere.  The primary producers include cacti, creosote bushes, thorn acacias, annual flowers, rabbit brush, ocotillo, and the sage brush.  The primary consumers, or plant eaters, are insects, rodents, kangaroo rats, and lizards.  The small predators, carnivores, and insectivores in the desert include scorpions, larger lizards, snakes, and tarantulas.  Finally, the largest predators of the desert are the hawks and foxes.  I posted a picture of the desert food web below.  Food Web in the Desert Biome  I also have a picture of an energy and biomass pyramid of a desert.  The producers include the Whisk Fern, Mesquite Tree, and the Saguaro Cactus.  Some primary consumers include the Mule Deer, Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Turkey Vulture, and Giant Desert Centipede.  Secondary consumers in this pyramid include the

Today is one of the more interesting days here at the desert. It is my 7th day and I have learned a lot about the water cycle in the desert. Right now, you may be thinking: “How is there a water cycle in a biome with little to no water?” I thought this as well until I experienced what I’m about to tell you for myself. So, to start off the water cycle, heat causes liquid and frozen water to evaporate into water vapor gas, which rises high in the sky to form clouds.  This forming of clouds is called condensation.  These clouds travel across the globe and drop rain and snow, which is known as precipitation. These clouds are so powerful that they are even able to precipitate in places as water scarce as the desert. That is how the water cycle works in the desert biome. Cool right?! Here's a picture for more understanding: Water Cycle in the Desert                                                            

Today is my 6th day exploring this large and vast desert. My goal today was to find examples of each symbiotic relationship between two species. The first relationship I found was mutualism between a Goby fish and a Shrimp. When a predator would come near the burrow in which the fish and shrimp are living, the fish touches the shrimp with its tail as a warning. Then, both the fish and the shrimp retreat to the burrow for safety until the predator is gone. From this relationship, the shrimp benefits by receiving a warning of danger, and the fish benefits by getting a safe retreat and a place to lay it’s eggs. Pistol Shrimp and Gobi Fish The second relationship I found was commensalism between a hermet crab and a snail.  Hermit crabs benefit by using the shells of dead snails for home, while the snail is unaffected. Hermit Crab and Snail The third relationship I discovered was parasitism between coyotes and fleas. The fleas hungrily latched onto the coyote in order to suck

Hey blog,  Today was my 5th day in the desert. My tour guide took me to see the plants of the desert. I was surprised to see this plant life because I thought the desert was too hot to support life. The first plant I saw was a cactus.  This cactus was 10 feet and 100 years old but I learned that cacti can grow up to 20 feet two and live for over 200 years! The type of cactus I saw was a Giant Saguaro cactus, which has adapted to the harsh conditions of the desert biome. It’s shallow roots enable this type of cactus to soak up rain and dew before it evaporates, which is helpful because the evaporation typically overtakes precipitation in the desert. The cacti in the desert also have a spongy interior which allows them to expand and hold a lot of water. I also learned that cacti grow slowly to conserve energy. Cacti in the desert  My tour guide also took me to see the Mugma Trees. The Mugma Tree is another plant that has adapted to live in the desert biome. This ty

Hey guys! This is day 4 of my travel blog.  Today I learned about limiting factors, which are environmental factors that tend to limit population size.  There are two different kinds of these factors, and they are density-dependent and density-independent.  Density-dependent limiting factors rely or “depend” on the size of a population.  For instance, the larger a population, the bigger impact a density-dependent limiting factor will have.  Two types of desnity-dependent limiting factors include competition and disease. Competition relies on the size and density of a population because it creates conflict over limited recourses.  While exploring the desert this morning, I saw a type of bird species in which I was later informed is called the “Cactus Wren.”  When I later got back to my tent, I researched about the birds on my laptop.  I found information on competition that takes place in this species of bird, and how they rely greatly on the Saguaro Cactus for food, water, and she

Dear Blog, This is Day 3 of my travel blog.  Today during my journey around the desert I spotted four different sets of species competing against each other for some sort of prize.  It seemed as if these species were competing for resources.  The first competition I noticed was between the desert coyote and the sidewinder rattlesnake species.  Both animals were fighting over food such as the pocket mouse.  They were also fighting over water, since water is very scarce in the desert.  This specific scenario exemplifies interspecific competition, which occurs when members of different species occupy the same niche and have to compete for their needed recourse or materials. Desert Coyote  Sidewinder Rattlesnake eating Pocket Mouse  Desert Pocket Mouse  The second species competition was the red tail hawk verses the diamondback rattlesnake.  Both animals fight to the death for food in order to survive. This competition is also considered to be an example o

Today during my travels I saw a camel.  This popular desert animal can go for days without food and water, and it does this by storing fat in its hump.  Another cool fact that I find interesting is that the camels can close their nostrils to keep out the constant blowing sand.  Another useful adaptation is that the camels have two rows of eyelashes, which helps them shield their eyes from the sun and blowing winds.  I also noticed how broad the hooves were of the camel that I saw, and when I later researched I learned that they are this way to prevent the camel from sinking in the sand. Cool, right? Camel in the Desert Biome  My travel guide also pointed out to me an animal called “The Gila Monster.”  This creature is one of only two venomous lizards in the world.  They spend most of their life underground.  Similar to the camel, the lizard can go months between meals by living off the fat stored in its tail. The Gila Monster  On my second day of travel I also learned mor

Today is my first day in the desert. I’m spending my trip in the dry and hot desert, but the desert biome also includes semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts. The environment is very harsh and arid because the desert does not receive a lot of precipitation throughout the year. Usually, the desert received about 50 centimeters of rain per year! I’ve been in the desert since last night and it’s been rough. There is little moisture in the air so the heat from the high temperatures of the day is not held. Last night the temperature plummeted to almost 32 degrees! Deserts are actually cold at night which was not a pleasant surprise for me. The lack of moisture also causes the extreme heat during the day because the sun’s rays are not blocked and go straight into the ground. It’s currently summer so the temperatures during the day are about 86-114 degrees! During the winter months, temperatures range from about 50-64 degrees. There is also little precipitation during the winte