Deserts revision resource
Fauna
Climate
Flora
Interdependant
Soil
Soil to Plants
There is nutrients and water in the soil that plants take out to use for them to grow.
Climate
Climate to Soil
It puts water into the soil and then the plants use that to grow.
Climate to Animals
The climate means that the plants can grow giving them food to eat.
Climate to Plants
The rain and the sun make the plants grow
Animals
Animals to Plants
They are used in pollination and seed dispersal
Plants
Plants to Soil
When the plants shed their leaves they fall of the soil and then they will decompose and then that puts nutrients back in to the soil.
Plants to Animals
The plants are a source of food for a huge amount of the animals that live in the temerate grasslands
Distribution
Around 30 degrees north and south of the equator, typically on the west coasts of continents around the tropics
Daytime temperature of 36 degrees C but temperatures at night can fall to as low as -12 due to the lack of insulating cloud cover
Annual precipitation is as low as 40 mm
Most plants are xerophytic (adapted to survive a lack of water)
Cacti and yucca plants absorb water and have roots very near the surface to do so
Adaptations include small leaves to reduce moisture loss during photosynthesis, shallow roots to absorb any rain as quickly as possible
Camels have humps to store water and fat, and long eyelashes to keep the sand out
Other species that have adapted to the extreme dryness are meerkats and sidewinder snakes, which burrow in the day, and come out in the evening/night