Deserts and xeric shrublands

Deserts and Xeric Shrublands

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Deserts and xeric shrublands

Deserts
Désert

?D?sert? is ?milie Simon's debut single, released in October 2002. The song was a huge success both critically and commercially in her homeland....
and xeric shrublands is a biome

Biome

Biomes are Climateally and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as Community of plants, animals, and Soil biology, and are often referred to as ecosystems....
characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture. Deserts and xeric shrublands receive an annual average rainfall of ten inches or less, and have an arid

Arid

A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the Individual growth and Morphogenesis of plant and animal life....
or hyperarid climate, characterized by a strong moisture deficit, where annual potential loss of moisture from evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the earth's land surface to atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbody....
well exceeds the moisture received as rainfall.

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Encyclopedia

Biome

Arid

Evapotranspiration

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
climate regions. Desert soil

Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
s tend to be sandy or rocky, and low in organic materials. Saline

Soil salination

Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.Salt affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface....
or alkaline soils are common. Plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s and animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s in deserts and xeric shrublands are adapted to low moisture conditions. Hyperarid regions are mostly devoid of vegetation and animal life, and include rocky deserts and sand dunes. Vegetation in arid climate regions can include sparse grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found....
s, shrublands, and woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade....
s. Plants adapted to arid climates are called xerophyte

Xerophyte

A xerophyte or xerophytic organism is a plant which is able to survive in an environment with little available water or moisture, usually in environments where potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation for all or part of the growing season....
s, and include succulent plant

Succulent plant

Succulent plants, also known as succulents or fat plants, are water-retaining plants adapted to arid climate or soil conditions. Succulent plants store water in their leaf, Plant stem and/or roots....
s, geophytes, sclerophyll

Sclerophyll

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaf and short internodes . The word comes from the Greek sclero and phyllon . Sclerophyllous plants occur in all parts of the world but are most typical of Australia....
, and annual plant

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
s. Animals, including insect

Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, reptile

Reptile

Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia, are air-breathing, cold-blooded vertebrates that have skin covered in scale as opposed to hair or feathers....
s, arachnid

Arachnid

Arachnids are a class of Arthropod invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, but some exceptions are of some species having the first pair legs convert to sensory function and harvest mite larvae have only 3 pairs of legs....
s, bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s and mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s, are frequently nocturnal to avoid moisture loss.

Desert and xeric shrublands ecoregions

External links

Online Community focused on the study of Xeric Plant Species.

Deserts and xeric shrublands

See also

Desert and xeric shrublands ecoregions

External links