Desert

Question 1

What is a key characteristic of Desert Climate?

Answer 1

Low rainfall

Question 2

What are two facts about rainfall in desert climates?

Answer 2

1. Rainfall is usually 1-10 in/yr. Always a moisture deficit.
2. Scattered, unreliable, often intense rainfall events, erratic.

Question 3

What is temperature like in Deserts and Steppes?

Answer 3

Temperature depends on latitude, so it can either be hot (subtropical) or cold (temperatre). Cold deserts are in the Northern Hemisphere

Question 4

Look at the location of major deserts in the world

Answer 4

Look at the powerpoint!

Question 5

What kind of climate are subtropical deserts?

Answer 5

Really Hot, no cold months.

Question 6

If a desert has no cold months, what latitude is the desert?

Answer 6

Subtropical

Question 7

What kind of climate are in mid latitude deserts

Answer 7

Higher seasonality w/ cold winter!

Question 8

Know precipitaton/ temperature of different deserts!

Answer 8

Look at powerpoints!

Question 9

What kind of deserts is snow relatively common?

Answer 9

Snow is relatively common in mid latitude or high elevation deserts

Question 10

How much of the earth’s surface do deserts and steppes cover?

Answer 10

35% of the earth’s surface! They are also a large latitude range

Question 11

What are the four major causes of aridity?

Answer 11

1. Subtropical High
2. Continentality
3. Rainshadow
4. Cold Currents

Question 12

What is the subtropical high?

Answer 12

It is centered around 30 degrees. High and dry go to together! The east sides of the subtropical high is where there is a lot of build up of air (sinking air). East sides of the highs have more deserts.

Question 13

What causes aridity in central Asia?

Answer 13

Continentality (being remote from water)

Question 14

What deserts are influenced by continentality?

Answer 14

Great Basin, Sahara, Australian, and Gobi Deserts

Question 15

How does the rainshadow affect case aridity?

Answer 15

Rainshadow - occurs anywhere there are mountains

Question 16

How do cold ocean currents affect aridity?

Answer 16

Cold currents cause a surface temperature inversion so air cannot rise (or cool to dew point) so no rain. And STH!

Question 17

What don’t you see in a satellite image of a desert?

Answer 17

1. color- no green - vegetation
2. clarity - few clouds, lack of moisture in atmosphere
3. no signs of lakes or rivers

Question 18

Why is Death Valley the driest place north of mexico?

Answer 18

1. subtropcal high
2. rainshadow of westerlies
3. low elevation

all of these work together to cause aridy.

Question 19

for test, she will give an example of a desert. know the factors that made it a desert!

Answer 19

Study!

Question 20

What causes dunes?

Answer 20

When there is lots of wind and no vegetation to stabilize soil.

Question 21

What is characteristic of the biome of a desert?

Answer 21

Relatively low biodiversity. Biomass is also very low.

Question 22

What are 6 ways plants avoid desiccation in the desert?

Answer 22

Adaptation: two main strategies - store watera and reduce water loss/ drought avoidance

1. Store water
2. Put roots down deep where there is ground water
3. Do not have leaves that transpire and lose water; instead have white hairs or spines that reflect radiation and provide shade
4. wide spacing of plants means less competition for H20 and nutrients
5. have long-lived seeds and an “ephemeral” existence allows plants to live and reproduce within a place with very patchy and inconsistent rainfall patterns
6. Being deciduous, i.e., leafless most of the time, uses less water. Instead grow leaves only after a rain.

Question 23

What is succulence?

Answer 23

Thick, fleshy, water-holding tissue

Question 24

What are animal adaptations to aridity?

Answer 24

Two most important needs:

1. avoid hypothermia
2. adapt to low H2O intake

Question 25

How do camels survive?

Answer 25

1. Can go days without food and water because it is converted fat in the hump
2. dry poops!

Question 26

How do desert foxes adapt?

Answer 26

1. Thick coat insulates from sun
2. Lg. ear radiate heat away
3. light color has high albedo
4. reduce water loss.
5. obtains all of the water they need from their food so they never drink water

Question 27

How do kangaroo rats adapt?

Answer 27

1. Nocturnal activity (cooler) and underground dens
2. get water from seeds and feed
3. specialized kidneys recycle water from their urine.
4. waterless waste

Question 28

What are the major desert crops in the U.S.?

Answer 28

cotton, nuts, citrus, grapes, and cattle

Question 29

What are major human-environment interaction issues in desert?

Answer 29

Large scale irrigation for commercial crops depletes underground and above ground (there is very little of this) water supplies

Question 30

Why grow stuff in the desert?

Answer 30

Lots of cheap land that noone does anything with anyway

Question 31

What are many people want nice gardens doing instead?

Answer 31

Xeriscaping (using native plants).

Question 32

what is a big water guzzler?

Answer 32

traditional lawns

Question 33

Whats a good way to tell steppes and deserts apart?

Answer 33

Deserts - arid

steppe - semiarid

Question 34

What is another big problem in deserts?

Answer 34

Habitat destruction and fragmentation from commercial agriculture and development

Question 35

Why is habitat destruction and fragmentation bad?

Answer 35

Desert ecosystem is fragile!

Question 36

Cactus rustling (stealing cacti) is a crime. Why are they so important?

Answer 36

Saguaros are keystone species. they provide nesting areas, perches, and food (fruit) for Gila woodpecker, flickers, martins, kestrels, and bats.

Question 37

How does cattle ranching affect these habitats?

Answer 37

It makes many species endangered. They cause lots of erosion. Prevent plants from growing. Eat lots of grass by grazing

Question 38

What is the estimated net proportion U.S. arid land grazed by livestock?

Answer 38

85%