Deserts

Front 1

Desert

Environment Factors

Back 1

Pressure: high pressure deflects moisture away

Air temp: cooler air does not pick up and hold as much moisture as warmer air

Mountains: lee side gets little to no moisture

Front 2

Desert Environment Factors

pt 2

Back 2

Water-Location: some are so far inland from water source they get no water

Evaporation rate: rate can be 7 - 50x precipitation rate

Front 3

Desert Environment Factors

pt 3

Back 3

Desert life requires adaptions for drier conditions and possible extremes

Temp range: hot to cold

Front 4

Adaptations to Desert

(plants)

Back 4

Long tap root

Needle leaves

Front 5

Adaptions to Desert

(Animals)

Back 5

Kidney designed for water conservation

Body surface to minimize water loss (scales or exoskeleton)

Life style to minimize time in the sun

Regulation of body heat

Front 6

Desert: How Animals Regulate Body Heat

Back 6

Move into/out of the sun

Covering w/ dirt (insulation)

Regulate blood flow to skin

Front 7

Regulate body heat pt 2

Back 7

Sweating

Panting

Gular fluttering in birds

Cool blood in nose then send blood to brain

Front 8

Cold Desert: Great Basin desert

Back 8

Great basin desert

Largest US desert

Surface: sand gravel, clay

Front 9

Cold desert pt 2

Back 9

Mountains

- west: Sierra Nevada Range/East: Rockies

Water accumulates in basins and evaporates

Great Salt Lake here

Front 10

Hot Desert: Mojave

Back 10

Major US hot desert

South of Great Basin

Front 11

Mojave pt 2

Back 11

Death Valley is here

Temps are freezing in the winter

Surface: sand, gravel and large salf flats

Front 12

Road Runner (Cuckoo Family)

Back 12

Ground Cuckoo

Makes own nest

Rarely flies, relativley fast (15 mph)

Diet: insects, spiders, scorpions and snakes

Front 13

Kangaroo Rat

Back 13

Small, jumping desert rodent

Looks like a mouse - relative of pocket mouse

Long tail

Jumps like KANGAROO; uses tial for balance

Nocturnal

Front 14

Kangaroo Rat pt 2

Back 14

Good w/ water conservation

Able to produce a waste product maily of uric acid

Front 15

Western Diamondback

Back 15

one of the largest/dangerous snakes

more fatal bites than any other in N. America

Identified by high raising coil

Largely defensive and will stand its ground

type of pit viper

Front 16

Striped Whip snake

Back 16

Washington to Texas

Wide range of habitats (sea level of 9000 ft)

Diurnal and often hunt by holding head high and moving it side to side

Front 17

Striped whip snake pt 2

Back 17

Snakes use tongue to capture scent molecules in air

Tongue then placed in Jacobson's organ where molecules are "taste"

Brumation - winter dormancy

Front 18

Sidewinder: horned rattle snake

Back 18

S.W. and West US (location)

Body only touches ground in 2 places

found below 5000 ft.

Front 19

Sidewinder pt 2

Back 19

Young prefer lizards and adults prefer rodents

Poisonous

Rodents: bitten, released, tracked down

Lizards are held until dead

Front 20

Scorpion

Back 20

Class Arachinida and venomous

90 species in US

Largest in the US desert - hairy scorpion

Front 21

Scorpion pt 2

Back 21

Group adapted for almost ALL environments

Deserts, rain forests, caves, deciduous forests, grasslands and savannahs

Been found at 12,000 ft under snow in Himalayas

Front 22

Gila Monster

Back 22

Adults 17-24 in. long

Only poisonous lizards in US

While chewing, poison enters victim via grooved teeth in lower jaw near poison glands

Poison being studied to treat diabetes (stimulates secretion of insulin)