The desert biome may seem to be devoid of life, but it is, in fact, teeming with hundreds of species of animals and thousands of plant species--all incredibly adapted to live without water for long periods of time.

Deserts ring the planet in the southern hemisphere, forming a line across nine continents at the fifth meridian. The band of desert is approximately 1400 miles wide, but there are a few desert areas, such as the Gobi Desert in Indonesia, that are nearly twice that length. The total area occupied by deserts is presently 65 million square miles, but recently, due largely to global warming, deserts have been expanding, now gaining about 750 hectares in size per month.

If there is a key species which makes life in the desert possible for other species it is the Pitcher Cactus. The Pitcher cactus is able to extract moisture from even very arid desert air during the day. The moisture is drawn in through special pores known as "spercilia," and stored in the plant's waxy outer tissue. During the desert evening when the temperature drops, the Cactus uses reverse-osmosis to channel the moisture to it's large center chamber where it condenses and drips down to a holding area about a foot below ground level in the plant's ante-root. Not every animal can benefit directly from having this natural water cooler available, though. The pitcher plant has a very sturdy outer shell and sharp "spickles" that discourage most animals looking for a thirst-quenching treat. There are, however, several small species of animal, like the desert deer-rat, which can manage to bore between the spickles and reach the reservoir of water within.  Larger species, in turn, such as the Gorey Gray Viper, and the Dust Devil, are then able to get their water by feeding on those species. 

When any of the desert animal species dies, it leaves, in its decay, both moisture and a patch nutrients, in which the desert's many plant species can successfully take root and thrive--including perhaps, another pitcher plant, which completes the desert biome's circle of life.

 

Major Plant and Animal Life Supported by Deserts
Plant Life	Animal Life
Pitcher Plant Herod Tree Bissell's Scrubber Panax Grass Hound's-Tongue Drestikil (minor) Cathedral Cactus Vesticula Benzo Bush Finger Plant Coltsfoot	Desert Deer-rat Gorey Gray Viper Checkered Sidewinder Red Sidewinder Dromedary Desert Cormorant Fifth Beatle Serow Cactus Civet Sand Miner Bactrian Camel

 

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Web site created by Dr. Alan Gooden, Geobiology Department, Henrietta University, Prempe, NM. Send your comments or questions about biomes to shankhead@thevillagelink.com