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Deserts
An introduction to the characteristics of deserts and the plants and animals that inhabit them.
Book
In the desert
As global climate change advances, more parts of Earth are becoming desert. How to slow this process is just one area of research scientists study in the desert biome. Like the animals and plants that can survive it, scientists must learn how to work in the hot, dry conditions of the desert. Readers find out their strategies for working in deserts, such as using solar power and even burning human waste! In addition, STEM topics such as robotics, drones, and climate research are described and illustrated through full-color photographs.
Book
Where on earth are deserts?
Explores what deserts are and the different types while detailing specific deserts around the world.
Book
Sonoran Desert Journeys
Lizards dashing rapidly between plants. Songbirds and woodpeckers
flying to and from their nests. Hawks perched on saguaros. What
kinds of journeys have these and many other animals and plants and
their ancestors taken in space and time to arrive in the Sonoran
Desert? How long have these species been living together here? In
Sonoran Desert Journeys ecologist Theodore H. Fleming
discusses two remarkable journeys. First, Fleming offers a brief
history of our intellectual and technical journey over the past
three centuries to understand the evolution of life on Earth. Next,
he applies those techniques on a journey of discovery about the
evolution and natural history of some of the Sonoran Desert's most
iconic animals and plants. Fleming details the daily lives of a
variety of reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants, describing their
basic natural and evolutionary histories and addressing intriguing
issues associated with their lifestyles and how they cope with a
changing climate. Finally, Fleming discusses the complexity of
Sonoran Desert conservation. This book explores the evolution and
natural history of iconic animals and plants of the northern
Sonoran Desert through the eyes of a curious naturalist and
provides a model of how we can coexist with the unique species that
call this area home.
eBook
The Arid Lands
Deserts are commonly imagined as barren, defiled, worthless places, wastelands in need of development. This understanding has fueled extensive anti-desertification efforts -- a multimillion-dollar global campaign driven by perceptions of a looming crisis. In this book, Diana Davis argues that estimates of desertification have been significantly exaggerated and that deserts and drylands -- which constitute about 41% of the earth's landmass -- are actually resilient and biodiverse environments in which a great many indigenous people have long lived sustainably. Meanwhile, contemporary arid lands development programs and anti-desertification efforts have met with little success. As Davis explains, these environments are not governed by the equilibrium ecological dynamics that apply in most other regions. Davis shows that our notion of the arid lands as wastelands derives largely from politically motivated Anglo-European colonial assumptions that these regions had been laid waste by \"traditional\" uses of the land. Unfortunately, such assumptions still frequently inform policy. Drawing on political ecology and environmental history, Davis traces changes in our understanding of deserts, from the benign views of the classical era to Christian associations of the desert with sinful activities to later (neo)colonial assumptions of destruction. She further explains how our thinking about deserts is problematically related to our conceptions of forests and desiccation. Davis concludes that a new understanding of the arid lands as healthy, natural, but variable ecosystems that do not necessarily need improvement or development will facilitate a more sustainable future for the world's magnificent drylands.
eBook
Let's visit the desert
Examines the desert biome's important features, plants, and animals and how they all work together to support life.
Book
Wind and sand environment and spatial differentiation of sediment in the west desert of Yinshan Mountain in China
To investigate the regular patterns by wind and sand in low hilly basins, we analyzed the particle size, component end element and fractal variability of surface sediments, as well as the near-surface wind energy and sand transport potential, and determined the characteristics of their spatial differentiation in the desert west of Yinshan Mountain in China. The results showed that the regional dominant wind was mainly westerly and southwest wind, and the average annual average wind speed of sand wind was 6.56–7.62 m s
–1
, the annual average drift potential of the sand wind was 359.99 VU, and the average annual value of synthetic drift potential was 204.46 VU, which classified region as a the middle-wind-energy environment with middle-wind-direction variability. Under the action of dominant wind, the particle size of dune sediment gradually refined from the northwest to the southeast and northeast, and the fractal dimension gradually increased. The sediments of Baiyinchagan Desert, Boketai Desert, and southern Yamaleike Desert dunes were fine (the average particle size was 0.191 mm), and the average fractal dimension value was 2.372; the Haili Desert and the northern Yamaleike Desert dunes was large (the average particle size was 0.212 mm), and the average fractal dimension was 2.327. At the same time, fed by the near source Gobi coarse sand, under the action of long-term wind and sand, the Haili and Yamaleike Deserts formed tall and stable crescent sand dunes and sand dune chains. The particle size end member indicated that the desert sediment was wind deposit, while the desert peripheral Gobi desert end member indicated that the type of sediment was wind deposit and river alluvial material formed under the combined action of wind and water, the heterogeneity of the Gobi outside the desert was significantly higher than the desert surface, which showed moderate spatial differentiation. The topography of low mountains and hilly basins affected near-surface sandstorm processes and the formation and evolution of sandstorm landforms.
Journal Article