Cold Desert Ecosystems
Cold deserts are often sub-divided into Coastal and Cold types. Coastal Desert Ecosystems Coastal deserts are found in cool to warm areas such as parts of the Arctic and temperate areas of Greenland & North America (Nearctic), as well as parts of Central America, South America and the Caribbean (Neotropical). One example is the Atacama area of Chile, where farmers carry out a subsistence lifestyle in one of the driest areas found on earth. The Namib Desert in Southwest Africa is the world’s greatest source of gemstones. Deserts in this category have the following main characteristics:
Animal Adaptations Similar to those animals living in Hot Desert areas, animals in the Coastal Area have evolved specialized methods of dealing with the heat and lack of water. Some toads burrow down in the soil, secreting a jelly-like shield around itself, remaining inactive for up to nine months until the next heavy rainfall. Other amphibians accelerate their life cycle through the larval stage, improving their chances of survival while water is available. Insects and fairy shrimp, too have adapted by laying eggs that remain dormant until there is rainfall to provide sustenance for the hatchlings. Mammals such as coyote and badger, as well as amphibians, lizards and snakes spend the hot part of the day in burrows. The great horned owl is mainly nocturnal, thus avoiding the heat of the day, but it can also cool itself by opening its beak and fluttering its throat area. Golden eagle and bald eagle soar high above their habitat, finding cooler temperatures. Other birds migrate to cooler climates when it becomes too hot. Plant Adaptations In the coastal Deserts, some plants have surfaces that are corrugated with ridges and grooves, such as salt bush, rice grass, black sage, etc. During rainfall the stem swells so that the grooves are far apart; as the water is used up the stem shrinks. Other plants found in Coastal deserts include bunchgrass, cardon cactus, aloe, bunchgrass, lichens.
Cold deserts are found in the Antarctic, Greenland, Northern and Western China, Turkestan, Iran and the Nearctic area. Many nomads have settled on farms in the Gobi Desert and it was crossed as early as the 13th century by Genghis Khan. Cold deserts can also be found in certain mountainous areas, such as the Great Basin area of western United States. Deserts in this category have the following characteristics:
Animal Adaptations Deer inhabit some of these areas only in winter, having grown a thick fur coat, and then migrate in the summer season, after shedding this coat. Small mammals such as kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, antelope ground squirrels, badger, kit fox and coyote, as well as several lizards, all dig burrows to wait out the cold weather. Gazelles, jack rabbits, gerbils, saiga antelope, wolves, sidewinder and viper snakes desert tortoises, lizards are but a few examples of animals who are active in the early morning (fossorial) and who seek shelter during the hottest part of the day, either in burrows or in the shade of plants. Plant Adaptations Two examples of heavy salt concentrations are the Great Salt Lake of the western United States and Iran, Aghanistan and Pakistan. Plants can vary from heights between 15 cm and 122 cm, depending upon the area. Most shed their leaves (deciduous) and have spiny leaves. Ground cover such as lichens, are found in areas such as Torgerson Island, Antarctica and cover much of the ground, whereas in other areas the plants are found quite apart from each other. Some examples of plants found in cold deserts include grasses, shadscale and camel’s thorn. Effects of Global Warming on Cold Deserts On one hand, deserts are very vulnerable because of:
On the other hand, adjacent areas are also vulnerable because of
See also:
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Cold Desert Ecosystems"And I am my brother's keeper, and I shall fight his fight, and speak the word for beast and bird, till the world shall set things right." Edna Wheeler Wilcox
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