Hot deserts

• Hot Deserts


  • Cumate- rainfall £250 mm per year
  • Soil-lack of leaf fall limits me soil fertility
  • rainfall-"anes out
  • Location 13 35° N +5 tropics
  • People-nomadic
• Hot Deserts


  • Hamps are extremere
  • Biodiversity fragile-slighest change can have disastrous consequieces
  • Desertification
  • Decine
  • Global warming extinction
• Plants


  • Mesquite roots
  • Cacti
  • Brittle bush
• Plants


  • Roots extremely long to reach deep water supplies
  • Wide spread out near to surface-crosono wate when it rains
  • Succulents large + Fleshy stems for storing water
  • Thick + wary skin to reduce transpiration (+ water loss)
  • Small leaves/spines to lower surface area
  • Only germinate after rain- too dry man seeds
• Animals


  • Fennec fox
  • Camel
  • Kangaroo rats
  • Rodents
• Animals


  • Stay dominant
  • Nocturnal + hunts during cool nights -large eyes to see in low light conditions
  • Live in burrow - stay cool during daytime
  • Stores far mot may break down into water (come amp) to water from what food may eat
  • Large ears long times larger surface area to use near from
  • Thick fur
• Most demurely populated, India - Parsian
• Mineral extraction


  • Gypsum
  • Feldspor
  • Phosperite
  • Kaolin
  • Limestone
• Tourism


  • Safaris on comens - popular
• Energy


  • Coal thermal every 4 plant
  • Oil- large area discovered transform the local economy
  • Wind- anveloping India 2001 commucred
  • Solar - sunny cloudless weather-solar power generations
• Farming


  • Subsitence farming
• Desertification


  Process of land becoming afier + degraded as a result of climate change/numan activines
• Areas at risk


  • Edge/borders of existing deserts
  • Poor countries
• Case studies


  • Bodia, Jordan
• Reducing risks


  • Water soil management
  • Commercial farming irrigation
  • Salinisation & drip irrigation/ponding banks. contour traps
  • National parks - protected area
• Appropriate technology


  • Solar cookers - Sun's energy to neat food
  • Tree planting to reduce erosion
  • Shade amongst crops
  • Prosopis cineraria - leaves + branches provide snade - increased crop yields by 50%