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LS2- Desert Biomes
6
Desert Biomes
Life Science Section 2
Desert Fauna
Please choose either nocturnal or diurnal and make a new subtopic with the name of your animal and your initials.
Fauna
Nocturnal Fauna
Nocturnal
M.H
The Fennec Fox
By Pierce
Fennec Fox
Niche
Fennec foxes are nocturnal so they sleep in a special hole to avoid the hot desert sun. They also do this to wait for all of the night time insects.
Niche
Diet
Fennec foxes mainly eat small insects such as grasshoppers and locusts. They also eat small lizards, rodents, birds, and even bird eggs.
Diet
Mating
Mating
Fennec foxes are monogamous so they mate for life. Litter sizes commonly range from 2 - 5 kits. The mama will stay with all of the kits for about 50 days until the babies are weaned which is around the 60 - 70 day marker. Kits become sexualy mature after the 10 month marker.
Hunting
The way that fennec foxes hunt is they wait for the night then sneak up on the prey when it's sleeping.
Hunting
Death Stalker DL
scientific name:Leiurus quinquestriatus
Niche: It abosorbs fluids through the preys flesh and organ.
Eating Habits: they typically eat centipedes, earthworms, spiders, crickets, and other scorpions.
Mating: A male will find the right feamale and began mating with her, they can have up to 85 offsprings.
Fun fact: they are one of the most venomous scorpions that can paralyze you.
Death Stalker
DL
Sand cats, Felis Magarita
Sand Cat
Sand cats are little wild cats that live in hot or stony deserts, the long hair on its paws are used to help it protect from the hot sand and leaving no trails. They live in Africa and the Middle East. They have adapted so the moisture from their prey is the only moisture they need. The sand cats live in burrows and are pretty fast, they can dodge easily. They commonly mate in the winter. The kittens become independent after 4 months.
Pygmy jerboa HB
Scientific name- Salpingotulus michaelis
Niche- They dig up roots and get water.
Eating- Seeds, succulent leaves and dessert plants.
Mating habits- Takes place twice a year.
Fun facts- Its one of the smallest rodents.
Its tail is almost twice the size of them.
Pygmy
Jerboa
The Kangaroo Rat
Kangaroo Rat
The kangaroo rat is a small rodent that feeds on seeds, stems, and leaves of grasses. They are find on the ground and are very solible. They only let their mates aproach them during mating season.
Ringtail Racoon
Ring tail Racoon
Mili Arce
The ringtails scientific name is Bassarius astutus. The ringtails niche is the "ecological niche." It plays an important role as prey for larger predators. Ringtails are omnivores which mean that they eat both plants and animals. They usually eat any animal smaller than them and any plant that they know is safe to eat . Some of its mating habits consist of a mating "chitter" the female makes to attract the male. They usually mate annually which means they only mate once a year.
Fun Facts:
The ringtail racoon is another species than the ringtail racoon but are still easily confused with eachother.
They are made for climing with their long talons and long tails.
They can also rotate their feet a full 180 degrees.
All information from:
Wikipedia
Desert Cottontail
Scientific Name: Silvilgus Audubonii
Niche: Mostly deserts with some grass
Diet: Herbivore (90% Grass)
Mating: Can have several litters in a year (ever heard the phrase breeding like rabbits?)
Facts: Big ears for thermoregulation and it will freeze on encounter with predators
Spider tailed horn viper
Pseudocerastes urarachnoides
STH vipers live in the rocks in a desert and eat birds or rodents.
Spider tailed horned viper Liam
Eating
eating
As their name sugjests they have a spider like apendage which they wiggle so that a bird will come and try to eat it so that the snake can eat the bird. They have Citotoxic venom which helps kill the bird quickly.
Mating
They lay between 8 and 32 eggs per mating season.
Topic
Cool facts
Obviusly the spider at the end of their tail is pretty awsome but they also have hornes at the top of their head, but scientists dont know why.
Cool facts
Vinegaroon
Scientific name: Uropygi
Niche: It sprays acid to protect its self
Mating: Vinegaroons can mate as much as they want the can even mate the night right after they mated.
Fun fact: The name vinegaroon comes from it’s spray because of acetic and caprylic acid makes it smell like vinegar.
Vinegaroon
sam
Tibetan Sand Fox
Tibetan Sand Fox
Finley A.
The Tibetan Sand Fox is found in steppes and semi-deserts of the high Tibetan Plateau. The scientific name of the Tibetan Sand Fox is the Vulpes Ferrilata. “Tibetan sand foxes control small rodent populations through their feeding habits and when digging their dens they may also help to aerate the soil throughout their range.” (https://animalia.bio/tibetan-fox#:~:text=Ecological%20niche,the%20soil%20throughout%20their%20range.)
The Tibetan Sand Fox is a hunter. The scavenge to find their prey. They eat things like rabbits, birds, lizards, and rodents. They hunt in pairs with their mate. Most sand foxes meet their partner earlier in their life, but foxes have also been known to mate later in life.The Tibetan Sand Fox is known for their square shaped heads. They run at a speed nearly 30-45 mph. They are nocturnal but since most of their prey is active during the day, you can see them resting till hunting hours.
The Barn Owl
The barn owl is a medium sized owl with deep dark eyes that lives in the desert. They can live in every continent except Antartica. The scientific name for it is Tyto Alba. The environment that they live in is trees, cliff legdes and caves. They have 2-18 eggs and they keep their eggs in the nest for 50-55 days. They defend the areas around their nests, but not around their hunting areas.
Barn Owl
STELLA
Z.A.
Diurnal Fauna
Diurnal
Bighorn
Shawmikh
Roadrunner
RoadRunner
Finley S.
Scientific name: Geococcyx
Niche: Keep the amount of reptiles down so the don't over populate
Preditation: The roadrunner will eat anything from insects to small mammals, as well as fruits, seeds, and prickly pear.
Mating: Roadrunners mate for life and renew bonds each spring with courtship dancing, calls, chases, and sharing food.
Facts: Run up to 26 mph
By: Sajidah Said
Camel
Wikipedia Contributors. “Papaver Radicatum.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Mar. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_radicatum. Accessed 5 May 2023.
Desert regions in North Africa and the Middle East are home to domesticated camels. Australia is home to a wild population of camels. Camels eat shrubs, trees, and grass. Camels can also drink up to 53 gallons of water in three minutes. A camel eats twigs, bushes, dried grasses, leaves, and other plants such as salt bushes and cacti.
Picture
Desert Gerbil EW Meriones hurrianae
Desert
Gerbil
the thorny devil by:will
The Thorny Devil is a diurnal (day-active) reptile reaching 20cm in length. It's covered in thorny spines and sports a 'pretend' head on the back of its neck, which is thought to warn off predators.
The thorny devil
reporduction
reproduction
Head-bobbing and leg-waving is how a male Thorny Devil attracts a mate. Courtship complete, the female then lays 3 to 10 eggs in a chamber burrowed 30cm deep in the soil. Depending on the temperature, the eggs hatch after three to four months. Young start eating almost immediately.
habitat
Their range covers most of arid Australia – large parts of Western Australia, the southern half of the Northern Territory, South Australia and western Queensland. They live in dry sand country, spinifex grasslands and scrub.
diet
Thorny Devils eat ants. In the morning and late afternoon they locate a trail and lap them up with their short, sticky tongues. In one day an individual can eat thousands of ants! This diet seems to suit them just fine
Gila Monster (Y.S)
The scientific name for the Gilla Monster is heloderma suspectum. The niche is that Gila monsters are desert dwellers, living near washes and arroyos and in semiarid rocky regions of desert scrub or grasslands. Gila monsters raid nests to prey on small birds and eggs. They also catch small mammals, lizards, frogs, insects and carrion. Gila monsters mate in the spring when the food supply is at its peak. Courtship and male-to-male fighting take place from late April until early June. Females deposit two to twelve eggs, which hatch below ground in the winter 120 to 150 days later in the spring. Did you know that the gila monster is acually one of the few lizards to be venomous. Rather than injecting venom through hollow fangs like venomous snakes, Gilas have enlarged, grooved teeth in their lower jaw.
Gila Monster
(Y.S)
Desert Iguana HT
Scientific Name: Dipsosaurus dorsalis
Niche: They burrow underneath and use the bush to conceal themselves.
Eating Habits: They eat buds, fruits, and leaves. They sometimes eat insects.
Mating Habits: The males will go in search of females that give off strong scents from the glands around the tail during mating season.
desert iguana
Interesting Facts
Interesting Facts
Desert iguanas estivate hibernation for reptiles during the winter season. In March, they come out of their burrows to search for mates.
They also run 30mph which is faster than any human.
Cactus Wren
Scientific Name: Campylorhynchus
brunneicapillus
Cactus Wren
Niche
Cactus wrens are very adaptable to changing environments. They change their foraging environments according to the changing temperature. When they gather materials to make their nests, (especially from other birds' nests), They can spread importand semi-arid rangeland plants' seeds over long distances.
Niche
Feeding
Cactus wrens often look for food on the ground in groups. They are very curious and look for new sources of food. They mostly eat insects such as wasps and beetles and sometimes eats fruit and seeds.
Feeding
Mating & Courtship
Mating & Courtship
Cactus wrens are monogamous. Their breeding season is from late February through March. They have a ceremony in which the future couples spread their wings and call harshly to each other.
Interesting Facts
- Cactus wrens are very active. They can be foraging for food, talking to their neighbor or start singing on top of a cactus.
- Cactus wrens make their nests on cacti (especially the cholla), or on small trees such as acacias or mesquites.
- Cactus wrens prefer to make their nests on spiky vegetation in the desert to ward off predators.
Other Fun Facts
Mountain Lion
Scientific name: Puma concolor
Niche: They regulate populations of prey animals, such as deer and raccoons, and influence the movements of other predators, such as coyotes and bears.
Eating habits: Their diet is mostly deer but they also eat elk and bighorn sheep, and smaller wildlife species such as rabbit, turkey, raccoon and porcupine.
Mating habits: Females make sounds and rub themselves against objects to advertise to local males that they are ready to mate. MOuntain lion are very stealthy animals.
Mountain Lion Walter L
the tiger rattlesnake
the tiger rattle snake survives by the colaration of its scales that helps it camoflage it self in the sand so it can catch is prey without is seeing it. the snakes venom is a very strong neruotocin and coagulan so it will kill you if it bites you. the femal of the speicies reproduces bienailly while the males have a seasonal cicle where sperm is stored in the winter.
the tiger rattle snake
The Kangaroo
The kangaroos scientific name is Macropodidae. The kangaroos niche is shaping communities and helping vegatation grow in its ecosystem. Some of their eating habits consist of chewing their food twice so it can fully digest, they also regurgitate their food to make sure it can digeste properly. They don't have any special mating calls but the males do often battle one another so that they can win over the female.
Fun Facts:
Female kangaroos actually have the ability to pause their pregnancies.
They use their tails as a fifth limb.
They can go as afast at 30 miles per hour.
The kangaroo
Mili
Arce
Desert Bighorn Sheep
Desert
Sheep
The Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) is a medium-sized sheep species native to the deserts of North America. They are important herbivores in the desert ecosystem, controlling plant populations and maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Desert Bighorn Sheep primarily eat grasses, but also browse on shrubs and cacti. They are preyed upon by mountain lions, coyotes, and golden eagles. During the breeding season, males will compete for dominance and mates by clashing their curved horns together. Females will give birth to one or two lambs in the spring. Desert Bighorn Sheep have several interesting adaptations to survive in their harsh environment, including their ability to extract moisture from the plants they eat, and their ability to climb steep terrain and navigate rocky cliffs with ease. They also have a camouflage coloration that helps them blend into their environment and avoid predators.
Arabian Oryx
Scientific Name: Oryx leucoryx
The Oryx is the National Animal of Qatar
Niche of Arabian Oryx
Niche
Arabian oryx live in a variety of desert habitats including stony plains, wadis and sand dunes. They are adapted to be able to survive harsh climates with low rainfall, high winds, temperatures of over 45° C and even droughts of up to six months.
Eating Habits
In addition to eating melons, roots, tubers, and grasses, Arabian oryx also consume other plant material. They will drink water when they come across it, but they can go for extended periods without drinking because they can get all the moisture they require from foods like melons and succulent bulbs.
Mating Habits
Breeders of polygynous Arabian oryx. This implies that several females mate with one male during a single mating season. Births occur at various times. However, if the right circumstances are present, a female can give birth to one calf every year, in any month.
Facts
A medium-sized mammal, the Arabian Oryx can weigh up to 80 kg. White is their dominant color, with darker facial and leg markings. Their long, straight, or slightly curved horns are thicker and shorter on males than on females. They can move more easily on soft sand thanks to their wide hooves.
Desert Flora
Flora
Please make a new subtopic with the name of your plant followed by your initials
Golden Barrel Cactus(Y.S)
Z.A.
The Holmgren Milkvetch
The Holmgren Milkvetch's scientific name is Astragalus holmgreniorum. It helps lower blood glucose, reduce fevers, and help with kidney diseases. They grow on short stems with one or two other flowers.
Holmgren Milkvetch
Golden Barrel Cactus
Golden barrel cactus
Finley S.
Scientific name: Echinocactus grusonii
Flower: Bright yellow flower
Seed Dispersal: The fruit is eaten then pooped out
Uses: Use it as a specimen plant, a decorative element in a garden bed, in a rock, cactus, or succulent garden, as a houseplant, a patio container plant, ideal for xeriscaping, or even as a houseplant.
The Dragons Blood Tree, Dracaena cinnabari, Simone
Dragons blood tree is only found on the desert island Socotra off the coast of Yemen. It's known for its red sap. The flowers are in clusters of many colors, the fruit takes 5 months to mature and it is small and red. The berries release a red resin known as dragons blood. The tree is used for digestive health.
Dragons blood tree
Prickly pear
Scientific name: Opuntia
Fruit/Flower: Each pad can grow flowers on it and it can bear fruit as well.
Seed dispersal: It produces seeds that birds can disperse across the desert.
Uses: It can treat diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity ,and hangovers.
Prickly Pear DL
Gum Acacia (or Gum Arabic Tree)
Scientific Name: Acacia nilotica
Gum Acacia
Flowers
The gum acacia grows flowers that can be yellow, creme, or brown in color. These flowers grow on the spikes of the gum acacia tree.
Flowers
Pollination & Seed Dispersal
The flowers on the gum arabic tree attract many insects including bees which help pollinate it. The flower also turns into seed pods that have evolved for animals to disperse it such as cattle, goats, and gazelles.
Pollination & Seed Dispersal
Uses
The gum acacia produces dried sap called gum arabic which has many health benefits and is used in medicine. It is also soluble with water. Gum arabic is also used in many of artists' paint and photographers have even used it for gum printing! When food was scarce in the desert, people who lived there could live entirely off of it. It is also an important ingredient in chocolate, gummy candies, gum and icing.
Uses
By: Sajidah Said
The Prunus andersonii, -Also known as a Dessert Peach- is a species of shrub in the rose family, part of the same genus as peach's, cherries, and almonds. It is native to eastern California and western nevada, where it grows in forests and scrub in desert and mountains.
Prunus andersoni
Wikipedia Contributors. “Prunus Andersonii.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Apr. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_andersonii. Accessed 5 May 2023.
Picture
Picture
Golden Barrel Cactus (Y.S)
The scientific name of the Golden barrel Cactus is Echinocactus grusonii. Barrel cactus fruit are glochid and spine-free which are yellow. After about twenty years of growth, the golden barrel cactus will produce little yellow flowers on its top. When pollinated by bees, the cactus will produce fruit. Squirrels disperse the seeds from the fruit, promoting the growth of new golden barrel cacti. The golden Barrel Cactus is used for decoration, as a houseplant, a container plant, and more. Mainly for decoration purposes.
Ferocactus pilosus
Scientific Name: Ferocactus stainesi HT
Fruit/Flower: Red to yellow flowers are formed in late spring to summer.
Deed dispersal: These fruits are eaten by animals, who then spread the seeds in their droppings.
Does its use food or medicinal? :It is used for to be consumed raw or cooked, and the flowers boiled, while the pulp has been used to make cactus candy. So it uses for food.
Ferocactus pilosus
The Old Man Cactus
The scientific name of the old man cactus is Cephalocereus senilis. It is most oftenly seen without a flower but when it does eventually grow one it is yellow or red and only opens up at night. The population of the old man cactus is spread when bats or moths consume the seeds and eventually disperse around the desert. Really, there is no reason for medicinal uses with the old man cactus. It may be used for decoration or as an accent plant.
Old Man Cactus
Mili Arce
All information from:
Wikipedia
Desert Willow
M.H.
Scientific Name: Chilopsis
Niche: Desert washes and sandy streams
Flowers: Most blooms between May and June
Seeds: Cross-pollinated by bumble bees
Uses: Treat cough, wounds and fungal Infections
Desert willow
M.H
Joshua tree Yucca brevifolia
The Joshua tree is made of tiny fibers and has no anual growth rings so it is hard to tell how old it is. It is polenated mainly by the yuca moth.
Joshua tree Liam
Fruit
Fruit
The foshua tree has flowers and fruit but the fruit is not very good it apperently tastes very cork like or bitter and the only people who eat it are a native american tribe.
Uses
Their tough leafes can be sewen into baskets and the Shosone people of death valley eat the fruit dispite the bad taste.
Uses
Saguaro
Scientific name: Carnegiea gigantea
They have large white flowers with yellow centers.They nectar feed bats, birds and insects. Seeds are primarily dispersed by animals that eat the fruit. They use the sweet fruits to make the ceremonial wine as well as jelly and candies. WL
Saguaro Cactus Walter L
Yucca HB
Yucca
Scientific Name- Angustissima Engelm
Fruit/Flower- Most yucca's have hard dry fruit.
Pollination/ Seed Dispersal- The adult yucca moth does not need to feed because it dies to early, so the female
gathers pollen. seeds are dispersed by seed-caching rodents.
the ocotillo by:will
ocotillo
Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) are one of easiest plants to identify in the desert. They are a large shrub with long cane-like unbranched spiny stems that grow from a short trunk. Small 2 inch leaves will grow from the stems when there is enough moisture.
reproduction
Ocotillos produce clusters of bright red flowers at their stem tips, which explain the plant's name. Ocotillo means “little torch” in Spanish. Plants bloom once in the spring from March through June depending on latitude then sporadically in response to rainfall during the summer. Hummingbirds pollinate the flowers.
Resurection Plant
By Pierce
Resurection Plant
Diet
The way that resurrection plant eats is when its open during wet season it uses photosynthesis but when it curls back up it cuts off all systems and waits till the next wet season.
Diet
Habitat
The resurrection plant lives in the dry deserts of Mexico and the USA in the rough rocky areas.
Habitat
Mating
The resurrection plant releases its spores and waits for a sand storm to pick them up and fly away.
Mating
Blue aloe
Scientic name: Aloe glauca
Uses: Tequila
Blue aloe
Sam
Seed dispersal
There are to ways that blue aloe plants 1 way is through seed dispersal rom the wind 2 is pollination mainly rom sugar birds.
Polination and see dispersal
The Orange Orchid
The orange orchid
Mili arce
The Bunny Ear Cactus's scentific name is Opuntia microdasys. The flower/fruit of the bunny ear cactus is very interesting as the flower grows into the fruit and turns into a red and yellow color. The seed dispersal takes place wen a bird will pick at some of the seeds on the cactus and drop them somewhere else in the desert.
Creosote Bush
Topic
The Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata) is a desert shrub that is found in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is a hardy plant that can survive in extreme temperatures and with little water. The Creosote Bush produces small, yellow flowers that bloom in the spring and fall, and it also produces a fruit that is a small, brown capsule containing several seeds. The flowers are pollinated by bees, while the seeds are dispersed by the wind. As a seedless plant, the Creosote Bush produces spores that develop into gametophytes, which then produce sporophytes. The Creosote Bush has been used for medicinal purposes by Native American tribes for centuries. It has been used to treat a variety of ailments, including digestive problems, respiratory issues, and skin conditions. In addition, the Creosote Bush has been used for its antimicrobial properties and as a natural insect repellent. Industrially, the Creosote Bush has been used in the production of creosote, a substance used to treat wood and preserve railroad ties. The plant has also been used as a dye for leather and textiles. In terms of food, the Creosote Bush has been used as a seasoning in traditional dishes of Native American and Mexican cuisine. The leaves and stems of the plant have a resinous flavor and are often used to add a smoky, earthy taste to dishes. Overall, the Creosote Bush is an important plant in the desert ecosystem and has been utilized for a variety of purposes by humans for centuries.
Beavertail Cactus
Beavertail Cactus
Finley A.
The Beavertail Cactus is a cactus that lives in the desert. The beavertail cactus is very low growing. The scientific name is the Opuntia Basilaris. The beavertail cactus has beautiful magenta flowers that grow out of each cacti. Instead of little needles, beavertail has small bunches of short spines to help reduce water loss. The flowers are pollinated by local bees. Once done, the cactus starts to grow fruit that contains the seeds. When eaten by animals it is spread by their droppings. The Beavertail Cactus has a use for vitamin C which is used in immune boosters.
Ghost Plant
Scientific Name: Graptopetalum paraguayense
Ghost Plant
Shawmikh
Fruit/Flowers
Ghost plant is a unique rosette-forming succulent with a low mounding habit that grows to be 12–15 inches tall and 2-3 feet wide. This succulent is indigenous to Mexico and thrives in the Inland Empire's warm climate.
Uses
Graptopetalum paraguayense is a plant that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, and there is evidence that it may have hepatoprotective properties. The Taiwanese health food Graptopetalum paraguayense can treat chronic liver disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
th desert
The desert willows niche is to provide cover from the birds that puts there nest in the tree. And the animal spead the seeds to reproduce.
the desert willow
J-A
The Desert Lily
Desert Lily
STELLA
The Desert Lily grows in dry sandy flat areas. It is found in the desert areas of Southwest of North America. The scientific name for it is Hesperocallis Undulata. The bulbs can be used as a food source. They are adible and they taste like garlic. They bloom March-May and have 6 petal-like segments. They can grow 2.5inches.