4 Limiting Factors of the Desert Biome and Climate and Soil Characteristics
4 Limiting Factors:
Water: Water is a limiting factor in the desert because due to the lack of water plants have a hard time growing which limits the amount of plants as well as animals in the desert. The lack of water also means that animals have adapt in order to survive on such little amounts of water.
Climate: Climate is a limiting factor because of the extreme weather in the desert. During the day the temperatures can reach well over 100 degrees and at night the temperature plummets to well under freezing, making the time animals can be out and moving around actively very little.
Food: Food is a limiting factor because there is not enough for all the animals. Due to the extreme conditions animals must be able to adapt to, very few animals live in the desert. This makes it hard for the few who do live in the desert to find food because there aren't as many animals for them to hunt, and plants a scarce for herbivores due to the lack of water so carnivores and herbivores have a very hard time finding food to survive in the desert.
Competition: Competition is another limiting factor in the desert biome because for every animal there is only so much food. An example would be with the cactus wren bird. They rely on the cactus for food, but one cactus can only provide so much food per cactus wren so there is fierce competition over the little food there is. There is competition with the water as well because there is so little water, animals really have to compete to get what trace amounts of water there are.
Characteristics of the Desert Biome: Some characteristics of the desert biome would be the dryness of the soil due to the lack of water, making plant life scarce. This is another characteristic of the desert is the lack of water due to having little rainfall throughout the year. Because there are few plants to help hold down the soil, sandstorms are common in the desert. The climate of a desert is unique because during the day weather can rise to temperatures pushing the mid to low hundreds and at night the temperature will dip to below freezing. No other biome has this extreme of temperature and weather changes throughout one day. The lack of rain and extreme temperatures make the desert biome one of the most extreme biomes to live in and it takes a lot of adaptation to be able to live in this extreme climate.
Water: Water is a limiting factor in the desert because due to the lack of water plants have a hard time growing which limits the amount of plants as well as animals in the desert. The lack of water also means that animals have adapt in order to survive on such little amounts of water.
Climate: Climate is a limiting factor because of the extreme weather in the desert. During the day the temperatures can reach well over 100 degrees and at night the temperature plummets to well under freezing, making the time animals can be out and moving around actively very little.
Food: Food is a limiting factor because there is not enough for all the animals. Due to the extreme conditions animals must be able to adapt to, very few animals live in the desert. This makes it hard for the few who do live in the desert to find food because there aren't as many animals for them to hunt, and plants a scarce for herbivores due to the lack of water so carnivores and herbivores have a very hard time finding food to survive in the desert.
Competition: Competition is another limiting factor in the desert biome because for every animal there is only so much food. An example would be with the cactus wren bird. They rely on the cactus for food, but one cactus can only provide so much food per cactus wren so there is fierce competition over the little food there is. There is competition with the water as well because there is so little water, animals really have to compete to get what trace amounts of water there are.
Characteristics of the Desert Biome: Some characteristics of the desert biome would be the dryness of the soil due to the lack of water, making plant life scarce. This is another characteristic of the desert is the lack of water due to having little rainfall throughout the year. Because there are few plants to help hold down the soil, sandstorms are common in the desert. The climate of a desert is unique because during the day weather can rise to temperatures pushing the mid to low hundreds and at night the temperature will dip to below freezing. No other biome has this extreme of temperature and weather changes throughout one day. The lack of rain and extreme temperatures make the desert biome one of the most extreme biomes to live in and it takes a lot of adaptation to be able to live in this extreme climate.