GEOG 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Permafrost, Subarctic Climate, Succulent Plant
Document Summary
Difference in climate (average temperature, precipitation due to global air, water circulation, and soil types) causes changes in climate. World divided into 12 major biomes (biomes are not uniform and are mosaic patches because resources plants and animals need are not uniformly distributed). A desert is an area where evaporation exceeds precipitation; they have sparse, widely spaced vegetation. (make up 30% of earth"s land surfaces and are found in the interior of continents) A tropical desert are hot and dry, have a few plants and have windblown surfaces strewn with rocks and sand. A temperate desert has high daytime temperatures in summer and low in winter, more precipitation, vegetation is widely dispersed, drought-resistant shrubs/cacti. A cold desert has cold winters, hot summers and low precipitation. A semidesert is the zone between deserts and grasslands, dominated by thorn trees and shrubs, sometime heavy rains. Two ways to adapt to deserts: beat the heat or every drop of water counts.
