Sahara Desert

Hayli:My desert biome of choice: The Sahara Desert. It is hot, dry, extremely arid, and is a large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat. The average temperature is around 86 degrees with the average high summer temperatures between 104 degrees with potential of reaching over 117 degrees. Weather conditions are dominated by two climatic regimes: a dry subtropical in the north and a dry tropical in the south. The desert receives an average of 3" per year with some locations not seeing any rain for several years at a time. The Sahara has 4 seasons: cold winters, hot summers, and two rainy seasons. Fun fact: The record high temperature of the Sahara was 136°F!

Hayli:The Sahara desert is a desert on the African continent with an area of 9,200,000 square kilometers and is the largest, hot desert in the world. It is also the 3rd largest desert overall smaller only than the Antarctica and Arctic. The defined ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms in their physical environment. Fun fact: At 3.6 million square miles, the Sahara Desert is as big as China.

Hayli:Abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning ecosystems. They affect the ability to reproduce and restrict the growth of population. Biotic factors are living components that affect another living organism. Biotic factors affect the ecosystem by influencing the health of the ecosystem. Fun fact: There are no camels in Morocco, only dromedaries!

Hayli:Four producers in the ecosystem are date palms, cacti, thorn acacia, and creosote bush. The two primary consumers are Fennec fox and sand cats. Secondary consumers are the kangaroo rat and Arabian camel. Tertiary consumers consist of the Saharan cheetah and the pharaoh eagle owl. Examples of the predator prey: 1. Sandy rat to the kangaroo rat 2. Hawk to the lizard Fun fact: Visit Oran – It is a lively port city, with bundles of beauty and character. It is fantastic for scuba diving.

Hayli:A food web describes the relationship, links or connections among species in an ecosystem, but the relationships vary in their importance to the energy flow and dynamics of species population. Fun fact: Tunisia is the world’s fourth-largest olive oil producer.

Hayli:Types of human activity in the desert includes: firewood gathering and grazing of animals. Effects of human activity includes turning semi arid areas into deserts and also releasing infrared radiation from the atmosphere into space due to so much heat. Fun fact: The Libyan Desert is known for going for decades without rain.

Hayli:Fun activities to do include sand surfing, star gazing, desert spa day, watch the sunset, and sit around a campfire. Fun fact: Chad has only one television station (Tele-Tchad) which is owned by the state. Radio is the main source of media coverage in the country.

Hayli:Fun fact: Mali is the biggest country in West Africa, roughly twice the size of Texas, the second largest American state. Mali is one of the poorest nations in the world.

Hayli:Interesting review questions of our exploration of the Sahara desert: 1. What is one tertiary consumer? (Saharan cheetah) 2. How many seasons does the desert have? (4) 3. What's one example of a predator-prey? (Sandy rat to kangaroo rat) 4. The Sahara Desert is dominated by how many climatic regimes? (2) 5. How many inches of rainfall does the Sahara desert receive each year? (3")