Biome



Xeric’s biome is a coastal desert. Deserts cover around one fifth of Earth and are located where the amount of rain is less than 50 cm annually. There are four types of deserts. All of which have different characteristics than others. The first type of desert is the hot and dry desert. This is the most well known type of desert. The main deserts in the U.S are hot and dry deserts. In this type of desert, all of the seasons are very warm and the summer months are extremely hot. Neither seasons give much rainfall. The annual average temperature is around 20-25º C, the highest temperatures can reach from 43.5-49º C and in the winter, the temperature may drop to -18º C. There is usually very little to no rainfall in the deserts. there can be no rainfall or up to 28 cm annually. The soil in this type of desert is very rocky and gravely. It also has good drainage. Plants and animals living here are specially adapted to handle the harsh temperatures and little rainfall. Some plants that are native to these deserts include yucca, ocotillo, prickly pairs, sotol, and brittle bush. Some of the animals include carnivores, burrowers, insects, reptiles, and birds. The next type of desert is the Semiarid desert. This desert has a fairly warm temperature year round and very little rainfall. Temperatures in the summer are usually about 21-27º C and at night it dips down to about 10º C. The average rainfall for semi arid deserts is about 2-4 cm yearly. The soil can be anything from rocky, gravely, or sandy and has a low salt concentration. The plants in this kind of desert are usually spiny to protect themselves from the harsh environment. Some of these plants include creosote, bur sage, white thorn, cat claw, mesquite, and jujube. Also, some of the animals that live here are kangaroo rats, rabbits, skunks, insects, and reptiles. There are also many types of birds and owls. A third type of desert is the cold desert. These deserts have unusually cold temperatures and they get lots of rain. The summer months are warm, but the winters are cold. The average temperature in winter is around -2-4º C and the summers are between 21-26º C. There is heavy snowfall in the winter months in these deserts and the rainfall is between 15-26 cm a year. There are more types of animals and plants here. Plants such as sage bush and deciduous trees and animals such as mice, rabbits, insects, and carnivores. The last type of desert, which is also the type of desert where our country is located, is a coastal desert. Coastal deserts have a fairly mild temperature year round. The summers are long and warm and the winters are mild. Summer temperatures are about 13-24º C and the winter temperatures are 5ºC and below. The annual rainfall is about 8-13 cm. The soil has a moderate salt content and has fairly good drainage.
 * Climate-**

**Animals-**

**Plants-**





The soil in the coastal desert regions usually have a moderate salt content and are extremely fine textured. It has great drainage, so the plants in this climate get a good amount of rain each year. This type of soil could be considered porous. The plants in this climate have long roots that are quite close to the surface which allows them to get water and thrive in this climate.
 * Soil Conditions-**

**Agriculture-**

Because our climate is the desert and it is very dry with little rainfall, growing all of our food would be difficult and would not be enough to sustain the country. Most people think it would be impossible to grow any crops in the desert. these people would be wrong. Many important and well known crops are able to be grown here. The first crop oranges is our main export. Orange tree groves are abundant in our country. Oranges provide lots of vitamins and proteins and are great for trading with other countries. Another one of our crops are olives. Along with the orange groves, you can find many olive groves near the coast. Olives are very important for trading. A couple of other important crops are figs, Magaria, and herbs such as thyme. One crop that is only native to our country is cacti. Cacti contains lots of stored water and protein. There are also a few types of gourds that cannot be eaten but heal wounds such as snake bites which is very important because there are lots of snakes in the desert. Another plant used to heal wounds is aloe, which is abundant in the desert. We have many farms that are irrigated and able to produce a good amount of water to the crops. A few of these crops that grow well in desert climates are potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, and alfalfa hay. Another great crop is corn. Most of our livestock consists of cattle. The reason for this is because we can grow the alfalfa and feed the cattle with it. The cattle also produce milk which can be used to make many dairy products for our country. Another kind of animals we keep are chickens. We feed the chickens with dried corn that we grow and in turn, we get the eggs. The last type of livestock we keep are pigs. We can feed the pigs with anything and then get their meat. The biggest money maker in our country is oil. There are many large fields of oil which we can pump out and trade with other countries.



Controlling the pollution in Xeric is very important to us. We want our citizens to lead a happy and healthy life. Because of this, we have set up some pollution controls to keep pollution at a minimum. 1)__**//Vehicle emission control-//**__ Vehicles such as cars and buses release harmful chemicals when they run. These chemicals would pollute the air and harm the people around them. There are six main pollutants that are emitted when a car is running. These pollutants are Hydrocarbons, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Particulate Matter, Sulfer Oxide, and Volatilile Organic Compounds. All of these pollutants can cause serious problems such as Ashma, liver disease, cancer, smog, and acid rain. To stop the pollutants from going out of the car and in to the air, we have our cars equiped with a device called a catalytic converter. At first, this was a problem because our fuel was too full of lead and it would not cooperate with the converter, but after we converted to unleaded fuel, it was no problem. A catalytic converter is a device fitted to all cars that reduces the amount of toxins that are emitted from the cars. These devices use a catalyst to make a chemical reaction where toxins are converted to less harmful substances. These devices were first created and used in the United States in 1975. 2)__**//Water pollution control-//**__ To keep our water clean, we have set up a few laws that must be followed. These laws are mainly for industrial facilities, government facilities, and agriculture facilities. The law is basically set so that none of these facilities may release pollutants to the water without a permit. If a facility does not follow these laws they will be fined with a minimum fee of $2,500 and a maximum fee of $25,000 on the first offense. Failure to pay fees can result to up to a year in prison. Fees for second offenses are higher and can reach up to $50,000. These punishments are set in place to keep the citizens of our country safe and healthy.
 * Pollution controls-**

**Works cited list-** www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert.htm www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php www.worldbiomes.com/biomes_desert.htm www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-is-oil-usually-found www.ezinearticles.com/?Sahara-Desert-Plants---Crops&id=1845605