Mar 24, 2025 · Desert, any large, extremely dry area of land with sparse vegetation. It is one of Earth’s major types of ecosystems, supporting a community of plants and animals specially adapted to the harsh environment.

Deserts are areas that receive very little precipitation. People often use the adjectives “hot,” “dry,” and “empty” to describe deserts, but these words do not tell the whole story. Although some deserts are very hot, with daytime temperatures as high as 54°C (130°F), other deserts have cold winters or are cold year-round.

A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the Earth is arid or semi-arid.

Oct 19, 2023 · Deserts are extremely dry environments that are home to well-adapted plants and animals. The main types of deserts include hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts.

Sep 14, 2020 · The desert biome is the characteristic community of animals and plants found in the world's deserts. Deserts are found on every continent and make up around 30 percent of the earth’s surface. The main characteristic of deserts is a shortage (or complete lack of) precipitation; some desert regions go for years on end without rain.

Deserts are diverse ecosystems that occur on all seven continents. Learn about the four major types of deserts, the surprising amount of wildlife some of them contain, and how new desert areas...

Oct 19, 2023 · What Is a Desert? Deserts cover more than one-fifth of Earth's land area, and they are found on every continent. A place that receives less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain per year is considered a desert. Deserts are part of a wider class of regions called drylands.

Mar 24, 2025 · Deserts are varied and variable environments, and it is impossible to arrive at a concise definition that satisfies every case. However, their most fundamental characteristic is a shortage of available moisture for plants, resulting from an imbalance between precipitation and evapotranspiration.

Desert. What is a hot desert? Where are deserts located? Why are deserts located along the tropics? Interdependence in the hot desert; Biodiversity in hot deserts; How has hot desert vegetation adapted to the climate? How have animals adapted to the desert? Opportunities and Challenges in the Sahara Desert; Opportunities and Challenges in the ...

Sep 3, 2022 · Physical geography. A desert is a region of land that is very dry because it receives low amounts of precipitation (usually in the form of rain but may be snow, mist or fog), often has little coverage by plants, and in which streams dry up unless they are supplied by water from outside the area.