Ecosystem Snapshot: Deserts

Featured Population: RoadrunnerS Roadrunners are amazing animals. They only get to 20–24 inches in height. They are very quick on the flat desert terrain and have special adaptations to survive the harsh climate. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia; released to public domain

Animal Facts - Roadrunners Interesting Facts: Roadrunners prefer walking or running. Roadrunners are quick enough to catch and eat rattlesnakes. Roadrunners prefer walking or running and attain speeds up to 20 miles per hour. Home: The deserts of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America Shelter: In the winter, they find shelter in trees or rocks to avoid the cold winds. Food: Snakes, lizards, gophers, rats, mice, bird eggs, insects, and fruit Read each of the sentences to ensure basic understanding of the roadrunner. Photo courtesy of clip art

Roadrunners: Basic Needs air water shelter food Shelter trees rocks Food snakes, lizards, gophers, rats, mice, bird eggs, insects, and fruit Basic Needs: Air, water, shelter, and food Water Facts: Their bodies also continually extract water. If they do find water, they will drink it. To give its young water, the roadrunner will hold an insect in the tip of its bill, and when the young opens its mouth, the parent will regurgitate water into the nestling’s mouth before releasing the insect. Shelter: Roadrunners live in arid lowland or montane scrub (bushes that can grow in harsh circumstances where most other plants cannot live) and are often widely dispersed in the dry, open country with scattered brush. In the winter, they take shelter in trees or rocks to avoid the cold winds. Photos courtesy of clip art

Animal FACTS Adaptations – Roadrunners prefer to walk or run. They have long tails for balance. They can run up to 20 miles per hour. Their coloration helps them blend into their habitat to avoid predators. Additional Facts: Roadrunners have other adaptations that help them survive the harsh Southwest desert. At night, they can lower their body temperature to compensate for the cold desert air, which saves energy. In the morning, they expose a patch of dark skin on their backs to warm up in the Sun. Roadrunners are tough to see against the brownish desert background. Their brown speckled and off-white coloration blends in well with their habitat, which helps them avoid predators and hide from approaching prey. Photos courtesy of clip art

The Desert Community coyote bull snake hawk jackrabbit scorpion Why do you think that the coyote and jackrabbit have light brown coats? Why do you think that some desert animals have large ears? (It is an adaptation to allow animals to cool down.) What kinds of adaptations do you think that the scorpion has to help it survive in the desert? Photos courtesy of clip art scorpion

The Desert Ecosystem Have students observe the terrain of the desert ecosystem and share their thoughts. How does the climate look? Is it wet or dry? Is it hot or cold? Photos courtesy of clip art

The Desert Ecosystem Plant Life – Cacti , prickly pears, Joshua Trees, small shrubs, succulents, and low lying plants Climate – The temperature ranges from 20F (-6.6C) in the winter to over 110F (43C) in the summer. The desert receives less than 13 inches (32.5 cm) of rain a year. In the winter, it may snow. Landscape – Rocky, hard soil with some areas of sandy soils Resource: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php There are different kinds of deserts around the world. This presentation focuses on the deserts of the United States. The Mojave is a desert of temperature extremes and two distinct seasons. Winters are cold; spring weather has rainstorms; summers are dominated by heat and dry winds; and autumn is dry and sunny. Plants and animals have special adaptations to survive this dry/arid climate. Soils are course-textured, shallow, rocky, or gravely with good drainage and have no subsurface water. They are coarse because there is less chemical weathering. The finer dust and sand particles are blown elsewhere, leaving heavier pieces behind. Sand and gravel basins drain to central salt flats from which borax, potash, and salt are extracted. Animals: Mammals include desert bighorn sheep, desert kit fox, coyote, spotted skunk, spotted bat, black-tailed jackrabbit, ground squirrels, kangaroo rat, and white-footed mouse. Birds includes eagles, hawks, owls, quail, roadrunners, finches, warblers, and orioles. Reptiles include desert tortoise, several species of rattlesnakes, and the Chuckawalla lizard. Photo courtesy of clip art