Cold Desert

1. Cold Desert Environmental Science Period 3 By:Christian Duncan

2. Climate • Cold deserts are cold winters in deserts with snowfall. • Cold deserts are found on the peaks of high mountains and near the poles. • Cold deserts have high rainfall throughout the winter and occasionally over the summer. • They occur in parts of Antarctic, inland mountains in Greenland and the Nearctic realm. • They have short, moist, and moderately warm summers with fairly long, cold winters.

3. Plants • Cold desert’s soil is a mix of stones, gravel, and clay creating rocky soil. • The soil is also heavy and salty. • It contains alluvial fans where soil is relatively porous. • The plants are widely scattered. • Plant heights vary between 15 cm and 122 cm. • The main plants are deciduous, most having spiny leaves. • They are mountain avens, arctic poppies, buttercups, arctic azaleas, arctic lupines, mosses, grasses, and herbs. • Near the coast , there are flowering plants.

4. Animals • The animals of the cold desert are jack rabbits, kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, penguins, seals, walrus, polar bears and antelope ground squirrels. (mostly visitors) • All except the jack rabbits are burrowers. • The deer are only found in the winter. • The burrowing habit also applies to carnivores like the badger, kit fox, and coyote. • Bacteria and algae, and some tiny nematode worms live in the lake.

5. Human Impact • Global warming affects the cold desert by reducing the ability of its soil to absorb SOC(carbon storage). • Pollution affects the cold desert by the windblown dust affecting the soil negatively. • Climate change of the cold desert causes droughts, snow-storms, • blizzards to occur more frequently.

6. Citations • http://www.world-builders.org/lessons/less/biomes/desert/cold-des.html • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php#cold • http://kerrapes.wikispaces.com/Cold+Desert+Biome