Warm_Desserts_Of_North_America

Warm Desserts Of North America North America contains three “warm” deserts. They are known as the Chihuahuan, the Sonoran, and the Mojave deserts. Warm deserts have relatively high temperatures during the long summer months and low amounts of rainfall; as a result, the evolutionary affinities of their plant life are largely with the subtropical plant communities to the south. Desert soils tend to be poorly developed, with a high content of mineral particles but little organic matter. The poor soil is caused by low plant productivity, which restricts the soil-building properties of microorganisms that convert organic matter into the humus components of soils. Soils with low organic matter content have a low water-holding capacity, adding to the aridity of the land (Smith et al 1997). Unlike other types of North American biomes, warm desert plants are competing for water, not light. The availability of water is the major factor determining the types of organisms that can live in the deserts. Warm deserts typically receive less than 25 cm of precipitation per year. The amount of evaporation is often greater than the amount of rainfall that occurs. Evaporation is an important factor contributing to aridity. Rising desert, chihuahuan, deserts, mojave, sonoran, soils, plant, water, plants, north, mexico, high, warm, rainfall, cacti, america, relatively, low, et, al, air, summer, smith, small, region, miles, few, 1997, xerophytes, winter, vegetation, unlike, types, trees, tree