Biomes Project

The UAE is bordered by the Arabian Desert and is therefore found in a dominant arid desert biome.

Location

The desert biome covers up about 1/5 of the Earth's surface. Desert biomes are generally located at low latitudes and can be found in North America, South America, Africa and Southern Asia.

Climate

The arid desert biome has a subtropical climate. The climate is mainly hot and dry with little precipitation. Temperatures remain high all year round. Average temperatures in the summer reach upto 40 °C. The rainfall amount is generally around 100mm a year, and the driest areas can receive between as little as 30 and 40mm of annual rain.

Animals

Mamals: Cape hares, sand cats, striped hyenas, red foxes, caracals, two species of gazelle and Arabian wolves, camels and oryxes.

Invertebrates: Scorpions, spiders, ants, bees, wasps, moths and beetles.

Reptiles: Snakes, lizards and geckos.

Birds: Vultures, buzzards and falcons.

These animals have adapted to live in an arid, nearly water-free environment. Most of these animals avoid the extreme temperatures by staying out of it during the day, and then coming out at night when it is cooler. Since water is so scarce, most of these animals get their water from the food they eat: succulent plants, seeds, or the blood and body tissues of their prey.

Vegetation

Due to a lack of water, vegetation in the desert is scarce. Plants are almost all ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees. These plants are able to survive despite extreme temperatures and lack of water due to their leaves being packed full of nutrients.

Soil

Wind has blown away fine dust and particles in this desert biome, leaving coarse-textured sand. Weaponry used by the United States during the Gulf War poses a huge risk to the stability of the soil. The movement of US tanks over the desert damaged the top protective layer of the desert soil. Also in 1991, the US and NATO dropped nearly 300 tons of depleted uranium on Iraqi targets. The splinters resulting from the explosion contaminated the surrounding soil.

Human Impacts

The status of this biome is critically endangered due to a number of oil spills.