Value & Importance
- Ecologically, deserts provide great ecosystems. Deserts are filled with a vast array of plant and animal species (not as biodiverse as other places, but still pre). All of these species have made adaptations to the desert's warm climate and small amount of available water. Most of the species live underground and only come out at night to keep out of the hot weather during the day.
- Two thirds of our world's crude oil supply is found in deserts making them very important to our economy.
Human Impacts
- One major human impact to the desert is the destruction of its soil. Desert soil has a very dry and crumbly texture. Some humans have been driving cars across the desert which has a negative impact by destroying the soil. Desert soil isn't one to mess with because it takes decades for it to come back to its normal state. This all comes around and ends up hurting the plants and animals in the desert.
- Another human impact is the selling of cacti. There is a lot of destruction to the plants from this, and the desert can't afford to lose plants because of the long amount of time needed to a plant to grow in the desert.
Solutions
- Laws can be made and enforced to help save the plants and animals of the desert.
- People can purchase parts of the land and keep their area protected. This is the ideal solution because if enough people help out in this role, all of our desert will be protected and this will help to eliminate the human impacts listed above.