Deserts

Question 1

Location

Answer 1

Found 15-35 north and south of the equator where theres a little rainfall

Question 2

Interdependence of deserts

Answer 2

Plants rely on soil for nutrience

The soil rely on dead plants for nutrience/air

Plants take up nutrience from the soil and provide nutrience and water to the animals them. In turn, animals spread seeds through their dung, helping plants to reproduce

(plants and soil)

Question 3

Climate

Answer 3

Temperatures are extreme can go from 40-0
because lack of cloud cover
Very little rainfall less than 250 metres per year
It may rain once every few years

Question 4

Soil

Answer 4

A lack of leaf fall limits the soils fertiity
little rainfall means the soil dries out often
Soil is often shallow with a gravelly texture

Question 5

Adaptations of plants

Answer 5

Plants roots are extremely long to reach deep water suplies or they can spread out very wide near the surface to absorb as much water as possible when it rains

Lot’s of plants have fleshy stems “prickels” for storing water and thick waxy skin to reduce transpirarion
Some spikes contain toxin for preditors

Question 6

Adaptations for animals

Answer 6

Camels have triple eyelids, long eyelashes and the ability to close nostrils to copewith sand
Store fat in their hump which they can breakdown into water when needed

Nocturnal stay cool by sleeping when temperatures are the hottest

Question 7

Biodiversity threatened

Answer 7

Global warming is making hot deserts hotter and drier. This is forcing some species to move to cooler area. However, species that are already at their limits of their environment don’t have anywhere else to go, so at risk of decline or extinction

Question 8

Development opportuntities

Sahara

Answer 8

Solar energy - over 12 hours of bright sunlight everyday so you can generate solar power
(Tunasia is expected to start generating electricity for 43000 homes in 2024)

Tourism in the Sahara is small-scale but many people visit the outskirts e.g. Marrakesh Morocco. Popular for sandboarding

Question 9

Extreme temperatures

Question 10

Limited water supply

Answer 10

The Sahara’s annual rainfall is low and inpridictable and most of the rivers only flow for parts of the year
Providing enough water for workers, industry and irrigation can be challenging
However, water pipes can be built to extract valuable resources
Deep boreholes extract water stored under the sahara withour replenishing it which isn’t sustainable

Question 11

Inaccessibility

Sahara

Answer 11

Providing services e.g. medical care, is difficult in isolated and remote communites
The Sahara is huge with few roads, so people and materials travel long distances-often by air

(It takes 5 days for salt from salt mines to get out of the countrys and out of exports. If transport is done by land it takes days which leads to less profit)