What are the characteristics of Semiarid deserts?
The sagebrush of Utah, Montana and Great Basin along with the Nearctic realm make up the semiarid deserts. Here the summers are moderately long and dry with the winters normally bringing low concentrations of rainfall. Plants and animals are benefited by the cool nights that reduce moisture loss from transpiration, sweating and breathing. The soil in the semiarid deserts range from sandy and fine-textured to loose rock fragments, gravel or sand. Near the mountain slopes the soil is shallow, rocky, gravely, well drained and with good drainage whereas in the bottom land the soil is sandy and fine-textured. Plants protect themselves in the semiarid deserts with the help of spines. These also help to shade the surface enough to reduce transpiration to a large extent. Some of them also have silvery or glossy leaves that allow them to reflect more radiant energy. Creosote bush, bur sage, white thorn, cat claw, mesquite, brittle bush and jujube are some of the names of some of the plants foun
