http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/desert/ Read all about the desert biome, including articles on desertification, semi-arid conditions and more. Articles, images. en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:05:01 EDT Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/desert/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080819082600.htm Human-driven changes in the westerly winds are bringing hotter and drier springs to the American Southwest, according to new research from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Since the 1970s the winter storm track in the western US has been shifting north, particularly in the late winter. As a result, fewer winter storms bring rain and snow to Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado and western New Mexico. Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080819082600.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080718074110.htm Saharan dust storms help sustain life over extensive regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. Scientists mapped the distribution of nutrients including phosphorous and nitrogen and investigated how organisms such as phytoplankton are sustained in areas with low nutrient levels. They found that plants are able to grow in these regions because they are able to take advantage of iron minerals in Saharan dust storms. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080718074110.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619101522.htm Scientists are investigating how a Madagascan plant could be used to help produce crops in harsh environmental conditions. The plant, Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, is unique because, unlike normal plants, it captures most of its carbon dioxide at night when the air is cooler and more humid, making it 10 times more water-efficient than major crops such as wheat. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080619101522.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611093842.htm Gypsum, a rocky mineral is abundant in desert regions where fresh water is usually in very short supply but oil and gas fields are common. Researchers have hit on the idea of using the untapped energy from oil and gas flare-off or small-scale solar power to release the water locked in gypsum. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611093842.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101555.htm A study of Florida beaches has shown that wet sand and dry sand above the intertidal zone have significantly more fecal bacteria than near-shore seawater. Scientists researched whether indicator bacteria survive longer in sand relative to open water and found that all feces-derived bacteria were capable of enhanced growth and survival in sand, while in seawater the bacterial populations steadily decreased over time. Wed, 14 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506105139.htm Fallow agricultural land and steppe-formation processes are evidently capable of having a much greater effect on global air quality than was previously assumed. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers after examining a dust cloud that formed over parched fields in southern Ukraine and led to extremely high concentrations of particulate matter in Central Europe. On March 24, 2007, the dust cloud spread across Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic to Germany. Thu, 08 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506105139.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401200451.htm The sands of the desert are an important and forgotten storehouse of carbon dioxide taken from the world's atmosphere. Sands like those in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana are full of cyanobacteria. These drought resistant bacteria can fix atmospheric carbon dioxide, and together they add significant quantities of organic matter to the nutrient deficient sands. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401200451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172055.htm A tiny beetle is wreaking catastrophic action on the deteriorating Chihuahuan desert. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183457.htm Finely layered coatings, rich in manganese and iron and commonly called desert varnish, are common on rocks in desert environments worldwide. These coatings have been the subject of intense scientific debate and extensive research, owing to their potential for indicating past climates, for dating geological surfaces, and, via artwork carved in varnish, for providing information about ancient cultures. Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183457.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229102046.htm Soils under desert pavement have an unusually high concentration of nitrate, a type of salt, close to the surface. Vulnerable to erosion by rain and wind if the desert pavement is disrupted, this vast source of nitrate could contaminate surface and groundwaters, posing an environmental risk. Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229102046.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227142653.htm An ability to avoid the plant equivalent of vapor lock and a favorable evolutionary history may explain the unusual drought resistance of junipers, some varieties of which are now spreading rapidly in water-starved regions of the western United States, a new study has found. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227142653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080107110358.htm In the countries of the South, erosion is a process often exacerbated by the high rainfall that affects these regions during the wet season. Recent research conducted in Mexico has led to better informed assessment of the role of overgrazing and tree clearance in soil degradation. Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080107110358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071213000427.htm Dust from the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts in China and Mongolia is routinely present in the air over the western United States during spring months, a researcher has found. He found that in years with large Asian dust storms there was an increase in particles of 2.5 microns or less in the air over the western United States. Particles that small can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs and are a health concern. Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071213000427.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627221726.htm Desertification, exacerbated by climate change, represents "the greatest environmental challenge of our times" and governments must overhaul policy approaches to the issue or face mass migrations of people driven from degraded homelands within a single generation, warns a new analysis. Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627221726.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619180431.htm Desertification puts the health and well-being of more than 1.2 billion people in more than 100 countries at risk, according to the United Nations. Because dryland desertification can be remedied or even reversed by using appropriate land management techniques, monitoring and forecasting areas most at risk are essential. The view from space can support authorities in getting an overall picture of key pressures on land, such as burned land due to forest fires, erosion processes and their trends over time. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619180431.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070510163235.htm Drylands, where 38 percent of the world's population lives, can be protected from the irreversible damage of desertification if local residents and managers at all levels would follow basic sustainability principles according to an article in Science. Fri, 11 May 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070510163235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070413111648.htm A little bit of manure and fertilizer can considerably improve the perspectives of Zimbabwean smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions. Nitrogen availability was found to be the factor that most limited farmers' efforts to increase cereal yields. Dutch-sponsored researcher Bongani Ncube demonstrated this after four years of research on smallholder farms of her home country. Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070413111648.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070305141043.htm A team of sociologists, hydrologists, economists, ecologists and pastoralists of IRD studied the interactions between local societies and their environment at different temporal and spatial scales in the Jeffara, while including the effect of public-sector interventions in desertification control. They suggest recommendations for enabling rural populations to live and prosper in their region. Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070305141043.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220011358.htm Three hundred million years ago, Earth's climate shifted dramatically from icehouse to hothouse, with major environmental consequences. That shift was the result of both rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the melting of vast ice sheets, new research by University of Michigan paleoclimatologist Christopher Poulsen shows. Tue, 27 Feb 2007 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220011358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070214084105.htm Researchers from University of Bergen have found that trees, which are a main resource for desert people and their flocks, are in significant decline in the hyper-arid Eastern Desert of Egypt. Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070214084105.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207185737.htm Vast flocks of water birds from across Australia will soon start gathering for a long-awaited feeding and breeding frenzy sparked by flooding in western Queensland. The floods will produce a bird bonanza lasting six to nine months, says UNSW Professor of Environmental Science, Richard Kingsford. Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207185737.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070118094045.htm Raindrops can wreak havoc on Earth. They just do it on a microscopic scale. At that scale, raindrops hitting bare ground have nearly the force of a hammer hitting a mound of dirt. What happens when the water hits the soil is the micro-ballistic effect of displaced soil splattering around in all directions. In arid regions, such as central Arizona, this is an important process that shapes the landscape. Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070118094045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070103201401.htm Mountain-top forests in Arizona have survived a three-year period of extreme drought. These conifers have evolved the ability to "turn themselves on" whenever water is available, both in winter when such trees elsewhere are dormant and in summer when sudden heavy rains must be exploited quickly. When water is scarce, the trees greatly reduce their activity. Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070103201401.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061010022224.htm Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, UW-Madison scientists discuss a surprising link between hurricane frequency in the Atlantic and thick clouds of dust that periodically rise from the Sahara Desert and blow off Africa's western coast. Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061010022224.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060912225845.htm Trees that live in an odd desert forest in Oman have found an unusual way to water themselves by extracting moisture from low-lying clouds, MIT scientists report. In an area that is characterized mostly by desert, the trees have preserved an ecological niche because they exploit a wispy-thin source of water that only occurs seasonally. Mon, 18 Sep 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060912225845.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082733.htm Social scientists and biophysical ecologists are finding that environmental surroundings may play a significant role in human social interaction, serving either as a social lubricant as in the first case, or as a barrier. Wed, 09 Aug 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060809082733.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm Scientists have devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America's breadbasket, the Great Plains. Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060807154834.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060721175718.htm Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona scientists took part in an international cooperation project to study the El Niño phenomenon and its effects on vegetation. By observing the relationship between the development of two species (Prosopis pallida and Prosopis chilensis) and the El Niño cycles (which have varying intensity), they have reached the conclusion that the increase in precipitation could be used to recover semi-arid zones through reforestation programmes. Sun, 23 Jul 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060721175718.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705091634.htm A mysterious shiny coating found on rocks in many of Earth's arid environments could reveal whether there was once life on Mars, according to new research. The research reveals that desert varnish creates a record of life around it, by binding traces of organic compounds to desert rocks. Samples of Martian desert varnish could therefore show whether there has been life on Mars at any stage over the last 4.5 billion years. Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705091634.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060619222554.htm A study by a climatologist in the department of geography at the University of Georgia has shown, using a unique 108-year-old data record and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, that arid cities such as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Phoenix have an effect on rainfall patterns around them. As important, it appears that human activities such as land use, aerosols and irrigation in these arid urban environments affect the entire water cycle as well. Mon, 19 Jun 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060619222554.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060609093945.htm How do gazelles and other large desert mammals adjust their physiology to survive when food and water are in short supply? A fascinating new study from the July/August issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology reveals that gazelles in the deserts of Saudi Arabia have evolved the ability to shrink oxygen-demanding organs such as the liver and heart, allowing them to breathe less. Fewer breaths reduce the amount of water lost to respiratory evaporation during prolonged periods of drought. Fri, 09 Jun 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060609093945.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060604112000.htm A team of researchers in New Mexico has developed a multi-faceted process to study arid and semiarid landscapes that takes into account the wide range of factors influencing changes that can result in desertification. Mon, 05 Jun 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060604112000.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060526180915.htm Bacteria and fungi, some with the potential to cause disease in plants or animals, may be finding their way from Africa to the Americas by hitchhiking on microscopic dust particles kicked up by storms in the Sahara, according to research presented today at the 106th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Orlando, Florida. Fri, 26 May 2006 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060526180915.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060508170906.htm Cold, wet conditions early in the year mean that 2006 is shaping up as the worst year for California's butterflies in almost four decades, according to Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis. That's a turnaround from last spring, when millions of painted lady butterflies migrated through the Central Valley. But other species have seen steep declines in recent years and could disappear from the region altogether. Mon, 08 May 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060508170906.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060409152456.htm Cracks and fins in the sand in an American desert look very similar to features seen on Mars and may indicate the recent presence of water at the surface. Mon, 10 Apr 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060409152456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060303204735.htm Researchers have discovered the remnants of the largest crater of the Great Sahara of North Africa. The double-ringed crater -- which has an outer rim surrounding an inner ring -- is approximately 31 kilometers in diameter. Prior to the latest finding, the Sahara's biggest known crater, in Chad, measured just over 12 kilometers. Sat, 04 Mar 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060303204735.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060125084759.htm Ironically, in the diversity of soil bacteria, the otherwise species-rich Amazon is a more like a desert, while the arid desert is a teeming microbial Amazon, researchers have found. Their first-ever continental-scale genetic survey of soil bacteria revealed that the primary factor that seems to govern the diversity of soil bacteria is soil pH. Thus, the acidic soils of topical forests harbor fewer bacterial species than the neutral soils of deserts. Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060125084759.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051107083842.htm Evidence of methane-producing organisms can be found in inhospitable soil environments much like those found on the surface of Mars, according to experiments undertaken by scientists and students from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the University of Arkansas and published online in the journal Icarus. These results, they say, provide ample impetus for similar "biodetection experiments" to be considered for future missions to Mars. Tue, 08 Nov 2005 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051107083842.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031125638.htm With a quarter of the Earth's land surface affected, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification regards desertification as a worldwide problem. Delegates from the 170-plus signatories to the Convention currently gathered in Nairobi have been briefed by ESA representatives and national partners on how satellites are being used to track desertification in Europe. Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051031125638.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051021121049.htm An innovative tent, developed with the use of space concepts, is now on display at the 'SAFE: Design On Risk' exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Designed for desert use, it exploits the inhospitable environment to improve life in the desert. Fri, 21 Oct 2005 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051021121049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810134231.htm Carnegie Mellon researchers and their colleagues from NASA's Ames Research Center, the universities of Tennessee, Arizona and Iowa, as well as Chilean researchers at Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta) are preparing for the final stage of a three-year project to develop a prototype robotic astrobiologist, a robot that can explore and study life in the driest desert on Earth. The mission runs from August 22 to October 22. Fri, 12 Aug 2005 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810134231.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050511072545.htm Medical researchers are using satellites to track massive dust storms blowing across Africa's Sahel belt. The aim is to learn more about lethal meningitis epidemics that often follow in the dust's wake. Wed, 11 May 2005 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050511072545.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050413094654.htm You probably consider those dust particles that make you sneeze and wheeze a nuisance, but those tiny pieces of matter could potentially affect the world’s climate, its oceans and even the food chain process, note the authors of a paper appearing in this week’s Science magazine. Thu, 14 Apr 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050413094654.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050413091059.htm Desert blooms -- plants that flourish in arid areas after rains -- might reduce water accumulation in soil should the climate shift toward wetter conditions, according to a study conducted by a team led by University of Texas at Austin hydrogeologists. Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/050413091059.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050131224844.htm 100 years after Einstein’s landmark work on Brownian motion, physicists have discovered a new concept of temperature that could be the key to explaining how ice and snow particles flow during an avalanche, and could also lead to a better way of handling tablets in the pharmaceutical industry. Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050131224844.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050125091447.htm Using advanced remote-sensing techniques from a U-2 surveillance plane and field studies, scientists from the Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology have for the first time determined large-scale interactions between ecosystems and the climate during the process of desertification. Thu, 27 Jan 2005 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050125091447.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111162145.htm Oregon State University researchers working with the People's Republic of China have developed a web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping tool they hope will help solve the massive loss of topsoil on high elevation plateaus in western and northern China. Thu, 13 Jan 2005 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111162145.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041220121803.htm Using advanced remote-sensing techniques from a U-2 surveillance plane and field studies, scientists from the Carnegie Institution Department of Global Ecology have for the first time determined large-scale interactions between ecosystems and the climate during the process of desertification. Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041220121803.htm