cal savanna the mean monthly temperatures are at or above 64 F. In both biomes they have similar vegetation. They have continuous cover of perennial grasses and some woody vegetation. They may also have a canopy of drought-resistant, fire-resistant, or browse-resistant trees. These are some of the vegetations adaptations. Some of the animals found in these regions are ground squirrels, prairie dogs, zebra, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, warthogs, buffalo, coyote, and badgers. The temperate grasslands are lower in diversity of animals compared to tropical grasslands and savannas. Most of the herbivorous mammals of open savannas are herd animals. Also termites are abundant in tropical savannas. The next and driest biome is the desert. The desert is located in US, Northern Africa, Australia, and southwestern Asia. It is gets less then 10 inches of rain per year. The potential evaporation exceeds precipitation in the annual water budget causing a problem of drought in some areas. The rainfall is highly localized in the desert. Temperatures often exceed 100 F in summer. At night the temperatures dip by about 20-30 degrees making the desert nights cold. The desert is full of adaptive plants. The plants found in the desert are primarily shrubs as the growthform of deserts. There maybe evergreen or deciduous trees in certain areas. Its typical for the plants to have small leaves. Frequently the vegetation has spines or thorns as an adaptation from animals such as the cactus. Most vegetation of the desert has shallow but extensive root systems. They are used to absorb rainwater out past the canopy of the plant. Between shrubs the ground is bare because the roots release toxins to keep away competition for growth. Plants are able to store water and to adapt to long periods without much precipitation. Just like the plants, the animals are some of the most adaptive. Some animal adaptations are nocturnal feeding; morphological ...
