The term ‘desert’ comes from the Ecclesiastical Latin ‘dēsertum’1 which means ‘an abandoned place’, but actually the term has not always been used in the way we use it now2. For example, “Desert Islands” has not used to mean a desert like the Sahara or Antarctic3.
Before the 20th century, it simply meant “unpopulated area” without describing a specific drought. So what conditions must be met in order to call a desert a desert? To call an area a desert, it must receive less than 250 mm of precipitation per year and has sparse vegetation4. And of course, the living conditions for plants and animals are quite difficult4.
If we look at the area covered by deserts, we see that it is one-fifth of the Earth’s surface. They exist on every continent. Unlike the desert picture that first comes to mind, deserts can also be quite far from the sand and dunes. In this case, deserts are generally classified into four: hot and dry deserts, semi-arid deserts, coastal deserts, and cold deserts. Examples of hot and dry (also known as arid) deserts are: Sahara (in Africa) and Mojave (in the U.S.A.), semi-arid deserts are: the Sagebrush of Utah, Montana, and the Great Basin, coastal desert is the Atacama Desert on the pacific shores of Chile, and cold deserts are Gobi Desert and Antarctica. This classification depends on the amount of precipitation falling, the average temperature, and geographical conditions5.

The main reason for the formation of deserts is pressure cells. Around the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere are subtropical deserts, due to high-pressure fields (Sahara, Atacama, Namib etc.). The reason for the formation of deserts in the middle belt is a little different. The reason for the formation of deserts such as Gobi, Taklamakan, and Kyzyl-Kum is that they are quite far from the sea and surrounded by mountains. When ocean and wind currents are added to these, the rainfall rate is considerably reduced, making it an arid biome6.
Well, if we think that life exists with water, is life possible in this drought? Of course, it’s possible with special ways to survive in deserts7.
Deserts are ecosystems with very low primary productivity. Moreover, it is quite prone to erosion due to its sparse vegetation. Under these extreme conditions, plants and animals have evolved against long-term water deficits7.
Photosynthesis is key for the life of plants and therefore animals. The extreme heat during the day makes it difficult for the stomata to open and for CO2 to enter during photosynthesis. Thanks to CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthesis, which is a carbon fixation, plants in arid areas perform photosynthesis during the day and gas exchange at night8. The interesting thing about this adaptation is the difference in taste due to stored malic acid. Plants are sweeter during the day and turn sour at night9.
The main thing we need to know about plants that live in deserts is xerophytes. The word xerophyte is derived from the Greek xeros meaning ‘dry’ and photon meaning ‘plant’10. It is a name given to plant species that have adapted to environments with low water availability. Cactus, pineapple, and Gymnosperm plants are the most important examples of this.
One of the biggest helpers for the survival of plants is their long roots under the soil. Also, some have reduced the size of their leaves or have lost them entirely, i.e. reduced their surface area. The spines of cacti are an example of this, and they also help protect themselves from thirsty animals. In addition, another important feature for the protection of plants is their resins that reduce their transpiration and their epicuticular wax structure. The best example of this is Dudleya pulverulenta11.

Like plants, desert animals have evolved to stay cool and need less water. The general name of animals adapted to living in the desert is xerocole. The common feature of these animals is that they have developed many mechanisms to reduce water loss through evaporation. They also avoid concentrates excretions to conserve water. These animals range from Addax, also known as the white antelope, to the Mexican long-nosed bat12. They get their water needs by taking hygroscopic water from food12.
We can classify desert animals according to the time they are active. Animals such as the fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) are active at night to hunt. Animals such as these that are active in the absence of the sun (after sunset or just before sunrise) are called crepuscular animals13. That’s a great way to avoid heat stress. In addition, some spend their time underground like desert tortoises, while others are nomadic for food like desert birds14.

Let’s think about whether deserts that receive direct sunlight and wind have an advantage. The source of the largest solar energy production in the world is the Sahara Desert. Also in the Thar Desert, the energy is produced with solar panels, and electricity is produced with wind farms.
Deserts are also important in terms of their valuable reserves. In mineral extraction; minerals such as felspar, gypsum, kaolin, and phosphorite are extracted in Thar Desert15.
The thing that provides an important income for the local economy here is; desert agriculture. The production of wheat and cotton thanks to irrigation is a good example of this15.
However, the only thing that makes all these possible is water. While the right water supply benefits the growing population and local economy, unconscious irrigation can make life impossible15.
Moreover, the idea of farming in the desert dates back to the ancient civilizations of Assyria, Egypt, Israel, as well as western American Indian tribes16.
Unfortunately, desert agriculture is gaining more and more importance day by day.
“Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world’s population, live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation17.”

Throughout geological history, deserts have developed and evolved, but in recent years, semi-arid deserts are becoming deserts due to human-induced causes, and life in deserts is in danger. But this desertification is not caused by drought, but by deforestation and the population density settling in semi-arid regions. Climate change also plays an important role in this regard. For example, heat waves are fatally threatening the survival of desert bird species, and scientists have been warned that some of the desert plants that have lived for centuries cannot survive in the hotter climate15.
We need to take a few small steps not only for our future but also for our present. We may not be moving from our cities to the desert, but an extra plastic bottle threatens the life of a creature miles away.
“It might be too late but we have to try.”
References:
- Word “desert” – etymology- https://www.etymonline.com/word/desert
- Harper, Douglas (2012). “Desert”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2013-05-12
- Meinig, Donald W. (1993). The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 2: Continental America, 1800-1867. Yale University Press. p. 76.
- Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2014, August 27). list of deserts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-deserts-1854209
- List of deserts by area – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deserts_by_area
- Rafferty, J. P. (Invalid Date). How Do Deserts Form?. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/how-do-deserts-form
- Keith, DA (2020). “T5. Deserts and semi-deserts biome”. In Keith, D.A.; Ferrer-Paris, J.R.; Nicholson, E.; Kingsford, R.T. (eds.). The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: Descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups. Gland, Switzerland
- Michael Hogan. 2011. Respiration. Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Mark McGinley & C.J.cleveland. National council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
- Raven, P & Evert, R & Eichhorn, S, 2005, “Biology of Plants” (seventh edition), p. 135 (Figure 7-26), W.H. Freeman and Company Publishers
- Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerophyte
- Mulroy, Thomas W. (1979). “Spectral properties of heavily glaucous and non-glaucous leaves of a succulent rosette-plant
- Nakate, Shashank (20 September 2011). “Desert Animals List”. Buzzle. Archived from the originalon 5 November 2012. Retrieved 24 November2012
- “Glossary”. North American Mammals. Smithsonian– National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the originalon May 25, 2017
- Desert Explained. National Geographic Society. Tuesday, March 3, 2020 https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/deserts-explained/?utm_source=BibblioRCM_Row
- Hot deserts- AQA – GCSE Geography – BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpnq6fr/revision/1
- Holy Land Farming Began 5,000 Years Earlier Than Thought – Douglas Main – March 19, 2013. Live Science https://www.livescience.com/28011-ancient-agriculture-israel.html
- International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015. Focus Areas: Water scarcity”.
- More Reading Power. Pearson Education Blanchard, K., Root, C. (2004)
Figure References:
- https://www.whatarethe7continents.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/deserts-of-the-world-map.png
- https://thebikinggardener.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/xerophyte.jpg?w=768&h=576
- https://seancrane.com/blogphotos/Jackrabbit-4.jpg
- https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/images/scarcity/2013_scarcity_graph_2.png
Inspector: Süleyman ŞAHİN