Desert
Deserts have a very unreliable supply of water. Sometimes it rains heavily, causing floods, but this is followed by long dry spells.
When it rains, water collects in claypans or flows in wide rivers that usually end in salt lakes. Salt is often easily obtained but is difficult to lose.
Naturally polished rocks called gibbers are found
in some deserts.
North-east of Marree on the edge of the Tirari
Desert.
Photo: I Maidment, November 1985
The animals of the desert have
- very little water
- dry air
- often a salty environment.
 Different plants grow in different places in the desert. What does this mean for the animals that live here? Sand ridges south east of Lake Cadibarrawirracanna. Photo: W Zeidler, June 1983 |
 Vegetation
Plants in this region are generally woody, smaller and spaced further apart than those in wetter regions. Typical water saving features include small, light coloured, leathery leaves sometimes covered with reflective hairs, scales or resins. Other plants have seeds that grow only after heavy rains. These plants grow quickly, set their own seed and die off in just a few weeks when the water starts to dry up. |