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10/14/2018

10/15 to 10/19: Desert Biology

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We live in the chihuahuan desert


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  • Portions of southwest Texas, southern New Mexico, and southeast Arizona.
  • The largest part of the desert is in Mexico. ​
          ducksters.com

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desert creatures web site


Taxonomy


Classification of a species is organized by:
Kingdom
Phylum 
Class 
Order 
Family 
Genus 
​Species

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification of living things.

latin roots 


THe desert food chain starts with nitrogen fixation


  • Cyanobacteria, blue green algae help with nitrogen fixation, found in desert soil crusts
  • Also done by legumes: beans and peas
  • Nitrogen cycle includes: nitrogen fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification.
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Nitrogen fixing plants: take nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in nodules in the roots

local parks



c3, c4, cam plants



calvin cycle


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  • C3 plants are the most common and the most efficient at photosynthesis in cool, wet climates.
  • C4 plants are most efficient at photosynthesis in hot, sunny climates.
  • CAM plants are adapted to avoid water loss during photosynthesis so they are best in deserts.
  • Stoma: also called a stomata, is a pore, found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that facilitates gas exchange. 

plants communicate through a fungal network


Mycorrhizae: a fungus that grows in association with the roots of a plant in a symbiotic or mildly pathogenic relationship

Mycorrhiza:
is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular host plant, although 29% are non-mycorrhizal plant species.
The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungi in the plants' rhizosphere, its root system.


phylogenetic maps


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A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities—their 

Phylogeny—based upon similarities and differences in their physical or genetic characteristics.

Bacteria- a type of biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals.

Archaea- a 
domain of single-celled microorganisms,  prokaryotes, meaning they have no cell nucleus, found inside plankton and in extreme environments like volcanic sites

Eukarya- includes eukaryotic organisms. These are organisms with cells that contain a nucleus as well as membrane-bound organelles. 

Desert Arthropods


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Etymology. The word arthropod comes from the Greek ἄρθρον árthron, "joint", and πούς pous (gen. podos), i.e. "foot" or "leg", which together mean "jointed leg".

Insects


Orthoptera: ortho- straight, ptera-wing, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets
Hymenoptera: is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. 

​
Etymology: Hymenoptera comes from the Greek words Greek words hymen meaning membrane and ptera, which means wings. This refers to their filmy, or membranous, wings.
Link: USDA tracks bee populations
Link: There is definitely bee diversity
Lepidoptera: Members of this order include: butterflies and moths. Etymology: Lepidoptera comes from the Greek words lepido, which means scale, and ptera, which means wings.
​Coleoptera: Beetles Etymology: Coleoptera comes from the Greek words koleos, which means sheath, and ptera, which means wings. This refers to the hardened forewings, which are known as elytra in beetles.

Crustaceans


Roly Polies, pill bugs
Desert shrimp: eggs can stay dormant for 30 years
Found in ditches, ponds, pools and other ephemeral freshwater habitats in northern Mexico and parts of the southern and southwestern United States, west of the Mississippi River.
Prehistoric shrimp emerge from Australian desert after heavy rain
Clam Shrimp: there are 8 varieties in Australia

Arachnids


9:40 sun spider, 11:30 giant desert hairy scorpion, 14:00 long nosed snake, 17:30 spadefoot toad, 18:30 rattlesnake


hawk wasp: State insect of New Mexico


Parasitic Hawk Wasp will paralyze tarantula and lay an egg in them then drag the tarantula to a burrow where the egg(s), usually a single egg, hatch and eat the semi paralyzed tarantula

Article: Youth are standing up for the world!!

Teen Climate Activist to Crowd of Thousands: 'We Can't Save the World by Playing by the Rules Because the Rules Have to Change'


Desert Plants


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desert cacti


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opuntia


Opuntia: commonly called prickly pear, is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as tuna, sabra, nopal from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.
Nahuatl: a member of a group of peoples native to southern Mexico and Central America, including the Aztecs. Current native speakers: over 1.7 million

​Varieties: divided by type of spines, flower colors, size of pads
                  web site on Opuntia varieties: http://eol.org/pages/37701/overview   

Noticeable traits: -flat paddle-shaped stem segments called cladodes 
                               -tiny, easily detached spines called glochids that
                                 look soft and fuzzy but spine you up
                               -formidable spines in addition to the glochids
                               -flowers are typically yellow, sometimes pink, and rarely white
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Source: http://www.cactusmuseum.com/anatomy.asp 
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 Uses: can be eaten, some animals can chew up the spines,
            you can roast them, peel, or eat the red fruit
Who is in there? road runners nest in there 
Ecology: Does not like soggy soil, naturally grows throughout North and South America from as far north as Canada, through the Caribbean, and down into Argentina.
Below are
​cactus moth babies and adult
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Desert Trees


Desert  Trees: 
​https://www.nps.gov/cham/learn/nature/upload/trees_6_30_09.pdf

Desert SHrubs


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Ocotillo: 
​​https://jornada.nmsu.edu/blog/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-ocotillo 
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Local name Mormon Tea: https://www.birdandhike.com/Veg/Species/Shrubs/Ephedr_vir/_Eph_vir.htm 
Las Cruces Sun News covered it

Our desert used to be more of  grassland than a shrubland but cows changed that 


​Amaranth


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Entire plant is edible including the tasty black seeds. Nutrients: protein, vitamins C and B6, riboflavin, thiamin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, iron, and calcium.
​Red varieties are used by Hopi communities as red dye.

​Desert Gourd


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Desert flowers


​https://www.newmexicoexplorer.com/chihuahuan-desert-bloom/ 

Desert cacti can be eaten in an emergency, but it is nice to let it live and thrive



Animals of CHIHUAHUAn Desert


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    Author: Jazmin Gannon

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