Global ecosystem typology

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T5.2 Succulent or Thorny deserts and semi-deserts

Biome: T5. Deserts and semi-deserts biome

Contributors:
(texts)

Succulent or Thorny deserts and semi-deserts are restricted in their occurrence to parts of the Americas, Africa, Madagascar and south Asia. They have a sparse cover of typical cactus-like plants and other slow-growing spiny and succulent species, on stony low-nutrient soils. Many of these plants store water in their stems and have deep roots. Short-lived plant species emerge after rains from dormant organs or soil seed banks. Plants and animals tolerate extreme summer temperatures and mild winters. Nocturnal and burrowing mammals are able to avoid extreme temperatures. Diverse opportunistic invertebrates and reptiles occur, along with small numbers of large-ranging ungulates.

Key Features

Characterized by tall succulent plants, diverse annuals and geophytes, supporting diverse mammals, reptiles and invertebrates.

Overview of distribution

Subtropical latitudes of the Americas, southern Africa and southern Asia.

Profile versions

Main references

Selected references for this functional group:

  • Shmida A, Evenari M, Noy-Meir I (1986) Hot desert ecosystems: an integrated view Ecosystems of the World, Vol. 12b: Hot deserts and arid shrublands (Eds. M Evenari, I Noy Meir, DW Goodall), pp. 379-387. . Elsevier, Amsterdam

Diagrammatic assembly model

Diagrammatic assembly model of T5.2 Succulent or Thorny deserts and semi-deserts. See general notes on diagrams. Open image full size.

Maps

Maps are indicative of global distribution patterns are not intended to represent fine-scale patterns. The maps show areas of the world containing major (coloured red) or minor occurrences (coloured yellow) of each ecosystem functional group. See general notes on maps.

There are 2 alternative versions of the indicative map for this functional group, please compare description and sources below.

T5.2.IM.mix_v1.0

Datasets

  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017
  • EarthEnv-LandCover-v1.0

Map references

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

  • Tuanmu, M.-N. and W. Jetz (2014) A global 1-km consensus land-cover product for biodiversity and ecosystem modeling Global Ecology and Biogeography 23(9):1031–1045 DOI:10.1111/geb.12182

T5.2.web.mix_v1.0

Major and minor occurrences were initially identified using consensus land-cover maps (Tuanmu et al. 2014) and then cropped to selected terrestrial ecoregions (Dinerstein et al. 2017) at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution. Ecoregions were selected if: i) their descriptions mentioned features consistent with those identified in the profile of the Ecosystem Functional Group; and ii) if their location was consistent with the ecological drivers described in the profile. Open image full size.

Datasets

  • Resolve-Ecoregions-2017
  • EarthEnv-LandCover-v1.0

Map references

  • Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line

  • Tuanmu, M.-N. and W. Jetz (2014) A global 1-km consensus land-cover product for biodiversity and ecosystem modeling Global Ecology and Biogeography 23(9):1031–1045 DOI:10.1111/geb.12182

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