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natural environment > arid environment > desert > semi-desert

Preferred term

semi-desert  

Definition

  • A semi-arid desert or a steppe is a version of the arid desert with much more rainfall, vegetation and higher humidity. These regions feature a semi-arid climate and are less extreme than regular deserts. Like arid deserts, temperatures can vary greatly in semi deserts. They share some characteristics of a true desert and are usually located at the edge of deserts and continental dry areas. They usually receive precipitation from 250 to 500 mm (9.8 to 19.7 in) but this can vary due to evapotranspiration and soil nutrition. There are considerable variations of desert and semidesert ecosystems on different rock and soil conditions. To many environmental scientists—and to the layman—what actually defines a desert is the vegetation cover rather than the climate. Plant growth in relation to the available moisture is affected by soil type, underlying lithology, slope angle, and aspect. It is also affected by grazing intensity and the history of land use. Although not generally discussed, what constitutes a “desert” or “semidesert” is often confusing because of regional differences in the usage of the words. In North America, the term “desert” is often used to refer to scrublands which are dense enough to sustain commercial ranching and which would probably not even be regarded as semidesert in many regions. However, other areas within the American southwest are indeed sparse enough to be regarded as “semidesert” by most standards. The Australian “deserts” are almost all densely vegetated enough to be regarded as “semideserts” by the standards used in other areas, such as the Sahara. (Adapted from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid_climate and E. Lioubimtseva & J. M. Adams (2004), Environmental Management, 33, S388-S405.)

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http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/QX8-H1CZH73V-L

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