Gerardo Ugalde
Desert Biome
Desert Foodweb
Symbiotic Relationships
Mutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Human Impacts on the Desert
Negative Impacts
Humans have impacted the desert biome in that they have polluted the atmosphere. This affects all biomes, including the desert. People have also drilled for fossil fuels, such as oil, in the desert. This causes pollution and harm to many animals living near the oil wells. Humans have also taken sand from the desert and hunted animals in the desert, because of this several species of animals in the desert have become endangered or extinct! If this continues, the desert may not even have any life! The desert biome is full of life, such as bugs and reptiles, but humans may eventually destroy this ecosystem, harming the entire desert.
Positve Impacts
There is not many ways that humans impact the desert, because maybe you don't want to hurt it but sometimes people just need to do what they have to do. Even though there are not many positive impacts there are some things people have done to try and protect the desert, like they have built parks and preserves, such as the Mojave National Preserve. There are also many ways to try to help the desert for example try to make less farms, try to keep the air without many pollution, and whenever your driving don't take shortcuts, because you might kill bugs or plants and then the organisms would start decreasing around that area. So remember, try to help.
Saguaro Cactus
The saguaro cactus is a common plant that is found in the desert. It is a producer that is not only a plant, but also produces prickly pear, a type of fruit that is actually really good. The cactus has one of the major roles in the food chain. It produces the most energy to all the other organisms that eat it, for example the Gila woodpecker.
Wood Rat
The wood rat is considered to be a primary/secondary consumer. It is an omnivore it feeds on other organisms, like the grasshopper and the red-harvested ants, but also feeds on plants, like the saguaro cactus, the prickly pear cactus, and the brittlebrush. However, it is also easy prey for other animals that are on a higher level in the food web, like the Western-dimondback rattlesnake, and the Red-tailed hawk. It gives off its energy to the organism that eats it and so on.
Red-Tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed hawk is a top predetor in the food web. In this case it is a tertiary/quaternary consumer because it can eat the western-dimondback rattlesnake but can't eat the elf owl so therefore it is more of a quaternary consumer. This animal depends on other organisms for food,since it is a carnivore. This organism gets less energy, since it's a top predetor and depends on other animals. It may seem like its easy to get food for this guy but it's really not, because it s a flying organism it has to be watching from the skies to get some food, so it's not as easy as it looks for a top predetor in the desert. This organism doesn't have to fear of other organisms or about getting eaten. However when it dies there is decomposers waiting around to start their job.
Millipede
The millipede may look the smallest thing compared to other organisms, and that it doesn't really play a role in a food web, but it actually helps it out a lot. It helps by decomposing dead organisms that are just lying around. It may not seem like it but even this little organism helps decompose the top predetor, which in this case it is the Red-tailed hawk.