Desert Food Web Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Desert Food Web - Assignment Example Plants such as brittlebushes, creosote bush, bur sage, catclaw, mesquite, rabbit brushes, lyceums, and jujube are abundant in deserts and these are the primary producers in this biome. The primary consumers include rabbits, kangaroo rats, grasshoppers, and ants, etc. The secondary consumers include lizards, snakes, and birds such as burrowing owls and mammals such as bats (craigmarlatt.com). Further, the energy passes on to the tertiary consumers such as the mountain lion, hawks, coyote and the scavengers. In recent decades, human impact on most of the biomes is well recorded. Even with the extreme climatic conditions, today desert dwellers make up about one percent of the world population. As a result of this, there is exploitation of several natural resources and even extinction of species. Human interferences can be seen in the form of agricultural activities, construction, oil and mineral exploitation, roads and transportation, etc. Agriculture demands water supply and the digging of wells has caused the groundwater table to drop in several desert regions. Oil and minerals exploitation takes several million years for its replenishment. There are hardly any regions of the world where humans have not made any changes or human impact is not visible. Desert landscapes have also been changed such as way that desert has turned green with the farmers using irrigation from underground sources as well as rivers. Inland waterways and pipes fetch water from remote rivers to these farms and the manmade vegetation is making use of the abundant mineral source for growth. Further, the oil and mining business support the construction of roads and infrastructures development. Residential apartments for workers and staffs and the air pollution through vehicles have also increased tremendously. Together with the agricultural activities, the increased grazing also posed a threat to the natural desert biomes.