Abiotic

Abiotic Data

Abiotic factors are non-living things that effect the life of an organism. These would include the precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, soil organic content, available sunlight, wind speed etc.

The inorganic parts of the ecosystem include a sandy, rocky soil with a moisture level of 1% (In mid--March of 2008). There was very little organic content in the soil. The land is a sloped hillside—about a 20-30 degree slope. Small, broken rocks (scree) litter the ground.

The sky is usually cloudless, there is often a slight breeze blowing, and the high daytime temperature range in March and April is usually about 80-90 degrees F.

This climatogram summarizes the monthly average temperature and precipitation. Note how both the temperature and precipiation profiles show distinct changes through the year. This means that there are distinct seasons. Spring is very dry and has high average temperatures. These conditions stress many plants and animals. Those that can survive these conditions must be specially adapted to conserve moisture, and form the typical "desert" biota. As summer approaches, temperatures become even higher. August is the moistest month. Summer rains are often the precursor to flowering of plants.

Many different non-living things can tell you something about an ecosystem. What's this 1st image? Walking along the site, you might not even notice it. It is a rabbit wallow! Rabbits like to roll on the ground to scratch their backs. This is the "backprint" that is left! What is in the 2nd photo? Is it more pebbles? NO - it's rabbit scat! Every different animal leaves different types of droppings (scat). Scat can be used to determine what type of organisms live in an area, how many of them live there and what they might eat! Even dinosaurs left scat. They have turned to rocks and are called coproliths!!

Research/Project Results

Desert Biome

Phoenix Zoo, Page 4

Abiotic Data