Desert ecosystems are terrestrial biomes characterized by chronically low precipitation, high evapotranspiration, and large diurnal temperature fluctuations, resulting in water-limited primary productivity and sparse, highly specialized biota. Vegetation often exhibits xerophytic adaptations such as CAM or C4 photosynthesis, deep or extensive root systems, reduced leaf area, and osmotic adjustment, while fauna display behavioral and physiological strategies for water conservation and thermal regulation. Biogeochemical cycles are strongly pulsed, with episodic rainfall events driving rapid nutrient mineralization and biological activity. Desert ecosystems are structured by resource heterogeneity (e.g., “resource islands”), soil crust communities, and disturbance regimes including wind erosion and episodic flooding.
A comprehensive study of more than 1,100 springs in the American West warns that critical biodiversity hot spots are facing a mounting extinction crisis.
Ecology
Jul 8, 2026
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9
Researchers are celebrating the release of the once locally extinct burrowing bettong back into the NSW desert—with the aim of training them to survive alongside feral cats and foxes.
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
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241
San Juan's once-sparkling rivers have shriveled due to drought, and residents in the rugged, western Argentine province fear that prospective mining projects in the Andes will make matters worse.
Environment
Jun 16, 2026
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13
Chimpanzees are the only great apes, apart from humans, that have adapted to living on savannas as well as in forests. However, it is not yet well understood how the harsh ecological conditions of the savanna—compared with ...
Evolution
Jun 9, 2026
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A collaborative study with the University of Cologne, recently published in Nature Communications, provides compelling evidence that the extreme aridity in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert began over 40 million years ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 2, 2026
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14
As wildflowers go, the mountain jewelflower is demure, clever and quietly unbreakable. It has spread across many of California's iconic landscapes, from Sonoma wine country to the oak-dotted foothills, even over the Sierra ...
Plants & Animals
May 30, 2026
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20
When the Dome Fire tore through the Mojave Desert in 2020, it reduced 1 million Eastern Joshua trees to blackened skeletons. Scientists expected the underground ecosystem to be equally devastated. Instead, they found it thriving.
Ecology
May 29, 2026
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14
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Somehow, it feels like it's getting hotter and drier every day.
Environment
May 12, 2026
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66
Relatively simple habitat management can influence population genetics, providing conservation managers with the opportunity to support genetic resilience not only through breeding programs or translocations, but also by ...
Ecology
Apr 21, 2026
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6
With almost a third of cacti species threatened with extinction, a new open-access database of cactus ecology and evolution could help scientists and conservationists save species from the brink.
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
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