T5.1 Semi-desert steppe

T5. Deserts and semi-deserts biome

Profile summary

Full profile at https://global-ecosystems.org/explore/groups/T5.1

Brief description

Semi-desert steppes on all continents are dominated by perennial shrubs, often with semi-fleshy or velvety foliage, and tussock grasses interspersed with bare ground. Low variable rainfall and extreme temperatures favour flora and fauna with drought and stress-tolerance adaptations, such as deep roots and nomadism. Growth and reproduction of shrubs and grasses is varies with rainfall, the cover of grass diminishing to near zero in extended droughts. Grass cover also depends on soil fertility and grazing animals, which may also limit shrub recruitment and growth. These steppes are among the most productive of desert ecosystems, with relatively abundant small and large herbivorous and seed-eating mammals supporting bird and mammal predators and scavengers.

Key features

Low-productivity and low-stature shrublands, tussock-grass and mixed, with episodic trophic pulses driven by variable rainfall.

Overview of distribution

Global temperate-arid regions with high temperatures and low and variable precipitation.

Map description

Major and minor occurrences were initially identified using consensus land-cover maps (Tuanmu et al. 2014) and then cropped to selected terrestrial ecoregions (Dinerstein et al. 2017) at 30 arc seconds spatial resolution. Ecoregions were selected if: i) their descriptions mentioned features consistent with those identified in the profile of the Ecosystem Functional Group; and ii) if their location was consistent with the ecological drivers described in the profile..

Map code and version: T5.1.web.mix v1.0.

Version history

Profile versions

v2.1 (2022-04-06): MG Tozer; DJ Eldridge; DA Keith.¹
v2.01 (NA): NA.
v2.0 (2020-06-15): MG Tozer; DJ Eldridge; DA Keith.
v1.0 (2020-01-20): .
v1.0 (2020-03-09): MG Tozer; DA Keith.

Available maps

Read more details about the current map versions here.

Web navigation (code: T5.1.web.mix, version v1.0)
Indicative Map (code: T5.1.IM.mix, version v1.0)

Read more details about older or alternative versions of maps for this functional group.

Indicative Map: discarded (code: T5.1.IM.alt, version v2.0)
Indicative Map: replaced (code: T5.1.IM.orig, version v1.0)
Web navigation: requires review (code: T5.1.web.orig, version v1.0)

References

Main references

References used in the different versions of the profiles.

Eldridge DJ, Travers SK, Facelli AF, Facelli JM, Keith DA (2017) The Chenopod shrublands Australian vegetation (Ed. DA Keith), pp 599-625. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 978-1-107-11843-0
West NE (1983) Comparisons and contrasts between the temperate deserts and semi-deserts of three continents Ecosystems of the World Vol. 5. (Ed. NE West) pp. 461–472. (Elsevier: Amsterdam)

Map references

References used in the different versions of the maps (current and discarded).

Dinerstein E, Olson D, Joshi A, Vynne C, Burgess ND, Wikramanayake E, Hahn N, Palminteri S, Hedao P, Noss R, Hansen M, Locke H, Ellis EE, Jones B, Barber CV, Hayes R, Kormos C, Martin V, Crist E, Sechrest W, Price L, Baillie JEM, Weeden D, Suckling K, Davis C, Sizer N, Moore R, Thau D, Birch T, Potapov P, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A, de Souza N, Pintea L, Brito JC, Llewellyn Barnekow Lillesø JP, van Breugel P, Graudal L, Voge M, Al-Shammari KF, Saleem M (2017) An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience 67: 534–545. DOI:10.1093/biosci/bix014. Data-set available on-line
Harris, I., Jones, P.D., Osborn, T.J. and Lister, D.H. (2014), Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations - the CRU TS3.10 Dataset. International Journal of Climatology 34, 623-642 doi:10.1002/joc.3711 Revised appendix
Tuanmu, M.-N. and W. Jetz (2014) A global 1-km consensus land-cover product for biodiversity and ecosystem modeling Global Ecology and Biogeography 23(9):1031–1045 DOI:10.1111/geb.12182
NA

Footnotes

This is the current version available at official site.↩︎