ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to my parents for introducing me to the deserts of America Thanks to Richard Hill of the Saguaro National Park for his knowledge of cacti and their protection and Daniel Holland for his insight on Mongolia Thanks to formerdesertratnowmid westerngalpalandeditorextraordinaire Lisa Rosenthal for always making it fun Betsy Kulak for making it beautiful Monica Baziuk Allison Felus and Gerilee Hundt for putting it all together and Cynthia Sherry for endless encouragement And always to Dean and Lucie for their support love and readiness to explore new
INTRODUCTION Like a great poet Nature knows how to produce the greatest effects with the most limited means Heinrich Heine 1797 1856 The poet Heinrich Heine wrote these words over 200 years ago And if you have ever seen a sunset in a desert you know that these words certainly ring true The desert sparse as it may seem is breathtaking There are deserts all over our world In fact deserts cover about one fifth of the earth's surface and many are still growing Some are found near the equator and are hot and dry while deserts to the far north are quite cold They are usually thought to be barren lands with little plant or animal life but over thousands of years many animals and plants have adapted In the Sahara Desert alone there are an esti mated 1 200 species of plants Deserts is written for everyone who is intrigued by these vast regions whether or not you have visited one Alone or in groups kids will enjoy the activities that explore these mysterious lands Readers will see the deserts unfold on these pages and discover the wonders that need preserving Facts will pop out in Desert Discovery sidebars and ideas for more fun appear in Desert Challenges at the end of the
You'll also find additional ways to explore the deserts with recommended books videos and Web sites A listing of places to visit and a calendar of yearly events will continue the desert fun Most of all kids will discover a new frontier that they'll want to con tinue to explore So turn the page and start getting wild about
DISCOVERING DESERTS Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a desert In the desert of your imagination you might find yourself under the sun and standing on hot sand You might look up to see sand and rocks in all directions At night the sand becomes colder and the cloudless sky becomes full of stars Well that is what you will find in many deserts but not in all of them About one fifth of the surface of the earth is desert Most deserts are just as you imagine hot but others are very cold However all deserts have one thing in com mon very little rain The Biologist's View of the Desert There are many ways to define a desert Meteorolo gists define the desert by the amount of rainfall or precipitation it receives each year By definition a desert is a place that receives very little rain In fact the rain must be less than 19 7 inches 50 cm each year Look at a yardstick and see if you can find the 50 centimeter mark on the metric side You'll see that it's an extremely small amount of rain for one
