Deserts and xeric shrublands

The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic.

desert in China and Mongolia

desert in South America

desert in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China

large, arid region in India and Pakistan

desert in Western Australia and South Australia

desert located in Western Asia

desert in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States

arid climate subtype in the Köppen climate classification system

A xerophyte () is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants. The morphology and physiology of xerophytes are adapted to conserve water during dry periods. Some species called resurrection plants can survive long periods of extreme dryness or desiccation of their tissues, during which their metabolic activity may effectively shut down. Plants with such morphological and physiological adaptations are said to be . Xerophytes such as cacti are capable of withstanding exte

Dzungaria, also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China, consisting of the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan mountain range to the south, Dzungaria covers approximately , and borders Kazakhstan to the west and Mongolia to the east. In contexts prior to the mid-18th century Dzungar genocide, the term "Dzungaria" could cover a wider area, coterminous with the Oirat-led Dzungar Khanate.

desert in Argentina and Falkland Islands

desert in Western Australia

desert in Mexico and the southwestern United States

Brazilian archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean

thumb|upright=1.3|Hamada plateau at Tademaït, [[Algeria. Photograph by French explorer Fernand Foureau during his trans-Saharan journey in 1890.]] thumb|Hamada in the interior of the Cape Verde island of Boa Vista, Cape Verde|Boa Vista. thumb|Hamada desert near the Hoggar Mountains in [[Algeria.]] thumb|Cyclists ride over hamada to the Erg Chebbi dunes, [[Morocco.]]

Wikimedia list article

geographical feature in Western Australia and South Australia

Caatinga (; ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" comes from the Tupi word ''ka'atinga'', meaning 'white forest' (''ka'a'' = 'forest, vegetation'; tinga = 'white'). The Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Cacti, thick-stemmed plants, thorny brush, and arid-adapted grasses make up the ground layer. Most vegetation experiences a brief burst of activity during the three-month-long rainy season.

desert in Peru

Wikimedia list article

desert

Overview of the geography of Somalia

deserts of Australia

habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula

South American desert

Ecoregion (WWF)

thumb|325px|Afromontane Zones. I. West African and Cameroon highlands, II. Ethiopian Highlands|Ethiopian and Arabian highlands, III. Western (Albertine) Rift, IV. Eastern Rift. V. Southern Rift, VI. Eastern Highlands, VII. [[Drakensberg]] The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afr

ecoregion in southwest Madagascar

thumb|upright=1.2|Tugai vegetation along the Syr-Darya in [[Kazakhstan, Central Asia.]]

thumb|An example of xeriscaping outside the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC thumb|right|The Xeriscape Demonstration Garden at the headquarters of Denver Water in Denver, Colorado Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other regions as access to irrigation water has become limited, though it is not limited to such climates. Xeriscaping may be an alternative to various type

The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola.

Region of the Sonoran Desert

desert ecoregion in Africa

Ecoregion (WWF)

desert ecoregion in Africa

Ecoregion (WWF)

desert ecoregion of South Africa and Namibia

xeric shrubland ecoregion on the central plateau of South Africa and Namibia

300px|right|thumb|Springtime in Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of [[Santiago along the Pan-American Highway]] Matorral is a Spanish word which, along with the near-synonymous tomillares, broadly applies to shrubland, thicket, or bushes. It is used in naming and describing a Mediterranean climate ecosystem in Southern Europe.

ecoregion near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden coasts

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion in Kazakhstan

terrestrial ecoregion in the Socotra archipelago

westernmost ecoregion in the Sahara of North Africa

ecoregion in northeastern Africa

South Sahara desert ecoregion

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion in the Sahara

WWF ecoregion

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion (WWF)

Ecoregion (WWF)

ecoregion in Mexico

Ecoregion in Kenya and Ethiopia

Ecoregion in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

ecology of deserts