Ecology of the Oregon High Desert |
||||||||||
| Home Our Researchers Where Is It? Why a High Desert? Other Names Really a Desert? Elevation Climate Terrain Micro-Climates Ecology Animals Geology Paleontology Photos Maps Hikes Related Studies |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
| Plants and animals of the desert have to adapt to the conditions they live in. They have to adjust to temperature ranges, and the lack of moisture. Plants that are successful in the desert have ways to survive with little water. Juniper trees have waxy leaves and berries to limit the transpiration of water (note the berries to the right - the blue color is actually a wax on green berries. Junipers also have a taproot that can go 50' down in the soil to find water. Other plants can survive being dried out for long periods of time. Mosses in the Oregon high desert become black and dry without moisture, and then when water comes in contact with them they become green in a matter of seconds. Note the moss to the right where water from a water bottle has been poured on part of it.
Animals also develop mechanisms to survive and prosper in the high desert. Many small animals spend much of their time hidden in the rocks to stay cool. Late summer photos below: |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||
| The town of Antelope - where there's water there's greenery. | ||||||||||