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A Brief Introduction to Hot Desert Environments: Climate, Geomorphology, Habitats, and Soils

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Microbiology of Hot Deserts

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 244))

Abstract

This chapter provides a broad introduction to dryland environments with a focus on desert climate, geomorphology, habitats, and soils that collectively provide opportunities and limitations for microbial life. Desert precipitation is governed by global circulation patterns, which determine the distribution of drylands and associated rainfall gradients. Desert margins especially are subject to pronounced inter-annual variability, and good years may be replaced by a negative departure from mean rainfall, resulting in drought. The depth of drought for any location can be examined using the widely accessible Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The topography of desert surfaces and habitats can be characterised by rocky run-off from uplands and fluvial run-on in channels and fan settings. Other settings may be dominated by mobile sediments such as dunes or shallow groundwater, which promotes evaporation and build-up of salts. Gravel plains, on the other hand, may provide stable surfaces. Desert soils and associated surfaces, the so-called pedoderm, require stability to form and prevail. The abiotic properties of unconsolidated porous media moderate the physical and chemical subsurface environment. Crusts in particular, play a role in regulating fluxes, including water, carbon, and nitrogen, which collectively determine the microbial subsurface environment. Moisture regimes vary in space and time along with geomorphic conditions, the distribution of habitats, and the state of the pedoderm.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Leandri Wessels for preparing Figs. 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, and 1.12.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Frank D. Eckardt

  2. Gobabeb - Namib Research Institute, Walvis Bay, Namibia

    Gillian Maggs-Kölling & Eugene Marais

  3. Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa

    Pieter C. de Jager

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  1. Frank D. Eckardt
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  2. Gillian Maggs-Kölling
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  3. Eugene Marais
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  4. Pieter C. de Jager
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Correspondence to Frank D. Eckardt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Jean-Baptiste Ramond

  2. Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics - Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Don A. Cowan

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Eckardt, F.D., Maggs-Kölling, G., Marais, E., de Jager, P.C. (2022). A Brief Introduction to Hot Desert Environments: Climate, Geomorphology, Habitats, and Soils. In: Ramond, JB., Cowan, D.A. (eds) Microbiology of Hot Deserts. Ecological Studies, vol 244. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98415-1_1

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