Cross Breeds

What are the differences in biodiversity between the desert and the Tropical Rainforest?

QUICK QUESTION: do animals in the desert have scaly skin while animals in the rainforest have somewhat furry skin

Public Comments

1. yes, but jungles have snakes like anacondas and deserts have mice and foxes so they both have each, but they tend to be characterized the way you say it.
2. Rainforests have been around a long time. Some existing rainforests have evolved over 65 million years. This time-enhanced stability has allowed these forests greater opportunities for biological perfection. Rainforests harbor the greatest gene pool in the world. The gene is a basic building block of living things and every species is evolved by various combinations of these blocks. The rainforest has nurtured this "pool" to become home for 170,000 of the world's 250,000 known plant species. One study in a Brazilian rainforest found 487 tree species growing on a single hectare (2.5 acres), while the US and Canada combined only have 700 species on millions of acres. There are approximately 320 butterfly species in all of Europe. Just one park in a Peruvian rainforest, The Manu National Park, has 1300 species. Hot and Dry Deserts are warm throughout the fall and spring seasons and very hot during the summer. the winters usually have very little if any rainfall. Cold Deserts have quite a bit of snow during winter. The summer and the beginning of the spring are barely warm enough for a few lichens, grasses and mosses to grow. Hot and Dry Deserts vegetation is very rare. Plants are almost all ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees. All of the leaves are replete (packed with nutrients). Some examples of these kinds of plant are Turpentine Bush, Prickly Pears, and Brittle Bush. For all of these plants to survive they have to have adaptations. Some of the adaptations in this case are the ability to store water for long periods of time and the ability to stand the hot weather. Cold Desert's plants are scattered. In areas with little shade,about 10 percent of the ground is covered with plants. In some areas of sagebrush it reaches 85 percent. The height of scrub varies from 15 cm to 122 cm. All plants are either deciduous and more or less contain spiny leaves. Hot and Dry Deserts animals include small nocturnal (only active at night) carnivores. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles, and birds. Some examples of these animals are Borrowers, Mourning Wheatear's, and Horned Vipers. Cold Deserts have animals like Antelope, Ground Squirrels, Jack Rabbits, and Kangaroo Rats.