Contents: NWS
Layout: F. Geller-Grimm
Photos: © Krabbe-Paulduro

Compared to tropical rain forests, deserts support relatively few species of plants. However, their variety is distinctively greater than one would expect at first sight. For example, there are more than 1,400 different plant species in the Saharan desert.
Securing the water supply as well as protection from intense sunrays and from being eaten are some of the most important factors, which limit life in the desert. Therefore, numerous plants have developed special adaptations and survival strategies:

• Annual plants survive the dry seasons as seeds and are able to germinate and mature within a short period of time after rain falls.
• Perennials are either capable of storing water or they survive dry periods by largely reducing their metabolism.
• Many plants reduce their surface by having very small or no leaves at all in order to reduce water loss through evaporation.
• The root system often covers large areas or reaches very deep.
• During droughts, the gas exchange is reduced or specialized in order to prevent water loss through transpiration.
• Thorns and spines protect numerous plants from being eaten.