He thorny forest refers to a type of vegetation characteristic of subtropical and semi-hot areas. The main characteristic of this type of environment has to do with the presence of small vegetation, composed essentially of small and thorny trees, shrubs, arid grass and some types of cactus.
Despite being mainly found in dry climates, it is not classified as a tropical forest and, moreover, it is more humid than a xerophilous environment. There are even variants where the soils are low and easily flooded in addition to those where the environment is rather cold.
Mesquite and cactus at the archaeological site of Yagul in Oaxaca, Mexico
It is possible to find this type of vegetation in a large part of North America, in southwestern Africa and to a lesser extent in areas in South America and Australia. In fact, in South America it is called caatinga to this type of forests.
Index
- 1 Flora
- 1.1 Cactus
- 1.2 Mesquite
- 1.3 White stick
- 1.4 Cactus flower
- 1.5 Red sanders
- 1.6 Other
- 2 Fauna
- 3 Weather
- 4 Abiotic factors
- 5 Biotic factors
- 5.1 Producers
- 5.2 Consumers
- 5.3 Decomposers
- 6 References
Flora
The thorny forest provides an environment conducive to the proliferation of an interesting variety of vegetation although, in most of the time, low forests with thorny trees predominate:
Cactus
Corresponds to one of the main types of flora found in these areas. This type of vegetation, adapts without problems in arid and hot environments, so its external and internal structure, allows them to adapt and store water.
Likewise, the presence of spines in these species serves as protection against predators.
Mesquite
They are trees that can reach 9 meters in height although, commonly, they are in the size of shrubs in this type of forest. They are tolerant to drought thanks to the hardness of the plant.
The curious thing about the mesquites is that, in addition, they can appear in any type of climate of thorny forest. Both in hot and cold environments, these plants will adopt very specific characteristics of the place where they are located.
White stick
Another species of trees with thin and thorny trunk, of an average height that goes from 3 to 6 meters in height.
Cactus flower
It is possible to see some cactus flowers bloom according to the time of year. Most are white and some also develop thorns.
Red sanders
Found in India, is this kind of tree whose trunk is red. As it is a very particular type, results have been found that indicate that wood has healing properties.
Other
There are other varieties of plants that also make up thorny forests such as woody climbers, small shrubs with leaves that prevent the premature loss of water and which, in addition, are rich in thorns.
Other flora are mosses such as delgadillo and barbula, acacias and palms.
Fauna
In the same way with the flora, you can find a series of animals that find their home in the thorny forests:
-Zorros, which, in general, live between six and seven years in freedom.
-Zorrillo: have the characteristic feature of having glands that give off foul odors when they are threatened by their predators.
-Iguanas and lizards, cold-blooded animals that are able to adapt easily to the changes that may occur in the climate of these types of environments.
-Coyote: another animal with great survival capabilities. The coyote hunts small rodent animals such as rats, insects and fruits.
Rattlesnake viper: is considered one of the most dangerous species due to the potency of its toxins. Like the coyote, it also hunts rodent animals.
Other animals that can also be found in thorny forests include: rabbits, rats, mice, tlacuache (a type of marsupial), wolves, horses and camels.
In some areas of the Middle East and Asia, these forests harbor other species such as the Bengali tiger, the Indian elephant, antelopes and even bears.
Weather
The climate of the thorny forest is characterized by being semi-tropical, dry and warm where the rainfall, on average, is between 250 and 500 millimeters per year.
This indicates that they are at a point where their environment is drier than that of a tropical forest , but more humid than a xerophilous scrub.
However, there are regions where there are greater changes in rainfall as in the plateaus with heights above 2000 meters above sea level, which cause frosts every year.
Abiotic factors
The abiotic factors refer to the elements that make up the ecosystem where living beings live and interact, such as water, soil, light, oxygen... Thanks to the conjunction of these, the manifestation of an ecosystem is possible.
In the case of a thorny forest, some abiotic factors that we can find are:
- Weather : dry and hot in most cases, although there are regions where there is a dry winter climate.
- Floor : few deep and arid, which causes the roots to"fight"each other to get as much water as possible. However, it should be noted that in other forest varieties, ideal soils for cultivation are also found.
Another characteristic characteristic of this type of forest is that the shallow depth, requires that plants, trees and shrubs, absorb as much water as possible from their roots.
Even, one can speak of a"chemical competition", where some vegetable species release substances that inhibit the absorption of liquid from the surrounding roots.
- Temperature : on average, it oscillates between 17 ° C and 29 ° C, although depending on the season, temperatures can drop to 4 ° C or rise to 40 ° C.
Biotic factors
These have to do with the organisms that have life and interact with each other. They can be classified as:
Producers
They are the beings capable of producing or synthesizing food themselves. In the case of the thorny forest, we can name the predominant flora in the place, such as mesquites, cacti, acacias and palo blanco.
Consumers
Organisms that are unable to produce their own food and, therefore, have to survive through producers. Several consumer animals have already been mentioned in the fauna section.
Decomposers
These feed on decaying organisms. In the thorny forests, in most of their varieties, macroscopic fungi such as lichens are found.
References
- (Thorny forest). (s.f) In Mexican Biodiversity. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Mexican Biodiversity in biodiversity.gob.mx.
- Deccan thorn scrub forests. (s.f) In Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org.
- Encyclopedia Britannica. Thorn forest. (s.f) In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Encyclopedia Britannica on britannica.com.
- Abiotic factors. (s.f) In Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Wikipedia on es.wikipedia.org.
- Biotic factors. (s.f) In Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Wikipedia on es.wikipedia.org.
- The thorn forest and Scrubs. (s.f) In Grade Stack. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Grade Stack at gradestack.com
- Thorn Forest. (s.f) In Wikipedia. Retrieved: January 31, 2018 from Wikipedia on en.wikipedia.org.