The Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains help create the Great Basin Desert region. The Transverse Mountain range helps create the Mojave desert. And the Peninsular mountain ranges help create the Colorado Desert. So how are deserts and mountains connected? All deserts in California are created by rain shadow effect. This climatological effect, where mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems to the leeward side of the mountain and create a 'shadow' of dryness, create one side of the mountain that is moist and plentiful in water and another side that is dry and lacks rainfall. In California, all deserts lie on the leeward side of major mountain ranges (1).

Millions of years of tectonic activity dating all the way back to the Mesozoic Era (245 million-65 million years ago) was a time of subduction of the North American continental crust and Pacific ocean crust. This subduction zone forced magma to rise from the interior of earth and help create the mountain ranges we see today (1).

These plants store water in their roots, stems or leaves to survive in these arid environments. Some species, aptly named stem succulents, store water in their stem structure (e.g. cacti). Others, like yuccas and agave, store water in their leaves and are therefore called leaf succulents. These plants tend to have spines to protect themselves from animals that might want to steal its water. (1-2).

Evergreen shrubs have very large and complex root systems that can reach deep groundwater and survive during a drought. Their leaves tend to be small and waxy in order to avoid extreme water loss during photosynthesis. They also tend to be lighter in color in order to reflect more light. These shrubs will never drop their leaves. A common example of this plant is the creosote shrubs (1-2).

These plants are well adapted to salty soils. These plants can survive in these soils by salt secretion, salt accumulation, salt exclusion, or shedding. Do not over water these plants since excess water can actually kill halophytes. A common halophyte plant is the pickleweed (1-2).

These plants have very deep roots allowing their survival in the desert. The term phreatophytes actually means “well-plants," indicating how these plants are an indicator of groundwater. The roots of these plants can reach 10 meters (30 feet); however, there have been some trees that record roots 80 meters (250 feet). You can usually find these plants near a desert wash or sand dunes where the soil is unstable. Some common phreatophytes include the desert willow or cottonwood (1-2).

Also known as annual plants, these plant often remain dormant as seeds. This allows the plant to be well-adapted to locations with unpredictable rainfall. These plants have an inhibitor that will not allow them to grow until they are exposed to water which will then remove the inhibitor and allow for growth. Competition is high after a rain event because each plant when it grows will be competing for a pollinator. In the desert, they make up about 40% of the species. These plants tend to grow in unstable soils and move with the water/soil. These are the plants that cause the super bloom in the Antelope Valley at the poppy reserve (1-2).

As the stem 'geo' suggests, this is an “earth plant”. These plants will shed their above ground parts during the dry season and only keep its roots to keep the plant alive during harsh conditions. These plants are often grown in areas with sandy and stable soils. These plants tend to grow where water is predictable unlike the other desert plants. These plants must experience some sort of early rain event to grow above surface once more. Some examples include the wild cucumber and desert lily (1-2).

CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) photosynthesis allows plants to prevent desiccation by temporally separating accumulation of energy and the opening of its stomata. The stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide. This is very energetically expensive and as a result growth is very slow (1).

Some can animals can “sweat” (also known as evaporative cooling) to avoid over heating. This can be a risky strategy however, since water tends to be very limited in the desert. So in order to save the most water but also stay cool, many animals will adjust their behavior. Animals will remain in burrows during the day to remain cool and will be more active during dusk, dawn and night. The animals that have the greatest advantage here are those that ectotherms (cold blooded) instead of endotherms (warm blooded) since warm blooded animals tend to use more energy than cold blooded animals(1).

Most common desert animals are small since there is not enough food to support many large animals. In general, deserts tend to favor animals with short life spans, high reproductive rates and good dispersal. Many animals in this environment are opportunistic eaters, because of food scarcity. Some animals have adapted to eating seeds, plant material, insects and other animals (1).