In open, arid environments with limited shelter there may be strong selection on small prey species to develop behaviors that facilitate predator avoidance. Here, we predicted that rodents should avoid predator odor and open habitats to reduce their probability of encounter with potential predators, and tested our predictions using a native Australian desert rodent, the spinifex hopping-mouse (...

Resource pulses in the world's hot deserts are driven largely by rainfall and are highly variable in both time and space. However, run-on areas and drainage lines in arid regions receive more water more often than adjacent habitats, and frequently sustain relatively high levels of primary productivity. These landscape features therefore may support higher biotic diversity than other habitats, a...

We compared egg survivorship and egg development time at different soil moistures for two closely related grasshopper species from divergent habitats: marsh-inhabiting Romalea microptera (Beauvois) versus desert-inhabiting Taeniopoda eques (Burmeister). These two species can interbreed and produce viable offspring. In nature, both species have a similar 8-9 mo subterranean egg stage, but their ...

Limbless organisms such as snakes can navigate nearly all terrain. In particular, desert-dwelling sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes) operate effectively on inclined granular media (such as sand dunes) that induce failure in field-tested limbless robots through slipping and pitching. Our laboratory experiments reveal that as granular incline angle increases, sidewinder rattlesnakes incr...

A class of reptiles known as sand swimmers adapts to hot environments by submerging beneath desert sands during the day and so provide a unique probe into the dynamics of intruders in granular beds. To understand the mechanism for swimming in an otherwise solid bed, we study a simple model of periodic contraction and extension of large intruders in a granular bed. Using an event-driven simulati...

Triboelectric charging is common in desert sandstorms and dust devils on Earth; however, it remains poorly understood. Here we show a charging mechanism of sands with the adsorbed water on micro-porous surface in wind-blown sand based on the fact that water content is universal but usually a minor component in most particle systems. The triboelectric charging could be resulted due to the differ...

Golan Bel and Yosef Ashkenazy Department of Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus 84990, Israel (Dated: May 11, 2014) Abstract Psammophilous plants are special plants that flourish in sand moving environments. There are two main mechanisms by which the wind affects these plants: (i) sand drift exposes roots and cov...

wind regime and sand grain size are two of the factors that determine the morphology and dynamics of sand dunes in desert areas. regarding the importance of wind effects on sand dunes especially in iran, in this study, khartooran erg was analyzed to determine wind direction and to detect sand source sites. khartooran erg is located on eastern north of iran and lies in khorasan razavi and semnan...

Chile has an economy strongly based on the exploitation of its natural resources. Copper mining represents the main export monetary income, employing thousands of people all along the country. The Chilean Copper Corporation (CODELCO), El Salvador branch, has been the primary mining company, but it will be ending most of its activities by 201 1 unless copper prices stay at their record levels. B...

Dunes and drumlins are examples of bedforms, geomorphological patterns in which the surface of the Earth is shaped by the erosive power of wind, water or ice. Aeolian dunes (i.e., desert dunes) are the most familiar such feature. Coastal sand dunes are a feature of common experience, and we are also familiar with the existence of dunes in deserts. Dunes are formed by the erosive power of the wi...