what is the importance of plants in the sahara desert?
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I'm not sure about the Sahara specifically but in most deserts if you see a desert plant, such as a cactus, it generally indicates the presence of a small amount of hidden or trapped water underground. This is why no one in a desert would dig for water in a place that does not have a plant in it. It would be a waste of time. So it indicates the presence of water.
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warm arid and tropical regions
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They are things that plants need in order to grow.
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The largest (nonpolar) desert in the world is the Sahara, in north Africa, which spans an area measured at roughly 3.5 million square miles.
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Lots of dry climate stuff. Olive trees, hibiscus, cactus, lots of wild flowers now cause its the end of the wet season (im in Cyprus, its an ugly ugly country by the way). Apart from that, when the dry season comes back, its just rocks and goats.
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The Desert Ecosystem\n\nDeserts are very hot and dry places. Deserts get very little rain each year. So how do plants and animals live here? This section on the desert ecosystem will explain how! \n\nBut first, do you know what a desert looks like? It is made of sand and rocks. Sometimes the sand is red! There aren't a lot of clouds over deserts, so it gets really hot during the day and cold at night.
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It would be a very small percentage as much of it is mountainous.\nThe boundaries of the Sahara are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Red Sea and Egypt on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south. The Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Tenere desert and the Libyan desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3415 m) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad. However, the lowest point of the Sahara is 133 metres below sea level in the Quattera Depression.
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I think of utmost importance would be the production of grasses, which includes corn, wheat, barley, oats, etc.  Of secondmost importance would then be the ruminants such as cows which live off grass and provide the human world with most of its meat.  Thirdly would be the myriad species which are not cows which eat the grasses and seeds derived therefrom, which are in turn eaten by other animals...\n\nAdditionally, the presence of the grasses provides an anchor for water in the soil, which (as was learned in the dust-bowl of the 1930's American midwest) prevents soil erosion and drought.
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Eptiles do not use water to flush nitrogenous wastes from the body as urine, like mammals do, but convert them to a form which can be dumped as solid dung.\n\nDiverse lizards of Oz\nNext to birds, lizards are among the most commonly encountered vertebrate animals in the savannas. Indeed, the diversity of lizards in the tropical savannas is particularly rich, exploiting numerous habitats, from woodlands to sandstone escarpments, rainforests and semi-arid zones, many endemic to just small areas.\n\nEvolution of lizards\nThe combination of poor soils and dry climate is believed to have led to the evolution of plants with tough, thick, chemical-laden leaves—and relatively few plant-eaters. Instead, the vegetation is broken down by termites, which thrive in Australia—providing an abundant food source for reptiles. Just as mangroves don’t need salt but have developed strategies for living where no other plants can compete, so too have reptiles exploited an environment largely uninhabitable for other animals.\n\nThe great diversity of reptile species may be due to the long-term stability, and great size, of the Australian continent. Those animals which cope well with conditions have had plenty of time to evolve into different species exploiting different ecological niches. This diversity may even be fostered by shortages. This may favour large numbers of specialist species which have adapted to localised conditions over fewer, more widely distributed, species which might have evolved in a more benign environment.\n\nEfficiency of lizards\nExcepting Antarctica, Australia is the driest continent on earth; 75 per cent of it is arid or semi-arid. The climate is erratic, with long, irregular dry and wet cycles determined by the effects of El Nino and La Nina. Successful animals must cope with unreliable rainfall and prolonged periods of shortages, but take advantage of unpredictable times of plenty. In addition, Australia’s soils are also nutrient-poor, with low productivity, and fires are frequent. Energy-efficiency is thus the key to long-term survival.\n\nMammals and birds generate their own heat from food, using up to 90 per cent of their energy intake for this purpose. However most lizards, instead of consuming food to generate energy, use solar power, basking in sunshine or sleeping in a warm spot to power up their ‘batteries’ for the day’s (or night’s) activities.\n\nSome lizards, such as dragons, are able to raise their ribs and angle their bodies to increase the body surface exposed and can become darker to absorb more heat. This strategy, known as thermoregulating, is not an option for some lizards which live in closed forests. Instead, they thermoregulate passively, or ‘thermoconform’, their body temperature simply conforming to that of the air around them.\n\nLizards are also efficient users of water. Their dry scaly skin reduces moisture loss, those living in the hottest areas tending to have compact bodies to minimise loss and/or restricting most activities to hours of darkness. In addition, reptiles do not use water to flush nitrogenous wastes from the body as urine, like mammals do, but convert them to a form which can be dumped as solid dung.\n\nGetting away from predators\nGeckos, legless lizards and skinks will readily drop their tails when threatened, the wriggling appendage serving as a distraction while the owner makes its getaway. Fracture planes between certain vertebrae at the top of the tail allow it to detach easily when pulled apart by special muscles. This sacrificial offering is easily regrown. Tails of dragons and goannas can also break off, but do not do so as readily and tend not to regrow. All dragons, goannas and Australian geckos lay eggs but some skinks give birth to live young. Experiments with skink eggs suggested that those kept at ‘maternal’ temperatures were larger and fitter than those kept at normal nest temperatures. This may be an important factor in cool, or dry, clima
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cactus,tree,sub tropical plants and desert plants
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plants and roots of plants
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In geography, a desert is a landscape form or region that receives little precipitation. As a consequence, deserts have a reputation for supporting very little life. Compared to wetter regions this may be true, although upon closer examination, deserts often harbor a wealth of life that usually remains hidden (especially during the daylight) to preserve moisture. Approximately one-third of Earth's land surface is desert.\n\nThe world's great deserts were formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independent of human activities. Paleodeserts, large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, extend well beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara. In some regions, deserts are separated sharply from surrounding, less arid areas by mountains and other contrasting landforms that reflect basic structural differences in the regional geology. In other areas, desert fringes form a gradual transition from a dry to a more humid environment, making it more difficult to define the desert border.\n\nThese transition zones have very fragile, delicately balanced ecosystems. Desert fringes often are a mosaic of microclimates. Small hollows support vegetation that picks up heat from the hot winds and protects the land from the prevailing winds. After rainfall the vegetated areas are distinctly cooler than the surroundings. In these marginal areas, human activity may stress the ecosystem beyond its tolerance limit, resulting in degradation of the land. By pounding the soil with their hooves, livestock compact the substrate, increase the proportion of fine material, and reduce the percolation rate of the soil, thus encouraging erosion by wind and water. Grazing and the collection of firewood reduces or eliminates plants that help to bind the soil.\nRio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico\n\nOvergrazing has made the Rio Puerco Basin of central New Mexico one of the most eroded river basins of the American West and has increased the high sediment content of the river (photograph by Terrence Moore).\n\nThis degradation of formerly productive land-- desertification--is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend toward greater aridity, or it may initiate a change in local climate.\n\nDesertification does not occur in linear, easily mappable patterns. Deserts advance erratically, forming patches on their borders. Areas far from natural deserts can degrade quickly to barren soil, rock, or sand through poor land management. The presence of a nearby desert has no direct relationship to desertification. Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification is brought to public attention only after the process is well underway. Often little or no data are available to indicate the previous state of the ecosystem or the rate of degradation. Scientists still question whether desertification, as a process of global change, is permanent or how and when it can be halted or reversed
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anyway, there will be only about a few millimetres of rain in the sahara. and if u want to know how people get rain they get it from the oasis.
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Biological Importance of Osmosis\n\nOsmosis and dialysis are of prime importance in living organisms, where they influence the distribution of nutrients and the release of metabolic waste products. Living cells of both plants and animals are enclosed by a semipermeable membrane called the cell membrane, which regulates the flow of liquids and of dissolved solids and gases into and out of the cell. The membrane forms a selective barrier between the cell and its environment; not all substances can pass through the membrane with equal facility. Without this selectivity, the substances necessary to the life of the cell would diffuse uniformly into the cell's surroundings, and toxic materials from the surroundings would enter the cell.\n\nIf blood cells (or other cells) are placed in contact with an isotonic solution, they will neither shrink nor swell. If the solution is hypertonic, the cells will lose water and shrink (plasmolyze). If the solution is hypotonic (or if pure solvent is used) the cells will swell; the osmotic pressure that is developed may even be great enough to rupture the cell membrane. Saltwater from the ocean is hypertonic to the cells of the human body; the drinking of ocean water dehydrates body tissues instead of quenching thirst.\n\nIn plants osmosis is at least partially responsible for the absorption of soil water by root hairs and for the elevation of the liquid to the leaves of the plant. However, plants wilt when watered with saltwater or treated with too much fertilizer, since the soil around their roots then becomes hypertonic.
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right! plants have the ability to produce their own food. They get essential nutrients from the sun's rays and from the soil. When plants get certain elements and/or nutrients from its major surroundings, it is therefore able to convert the nutrients into food; making the plant survive with no dependence from us.
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"Deserts are very hot and dry places. Deserts get very little rain each year. So how do plants and animals live here? This section on the desert ecosystem will explain how!" "explore the desert ecosystem and find out more! Click on plants, insects and arachnids, reptiles, birds, mammals or a special page for camels to learn more!"
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First, I am not a scientist but a scientfic researcher. It's important to know what animals eat the seeds or fruits of flowering trees to deduce it's role in a given ecosystem. It's relationship to the other living organisms in it's environment is very important. It's also imortant to know what animals very existence hinges on the trees continued existence in the ecosytem. In other words, as trees get chopped down and various animal species that depend on the trees start to die, that is then a useful barometer of the trees role in the ecosystem.