The hot and dry desert is the typical image people think of when discussing deserts. Well-known examples include the Australian Desert, the Mojave and parts of the Great Basin. These deserts can have extreme temperature shifts between day and night, sometimes dropping as low as 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The soil in these deserts is typically coarse and there is no subsurface water.
Semiarid deserts can be found in Utah, Montana and some parts of the Great Basin region of the United States. More animal life is present in semiarid desert environments, although many species burrow underground during the hottest part of the day. Soil can range from rocky and coarse to very fine-grained, and the ground typically has a higher salt concentration than many other desert environments.
Coastal deserts occur on moderately cool to warm areas, such as Chile's Atacama Desert. These regions have cooler winters and warmers summers, and many of the region's plants have root systems near the surface to take advantage of rain showers. Coastal deserts typically receive 8 to 13 cm of rain every year and their fine-textured soils have a lower salt concentration than both semiarid and cold deserts.
Cold deserts, such as those in Antarctica and Greenland, are known for their long, cold winters that generate a great deal of snowfall and rain. On average, cold deserts receive between 15 and 26 cm of precipitation per year, and the soil is often silty, with a high salt concentration.
Marshes are a type of wetland that is constantly or frequently covered with water. All marshes have water-saturated, nutrient-rich soil, and a great deal of plant and animal life. The two primary categories of marshes are tidal and non-tidal.
A swamp is a type of wetland dominated by wood plants. Unlike marshes, swamps only have standing water during certain times of the year and the soil is saturated only during the growing season. Swamps are divided into two categories, depending on what type of plants grow there: shrub swamps and forested swamps.
Unlike other types of wetlands, bogs receive most of their water from precipitation, making them less fertile for plants. Bogs are known for their peat deposits, acidic water and the thick blanket of sphagnum moss that covers the ground.
Unlike bogs, fens rely on groundwater, which results in a less-acidic soil with a higher nutrient content. This makes fens better able to support a diverse plant and animal population. Fens occur mostly in the northeastern hemisphere.
