A desert is a special region where only certain kinds of plants and animals can survive. All deserts have very little water. This means that only animals and plants that can keep off water for long periods of time can exist in the desert.
Plants in the deserts are particularly adapted to the dry and hot environment. One well-known desert plant is the cactus. Like many desert plants, this plant has very tiny leaves. As plants lose most of their water through their leaves, the small leaves of the cactus help to cut down water evaporation. There are some desert plants that do not have leaves at all.
Some desert plants survive by avoiding the dry season entirely. During the dry season, this plant remains a seed and does not emerge from the soil at all. When the rains come, this seed would grow very quickly into a plant. It would bloom rapidly and then scatter its seed before the dry season returns.
Desert animals have also learnt to adapt well to live in this region. The camel, for example, subsists well in the desert because water can be stored in its body. Other desert animals include rodents such as mice. These animals need very little water as they can get all the water they demand from their food.