Why Are Desert Plants Well Spaced?

• Desert plants usually space out fairly evenly. Paul Edmondson/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Deserts are dry climates, but this doesn't mean they are void of life. Plants have adapted to desert regions over thousands of years. One phenomenon regarding desert plants is the fact that they tend to be spaced fairly evenly over an area of desert ground. This spacing happens for four major reasons.

Water and Nutrient Scarcity

• Water is scarce in deserts --- this characteristic is what sets deserts apart from other environments. As a result, plants compete for what little water is available. When two plants are too close, both plants try to get the same moisture. Because the same amount of water is divided between two plants, neither plant may get enough to survive. The stronger plant wins out, or, if the plants are equally healthy, both may die. Over time, this results in plant thinning, with the spacing of the plants reflecting water requirements. A similar result occurs when nutrients and minerals plants use are scarce in the soil.

Chemical Adaptations

• Some plants have adapted to the desert with aggressive means of weeding out competing plants. As pointed out by McGraw-Hill, some desert plants produce chemicals they release via their roots in a process called allelopathy. Other plants find it difficult to grow with these chemicals in the soil and therefore can't grow too close to the chemical-producing plants. Some spacing of desert plants is thus the result of natural soil contamination.

Germination Requirements

• Not all desert plants have the same germination requirements. Some require different soil pH levels or moisture levels, for example. Subsequently, the life cycles of desert plants don't always coincide. Some plants may germinate later than others. Plants may appear to be further spread out than they really are because not all of the seeds in an area are active simultaneously. Spacing of plants is determined in part by how many seeds have requirements that are being met.

Animals and Wind

• Animals that depend on desert plants end up having to travel farther to survive because desert plants are farther apart than plants in nondesert regions. As a result, there is a greater chance that these animals will carry seeds over a larger territory, ensuring that not all of a plant's seeds remain in one place. Additionally, thinner plant distribution means that the wind can carry seeds a greater distance before a plant or other element such as an animal or rock stops the seed's travel.