Inland Sahara also receives less than 1.5 cm a year. Soils are course-textured, shallow, rocky or gravely with good drainage and have no subsurface water. They are coarse because there is less chemical weathering. The finer dust and sand particles are blown elsewhere, leaving heavier pieces behind. Canopy in most deserts is very rare.
Plants are mainly ground-hugging shrubs and short woody trees.
The dominant animals are burrowers and kangaroo rats. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. The animals stay inactive in protected hideaways during the hot day and come out to forage at dusk, dawn or at night, when the desert is cooler. The major deserts of this type include the sagebrush of Utah, Montana and Great Basin. The summers are moderately long and dry, and like hot deserts, the winters normally bring low concentrations of rainfall.