In the desert of North America, humidity is a key factor to life. Local environmental factors are also very important in determining the characteristics of desert plant communities and animals that depend on them. Most desert plants are drought-tolerant or hygrophytic (supplied by permanent water source), and can survive through their root system and adaptive mechanism of drought resistance. In great basin area, Artemisia annua and Atriplex atriplex are the representative plants, while in Mojave Desert, Joshua tree, creosote (Larrea tridentata) and a Chenopodiaceae weed are the typical plants. In Sonoran Desert, there are thorny shrubs (Pistacia, Cercis, Tiemu, Cotinus coggygria and Catclaw) and a variety of succulent plants that live on moisture. Arizona Highland Desert is famous for its giant fairy shadow palm. In Chihuahua Desert (especially in the east), you can see a large grazing bean tree. Some larger trees are scattered everywhere, and there are bushes under them, such as yucca, fairy fruit and various cacti. With the improvement of temperature and humidity environment, plants and associated algae, lichens, moss and insects become more complex.

There are many kinds of insects in the desert of North America, among which grasshoppers are sometimes destructive. Lizards, snakes and other reptiles are the most common. They rely on plant juices and devour animals to get water. Birds in the desert are similar. They eat insects and spiders to get water, so most of them can be seen everywhere in the desert without water. Rodents (including mice, rats and squirrels), rabbits and bats are the most numerous mammals. They mainly come out at night and hide in the ground when it is hot during the day. Like birds and reptiles, they get water from food. Further up the food chain are carnivores such as coyotes, red cats, foxes and skunks; The largest mammal in the desert is the bighorn sheep at a higher altitude. Protective colors (usually extremely complicated) are a major feature of desert animals.