Greggi Shale Barrens
Between the semi-arid Darwin Chaparral and wetter, flood-prone Zorcuspine Riparian is, incoherently, a near-desert: Greggi Shale Barrens. (~62 square kilometers) It’s all due to extensive shale deposits, formed from transient, stagnant bodies of water (such as oxbow lakes) near the Zorcuspine River’s headwaters. The shale settled over uplifted areas of hills and plateaus, forming steep slopes. The easily-eroded shale lead to unstable substrate and shallow soil. As the soil sheds water easily, it tends to be dry. Thus, the area has desert-like conditions, despite the non-desert precipitation rates of the region. The north-facing slopes of Greggi Shale Barrens are especially hot in the summer, at times reaching 47 degrees Celsius (~116 degrees Fahrenheit).
Ecology at Time of Evolution
The desert-like conditions in the chaparral/riparian habitat causes a strange mix of flora and fauna. At the time it developed, few purpleflora are equipped to live in such dry, thin soil. Crystal trees grow stunted here, or not at all. Even those organisms which manage to gain a foothold tend to die off during summer on the southern slope, leaving the southern slope studded with the corpses of crystal tree saplings. Yet, mycostrums, which normally decay crystalflora, also struggle to grow here, due to the heat, intense sunlight, poor and dry soil, and generally low biomass. Even global genus microbes struggle to survive under such conditions, and so the dead saplings are left un-decayed for months. Were it not for sporadic, stunted populations of Network Peridots and two varieties of small Shrub Gazebos, there would be no visible life on southern summer slope conditions at all.