Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts occur across central and western Australia on sandy soils. Dry and very low nutrient conditions favour dominance of long-lived hard-leaved shrubs and hummock grasses. This vegetation concentrates scarce resources in patches that provide critical refuges for invertebrates, reptiles, ground-nesting birds and small mammals, whose digging activity contributes to nutrient cycling. Fires periodically liberate resources and restructure these ecosystems. Episodic rain storms regulated by regional climate cycles produce a ‘boom’ in productivity, with emergence of short-lived plants and high, but transient abundance of small mammals.