Unlike the nearby Clawdite and Zolander homeworld, Zolan I is hot and arid, overwhelmingly covered in barren desert landscapes due to it's proximity to the sun. While the majority of the inhospitable surface is devoid of plant life, delicate savanahs thrive in the polar regions where more exposure allows limited flora to tap abundant underground water tables. Even so, most of the vegetation is compact and woody, as broad leaves or thin chloroplasts would be too vulnerable to evaporation and moisture loss. While this minimal life is able to support a basic carbon/oxygen cycle, it can accommodate no fauna larger than small reptiles or insects.

Some scholars believe Mabari hermits may have introduced the grasses in the distant past. The ancient warrior order practiced a strict asceticism to strengthen both adherents' bodies and their discipline; however, even an ascetic must eat something. Zolan I's brutal climate, combined with the absence of large predators that might disturb a monk's solitude, made it ideal for the rugged Mabari lifestyle.

Under the Falleen Federation's auspices, colonization began with cities in the polar zones. Despite the planet's extreme heat, the abundant sunlight and the clean atmosphere's low refractive index make it ideal for solar energy production. Taking a lesson from the Mabari grasses, light manufacturing was also able to use the plentiful underground water supply for cooling and other industrial processes, so long as they took care to seal their sites against evaporation. As techniques improved capacity and resource demands grew, colonization expanded. Additional domes housed mining operations and even recreational areas to serve the planet's growing population. Eventually, the desert's harshness gave way to the ecumenopolis that exists today, home to over five billion