Well, I'm on my third year of managing a desert nanofort (1x1, special utility)
The embark is quite good. Most of the rock is obsidian with some gabbro, i've got more than enough copper, tin, silver, enough iron ore, infinite freshwater at Z-level -10, and the magma sea is a Z-level -15 only. And I even fell straight on an adamantine vein !
As usual for me I am on an untamed wilds warm badlands, enough trees for my needs, enough plants as well. Perfectly flat so I'm not complaining.
Now the problem is, after having a good bunch (though less than usual) of various camels and vultures, a few buzzards, one or two giant felines and only three Giant Desert Scorpions (I caught two of them as a breeding pair, the third one was KILLED by a hunter GRR)
It's nearly perfect excepted for the lack of flux and coal, and the scarcity of iron (then again, I put volcanism epically high in worldgen) so I must import marble from the caravan, but it has been two or three seasons I have not seen any wild animals.
Generally on untamed wilds you can except two or three clusters of animals at the same time, but me... nothing. I have caught nothing in my cage traps (apart from goblins) since a bit of time.
Also, what is more surprising, not ONE subterranean creature has appeared EVER since the start of the fortress apart from forgotten beasts. NOT ONE. Apart from vermin.