Time to go over the facts.
Like the island, this desert is a space station posing as a natural environment. It is inhabited by a large population of dangerous, genetically engineered creatures, and a small population of humans that are struggling to survive. This whole environment is then deliberately contained by a combination of a holographic horizon and natural barriers.
Assuming the other space stations are at all similiar, then this whole thing is starting to look like some kind of bizarre experiment on a grand scale. Yes, each station would represent an experimental group, and...
I'll have to continue this later. One of the caravan's scouts just returned in a panic. Something about rocks being alive, which is of course ridic.