How Plants And Animals Survive In Arizona
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How plants and wild
animals survive in the desert
Photo by Stuck in Customs
Arizona gets an average of only 13.6 inches of precipitation throughout the year. 50% of the precipitation comes from monsoon season which is in June through September. It comes in the form of thunderstorms which can cause flash flooding.
Photo by UGArdener
Vermont receives about 42.7 inches of precipitation but it's spread widely throughout the whole year.
Animals like birds, insects and rabbits eat prickly pear cactus for all the water stored inside and occasionally find other water sources.
Photo by Kyle Glenn
The kangaroo rat is one of the only rodents that can convert dry seeds into water.
Photo by Andy Teucher
Predators, like coyotes, obtain
most of their water from the prey they eat.
Photo by Don McCullough
HOW WILD ANIMALS CONSERVE WATER
Photo by ξωαŋ ThΦt (slowly back...)
The temperatures in Arizona can be as high as 120 degrees with the ground temperature reaching up to 160 degrees.
Photo by jetsandzeppelins
Animals have to find shade to keep themselves cool. Smaller rodents find caves or holes to stay in during the day.
Most animals come out at night to hunt because it's much cooler which conserves water.
Trees like a mesquite has roots up to 80 feet long, straight
down, to reach the water table.
Photo by sneakymoose
When it rains saguaro's and other succulents soak up water and store it in their roots, leaves and stems. The succulents roots are shallow so it's easer to collect surface water. A saguaro full grown are on an average of 7.5 tons in weight!
Succulents have a waxy texture that seals in moisture.
Photo by Annie Spratt
