#syncline loop trailhead

[rabbitcruiser]

Clouds (No. 979)

Canyonlands National Park, UT

[rabbitcruiser]

Syncline Loop Trailhead/Dome Road, Canyonlands National Park

Drought escapers cannot tolerate dehydration. Plant species escape drought by going dormant when favorable growing conditions disappear. These plants are usually annuals, growing only when enough water is available. Seeds produced under good conditions can lie dormant for years if conditions are not favorable for germination.

Some winged insects, amphibians, and invertebrates breed in potholes but cannot tolerate dehydration (e.g. mosquitoes, adult tadpole and fairy shrimp, spadefoot toads). In some cases, adults live in permanent water sources or on land and travel to temporary pools to mate and lay eggs. If the pool dries out before the young mature, they die, so survival is a race against time.

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[rabbitcruiser]

Syncline Loop Trailhead, Canyonlands National Park 

The Colorado Plateau’s high desert is an arid region with extreme weather. Summers are hot and dry – surface temperatures can reach 140°F. Late summer monsoon rains bring the possibility of flash floods. In the winter, temperatures often reach below freezing and ice and snow are likely.

Despite these harsh conditions, the high desert is teeming with a variety of plants and animals. The largest concern for many of these plants and animals is water availability. These species have developed a variety of strategies to survive changes in water availability: escaping, resisting, tolerating, and evading drought.

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