Discover the resilient plants and elusive animals that call Arches National Park home, adapted to survive and thrive in this high-desert environment.
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Life Thrives in Arches' Red Rock
This series, Desert Denizens: Life in the Red Rock, explores the surprising web of life that manages to flourish right here in Arches National Park.
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1
Forty Degree Swings in a Single Day
A temperature shift of forty degrees between dawn and afternoon is routine here — mornings can hover near freezing while midday sun pushes surfaces well above a hundred…
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2
Trees That Split Rock to Survive
Pinyon pines and Utah junipers can wedge their roots into hairline fractures in sandstone, slowly splitting solid rock as they grow.
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3
The Night Shift at Arches
Nearly half the mammal species in Arches National Park have evolved to be almost entirely nocturnal, spending daylight hours tucked into burrows, rock crevices, and…
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4
Fastest Hunters on the Red Cliffs
Peregrine falcons nesting on the sandstone cliffs here can dive at speeds exceeding two hundred miles per hour, making them the fastest animals on Earth.
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5
Cold-Blooded Residents of the Red Rock
The Western Whiptail lizard doesn't need a mate to reproduce.
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6
Where Green Lines Cross the Desert
Fremont's cottonwood trees can send roots down thirty feet to reach groundwater, and where they succeed, they create narrow ribbons of green that stand out starkly…
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