Arid Arches

It is well known that Arches National Park is located in an arid landscape, but what exactly does that mean? Most people think of desserts when they hear the world arid and though this tends to be true is not 100%. The word Arid simply means that the land receives less than 8 inches of rain fall per year. witch tends to result in less than 25% plant cover.

Arches Dry weather truly changes it landscape. The most common plant throughout Arches is the Juniper Tree. All plants in arid climate have extreme adaptations that let them survive. The Juniper is a desert expert; the trees send there roots out wide rather than deep to collect the most water when is does rain. when these trees are only 6ft tall they can be 100's of years old. The rest of the ground in Arches is simply covered in small low lying shrubs.

Arches lies in the center of the Rocky Mountains this Causes a rain shadow all over the Great Basin. The water in the clouds is deposited on the mountains before reaching The Great Basin creating its arid landscape.