Visit Saguaro National Park to learn how plants have adapted to the arid climate of the Sonoran Desert
Learn about plant adaptation to the Sonoran Desert's arid climate at Saguaro National Park, Arizona.
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Transcript
NARRATOR: Saguaro National Monument was established to preserve the special desert environment.
RICHARD HAYES: Hello, my name is Richard Hayes. I'm a park ranger here at Saguaro National Monument. Most people think that the desert is barren, but, if you just take the time to look, you'll find it supports a rich variety of plant and animal life.
The plants have all evolved to either conserve water or to sleep during those times when water is not available to them. The spines, of course, is a protection to the plant. I haven't found an animal yet likes to stick their nose into a cactus.
What we have here behind me is a saguaro cactus. It's one of the largest cactuses found in the United States.
[Music in]
The saguaros will get up to about forty or fifty feet in height. The saguaro at twenty-five years is only two feet high. Now between seventy-five and eighty years is when it will put out its first arm. They'll live up to about two hundred years. The saguaro cactus is only found in the Sonoran desert, nowhere else in the world.
It is hard to explain why the desert is so unique. It takes a while to be here to see how those plants and animals have adapted to such a harsh environment. You can't sit down and you know learn it in an afternoon.
[Music out]
RICHARD HAYES: Hello, my name is Richard Hayes. I'm a park ranger here at Saguaro National Monument. Most people think that the desert is barren, but, if you just take the time to look, you'll find it supports a rich variety of plant and animal life.
The plants have all evolved to either conserve water or to sleep during those times when water is not available to them. The spines, of course, is a protection to the plant. I haven't found an animal yet likes to stick their nose into a cactus.
What we have here behind me is a saguaro cactus. It's one of the largest cactuses found in the United States.
[Music in]
The saguaros will get up to about forty or fifty feet in height. The saguaro at twenty-five years is only two feet high. Now between seventy-five and eighty years is when it will put out its first arm. They'll live up to about two hundred years. The saguaro cactus is only found in the Sonoran desert, nowhere else in the world.
It is hard to explain why the desert is so unique. It takes a while to be here to see how those plants and animals have adapted to such a harsh environment. You can't sit down and you know learn it in an afternoon.
[Music out]