 If you're a plant, you've got to be tough to survive out here. The plants that are here have developed strategies for surviving these arid conditions. There are three strategies the desert plants have, succulents, drought tolerance and drought avoidance. Succulent plants such as cactus take in water when it's available and then store it. These plants usually have waxy cuticles making them almost waterproof so as not to lose any water. Plants that are drought tolerant cope with dry situations by going dormant in the driest seasons. They also have extensive root systems that allow them to search for moisture. They are also capable of extracting water from very dry soils. The third strategy is drought avoidance. One might wonder how a plant growing here avoids drought. Annual plants are able to avoid drought by producing all their seed in the cool, moist spring and then they die, leaving their seeds ready to grow the next spring. There's more than one way to skin a cat or survive in an arid climate. From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I'm Barton Stam, exploring the nature of Wyoming.