The Efficacy of Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) Pollination Systems (Preview)
Winterbottom CA. 2021. The Efficacy of Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) Pollination Systems (Preview). Northern Arizona University
Many animals depend on flowers and fruits of Saguaro cacti (Carnegiea gigantea) which in turn depend on adequate pollination and presence of pollinators for fruit and seed set. The development of Colossal Cave in 1961, once a suitable maternity roosting habitat for lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris curasoe), resulted in an absence of this species during spring and early summer causing the timing of saguaro flowering and the presence of these bats to no longer overlap. Given changes in the presence and reliability of lesser long-nosed bats as pollinators of saguaro, an updated investigation of the efficacy of these pollinator communities was necessary. Document is a "Preview" and is therefore incomplete.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Winterbottom, Caitlin
- Date of Issue
- 2021-05
- Publisher
- Northern Arizona University
- Units
- SAGU
- Keywords
- bats, habitats, pollinators, saguaros, thesis
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Desert Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals , NPS.gov Subject Site: At-Risk Species , NPS.gov Subject Site: Bats , NPS.gov Subject Site: Caves and Karst , NPS.gov Subject Site: Deserts , NPS.gov Subject Site: Mammals , NPS.gov Subject Site: Science of the American Southwest