Mortality of Transplanted Saguaro Seedlings
Turner RM, Alcorn SM, Olin G. 1969. Mortality of Transplanted Saguaro Seedlings. Ecology. 50(5):835-844
Only 26 of an original 800 5-cm-tall saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) survived for 3 months when accessible to the rodents and rabbits at Saguaro National Monument, Arizona; after 1 year all of these small plants were gone. Although losses among a group of larger (15-cm-tall) seedlings were less abrupt, only one plant of an original 120 remained by the end of a year. When protected from these herbivores by cages, 12% of the smaller plants remained at the end of 1 year but only 2% after 5 years. Although browsing by rodents and lagomorphs quickly destroyed most uncaged small plants, the planting design probably accentuated the losses from the herbivores; in any event, many of these seedlings would soon have died from other causes.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Turner, Raymond; Alcorn, Stanley; Olin, George
- Units
- ORPI , SAGU
- Keywords
- animal transplanting, Botany, Cactaceae, Columnar Cacti (Cactaceae), Herbivory, Mammals (Mammalia), nurse objects, Rodents (Rodentia), Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), Seedlings, shade, Succulent Plants, Survival