Densities, plant sizes, and spatial distributions of six wild populations of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) in Texas, U.S.A.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v15.i1.1057Keywords:
cactus, Chihuahuan Desert, clustered distribution, conservation, density, endangered, population, size distribution, Tamaulipan thornscrub, threatenedAbstract
Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) is thought to be threatened by habitat loss and overharvesting. However, basic demographic and habitat information to evaluate its conservation status have been lacking. We surveyed six wild populations of this species, three in South Texas and three in West Texas, to begin to address this gap. We found high levels of heterogeneity in plant presence and density at multiple spatial scales. While plant densities were not consistently different between South and West Texas, plants were significantly larger in West Texas. The two regions differ strongly in precipitation, temperature, elevation, and topography, all of which are correlated at the regional scale. Therefore, it was not possible to identify which of these variables, or other factors such as competition and human harvesting, may be responsible for the regional differences in plant size. However, our results provide initial information for determining the conservation status of this species.
References
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Medel-Narvaez, A., J.L. León de la Luz, F. Freaner-Martínez, & F. Molina-Freaner. 2006. Patterns of abundance and population structure of Pachycereus pringlei (Cactaceae), a columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert. Pl. Ecol. 187:1–14.
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Návar, J., J. Nájera, & E. Jurado. 2001. Preliminary estimates of biomass growth in the Tamaulipan thornscrub in north-eastern Mexico. J. Arid Environ. 47:281–290.
Nobel, P.S. 1978. Surface temperatures of cacti - influences of environmental and morphological factors. Ecology. 59:986–996.
Nobel, P.S. 2003. Environmental biology of agaves and cacti. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Oldfield (compiler), S. 1997. Action plan: cactus and succulent plants: status survey and conservation action plan. The Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), Gland, Switzerland.
Ortega-Baes, P., S. Sühring, J. Sajama, E. Sotola, M. Alonso-Pedano, S. Bravo, & H. Godínez-Álvarez. 2010. Diversity and conservation in the cactus family. In: K.G. Ramawat, ed. Desert plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. Pp. 157–173.
Powell, A.M., J.F. Weedin, & S.A. Powell. 2008. Cacti of Texas: A field guide. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, TX, U.S.A.
Robbins, C.S., 2003. Prickly trade: trade and conservation of Chihuahuan Desert cacti, by C.S. Robbins and R.T. Bárcenas Luna, eds. TRAFFIC North America, World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C., U.S.A
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Ruthven, D.C.I., T.E. Fulbright, S.L. Beasom, & E.C. Hellgren. 1993. Long-term effects of root plowing on vegetation in the eastern south Texas plains. Rangeland Ecol. Manag. 46:351–354.
Terry, M. 2017. Lophophora williamsii (amended version of 2013 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T151962A121515326. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T151962A121515326.en
Terry, M. & J.D. Mauseth. 2006. Root-shoot anatomy and post-harvest vegetative clonal development in Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae: Cacteae): Implications for conservation. Sida. 22:565–592.
Terry, M. & K. Trout. 2017. Regulation of peyote (Lophophora williamsii: Cactaceae) in the U.S.A: A historical victory of religion and politics over science and medicine. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas. 11:147–156.
Terry, M., K. Trout, B. Williams, T. Herrera, & N. Fowler. 2011. Limitations to natural production of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) I. Regrowth and survivorship two years post harvest in a South Texas population. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas. 5:661–675.
Trout, K. & M. Terry. 2016. Decline of the genus Lophophora in Texas. In: B.C. Labate & C. Cavnar, eds. Peyote: History, tradition, politics, and conservation. Praeger, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
United States Congress. 1970. Controlled substances act. Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Public Law No. 91–513, 84 Stat. 1236. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC.
United States Congress. 1978. Protection and preservation of traditional religions of Native Americans. 42 U.S. Code § 1996. Public Law No. 95-341, 92 Stat. 469. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC.
Valverde, P.L. & J.A. Zavala-Hurtado. 2006. Assessing the ecological status of Mammillaria pectinifera Weber (Cactaceae), a rare and threatened species endemic of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region in Central Mexico. J. Arid Environ. 64:193–208.
Anderson, E.F. 1969. The biogeography, ecology, and taxonomy of Lophophora (Cactaceae). Brittonia 21:299–310
Anderson, E.F. 1996. Peyote: the divine cactus. 2nd edition. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
Ault, T.R., J.S. Mankin, B.I. Cook, & J.E. Smerdon. 2016. Relative impacts of mitigation, temperature, and precipitation on 21st-century megadrought risk in the American Southwest. Science Advances 2:e1600873.
Boyle, T.H. & E. Anderson. 2002. Biodiversity and conservation. In: P.S. Nobel, ed. Cacti: biology and uses University of California Press, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A. Pp. 125–141.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). 2019. Appendices I, II, and III (https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/app/2019/E-Appendices-2019-11-26.pdf).
García Naranjo Ortiz de la Huerta, A. & M.d.C. Mandujano. 2010. Patrón de distribución espacial y nodricismo del peyote (Lophophora williamsii) en Cuatrociénegas, México. Cact. Suc. Mex. 55(2):36–55.
Godínez-Álvarez, H., T. Valverde, & P. Ortega-Baes. 2003. Demographic trends in the Cactaceae. Bot. Rev. 69:173–201.
Goettsch, B., C. Hilton-Taylor, G. Cruz-Piñón, J.P. Duffy, A. Frances, H.M. Hernández, R. Inger, C. Pollock, J. Schipper, M. Superina, N.P. Taylor, M. Tognelli, A.M. Abba, S. Arias, H.J. Arreola-Nava, M.A. Baker, R.T. Bárcenas, D. Barrios, P. Braun, C.A. Butterworth, A. Búrquez, F. Caceres, M. Cházaro-Basáñez, R. Corral-Díaz, M. del Valle Perea, P.H. Demaio, W.A. Duarte de Barros, R. Durán, L.F. Yancas, R.S. Felger, B. Fitz-Maurice, W.A. Fitz-Maurice, G. Gann, C. Gómez-Hinostrosa, L.R. González-Torres, M. Patrick Griffith, P.C. Guerrero, B. Hammel, K.D. Heil, J.G. Hernández-Oria, M. Hoffmann, M.I. Ishihara, R. Kiesling, J. Larocca, J.L. León-de la Luz, C.R. Loaiza S, M. Lowry, M.C. Machado, L.C. Majure, J.G.M. Ávalos, C. Martorell, J. Maschinski, E. Méndez, R.A. Mittermeier, J.M. Nassar, V. Negrón-Ortiz, L.J. Oakley, P. Ortega-Baes, A.B.P. Ferreira, D.J. Pinkava, J.M. Porter, R. Puente-Martínez, J.R. Gamarra, P.S. Pérez, E.S. Martínez, M. Smith, J. Manuel Sotomayor M. del C, S.N. Stuart, J.L.T. Muñoz, T. Terrazas, M. Terry, M. Trevisson, T. Valverde, T.R. Van Devender, M.E. Véliz-Pérez, H.E. Walter, S.A. Wyatt, D. Zappi, J. Alejandro Zavala-Hurtado, & K.J. Gaston. 2015. High proportion of cactus species threatened with extinction. Nat. Pl. 1:15142.
Hernández, H.M. & R.T. Bárcenas. 1995. Endangered cacti in the Chihuahuan Desert: I. Distribution patterns. Conservation Biol. 9:1176–1188.
Hernández, H.M. & R.T. Bárcenas. 1996. Endangered cacti in the Chihuahuan Desert: II. Biogeography and conservation. Conservation Biol. 10:1200–1209.
Hernández, H.M. & C. Gómez-Hinostrosa. 2011. Mapping the cacti of Mexico. DH Books, UK.
Jahrsdoerfer, S.E. & D.M. Leslie. 1988. Tamaulipan brushland of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas: Description, human impacts, and management options. Biol. Rep. 88(36). United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Stillwater, OK, U.S.A.
Liu, H., Y.-B. Luo, J. Heinen, M. Bhat, & Z.-J. Liu. 2014. Eat your orchid and have it too: a potentially new conservation formula for Chinese epiphytic medicinal orchids. Biodivers. & Conservation 23:1215–1228.
Martínez-Ávalos, J.G., J. Golubov, M.C. Mandujano, & E. Jurado. 2007. Causes of individual mortality in the endangered star cactus Astrophytum asterias (Cactaceae): The effect of herbivores and disease in Mexican populations. J. Arid Environ. 71:250–258.
McGraw, J.B., A.E. Lubbers, M. Van der Voort, E.H. Mooney, M.A. Furedi, S. Souther, J.B. Turner, & J. Chandler. 2013. Ecology and conservation of ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) in a changing world. Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 1286:62–91.
Medel-Narvaez, A., J.L. León de la Luz, F. Freaner-Martínez, & F. Molina-Freaner. 2006. Patterns of abundance and population structure of Pachycereus pringlei (Cactaceae), a columnar cactus of the Sonoran Desert. Pl. Ecol. 187:1–14.
Montero Anaya, D. & O. García Rubio. 2010. Análisis espacial por índices de distancia (sadie) de Lophophora williamsii en tres parcelas con diferente grado de perturbación en San Luis Potosí. In: VII Simposio Internacional sobre la Flora Silvestre en Zonas Áridas. Universidad de Sonora, Universidad de Sonora Hermosillo, Sonora, México. Pp. 217–231.
Návar, J., J. Nájera, & E. Jurado. 2001. Preliminary estimates of biomass growth in the Tamaulipan thornscrub in north-eastern Mexico. J. Arid Environ. 47:281–290.
Nobel, P.S. 1978. Surface temperatures of cacti - influences of environmental and morphological factors. Ecology. 59:986–996.
Nobel, P.S. 2003. Environmental biology of agaves and cacti. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Oldfield (compiler), S. 1997. Action plan: cactus and succulent plants: status survey and conservation action plan. The Cactus and Succulent Plant Specialist Group, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), Gland, Switzerland.
Ortega-Baes, P., S. Sühring, J. Sajama, E. Sotola, M. Alonso-Pedano, S. Bravo, & H. Godínez-Álvarez. 2010. Diversity and conservation in the cactus family. In: K.G. Ramawat, ed. Desert plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. Pp. 157–173.
Powell, A.M., J.F. Weedin, & S.A. Powell. 2008. Cacti of Texas: A field guide. Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, TX, U.S.A.
Robbins, C.S., 2003. Prickly trade: trade and conservation of Chihuahuan Desert cacti, by C.S. Robbins and R.T. Bárcenas Luna, eds. TRAFFIC North America, World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C., U.S.A
Rojas-Aréchiga, M. & J. Flores. 2016. An overview of cacti and the controversial peyote. In: B.C. Labate & C. Cavnar, eds. Peyote: history, tradition, politics, and conservation. Praeger, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
Ruthven, D.C.I., T.E. Fulbright, S.L. Beasom, & E.C. Hellgren. 1993. Long-term effects of root plowing on vegetation in the eastern south Texas plains. Rangeland Ecol. Manag. 46:351–354.
Terry, M. 2017. Lophophora williamsii (amended version of 2013 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T151962A121515326. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T151962A121515326.en
Terry, M. & J.D. Mauseth. 2006. Root-shoot anatomy and post-harvest vegetative clonal development in Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae: Cacteae): Implications for conservation. Sida. 22:565–592.
Terry, M. & K. Trout. 2017. Regulation of peyote (Lophophora williamsii: Cactaceae) in the U.S.A: A historical victory of religion and politics over science and medicine. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas. 11:147–156.
Terry, M., K. Trout, B. Williams, T. Herrera, & N. Fowler. 2011. Limitations to natural production of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) I. Regrowth and survivorship two years post harvest in a South Texas population. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas. 5:661–675.
Trout, K. & M. Terry. 2016. Decline of the genus Lophophora in Texas. In: B.C. Labate & C. Cavnar, eds. Peyote: History, tradition, politics, and conservation. Praeger, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
United States Congress. 1970. Controlled substances act. Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Public Law No. 91–513, 84 Stat. 1236. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC.
United States Congress. 1978. Protection and preservation of traditional religions of Native Americans. 42 U.S. Code § 1996. Public Law No. 95-341, 92 Stat. 469. Congress of the United States, Washington, DC.
Valverde, P.L. & J.A. Zavala-Hurtado. 2006. Assessing the ecological status of Mammillaria pectinifera Weber (Cactaceae), a rare and threatened species endemic of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region in Central Mexico. J. Arid Environ. 64:193–208.
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Published
2021-07-23
How to Cite
Ermakova , A. ., Whiting, C. V., Trout, K. ., Clubbe, C. ., Terry, M. K., & Fowler, N. . (2021). Densities, plant sizes, and spatial distributions of six wild populations of Lophophora williamsii (Cactaceae) in Texas, U.S.A. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, 15(1), 149–160. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v15.i1.1057
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FLORISTICS, ECOLOGY, & CONSERVATION
