التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
| العنوان: |
On the Age and Growth Rate of Giant Cacti: Radiocarbon Dating of the Spines of Cardon (Pachycereus Pringlei). |
| المؤلفون: |
Delgado-Fernández, Mariana, Garcillán, Pedro P, Ezcurra, Exequiel |
| المصدر: |
Radiocarbon; Sep2016, Vol. 58 Issue 3, p479-490, 12p |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: |
CACTUS, PACHYCEREUS pringlei, RADIOCARBON dating, CARBON content of plants, PLANT growth |
| مستخلص: |
Age estimation has been a limiting factor in the study of giant columnar cacti. In order to test the feasibility of using radiocarbon methods to estimate the age of the giant cardon cacti (Pachycereus pringlei), we selected six sites spanning the latitudinal and precipitation range of the species in the Baja California peninsula. In each site, we selected four individuals of different heights and sampled a spine from the lowest areole in the stem. The age of the spine was estimated using 14C dating, and the mean annual growth rate of the plant was calculated dividing the height of the lead shoot by the plant’s age. Mean annual growth rate was 0.098 m/yr, with values varying between 0.03 and 0.23 m/yr. Within the range of plants sampled, mean annual growth rates were significantly correlated with the height of the plant (r2=0.82, P<0.0001), and no other site-specific variable such as precipitation or latitude was a significant predictor of mean annual growth rates. A model integrating mean growth rate versus height showed that relatively small differences in growth rates between plants accumulate during the plants’ lifetime, so that plants of similar size may have very different ages. We conclude that 14C dating provides a robust method to explore the growth and demography of columnar cacti. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
|
Copyright of Radiocarbon is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| قاعدة البيانات: |
Complementary Index |
Full Text Finder