THE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROGRAM
New pup on Lophophora williamsii
Peyote harvest regrowth –
Summary of our observations.
After two years
PNF – Plant not found.
TNF – Tag not found.
NP – Not present.
nd – No data available.
– – Missing data.
Concerning data on regrowth involving multiple pups:
1) There is not necessarily a direct 1:1 correspondence between sequential figures for individual pups within a single plant.
2) It was not uncommon for some or all pups to be partly or entirely covered with soil so some photos may reflect the pre-uncovery state.
Images of the tags can be viewed via the links for the tag numbers and images of the actual plants that were harvested in our study can be viewed using the links in the column headed "Regrowth as number of pups".
Plant No.
|
Number
of ribs
|
Diameter
(cm)
|
Height
(cm)
|
Weight
(gm)
|
Regrowth as
number of pups
or TNF, PNF |
Regrowth as
diameter of pups
(cm) |
Comments
|
2009
2010 |
3 Mar. 2008 |
11 Nov. 2008
7 Mar. 2009
6 Mar. 2010 |
11 Nov. 2008
7 Mar. 2009
6 Mar. 2010 |
|
| |
101
101 |
13 |
6.2 |
3.0 |
65 |
4
4
4 |
1.3, 2.5, 2.4, 1.2
2.0, 2.7, 2.5, 1.3
2.5, 3.1, 3.1, 20 |
|
102
102 |
5 |
2.4 |
1.0 |
3 |
1
1
NP |
1.5
1.5
nd |
hogs |
103
103 |
5 |
2.0 |
0.7 |
3 |
3
2
2 |
0.5, 0.8, 0.9
1.2, 1.3
1.4, 1.5 |
|
104
104 |
8 |
4.6 |
1.5 |
23 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
2 |
nd
nd
9 |
|
105
105 |
8 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
23 |
0
TNF, PNF
0 |
nd
nd
nd |
dead |
106
106 |
13 |
6.3 |
1.6 |
45 |
2
3
2 |
2.0, 2.4
2.0, 2.4, 1.9
4.0, 7.0 |
|
107
107 |
8 |
5.0 |
3.0 |
31 |
6
6
0 |
1.5, 2.0, 1.8, 1.3, 1.6, 1.4
1.8, 2.4, 2.2, 1.5, 1.9, 1.5
nd |
dead |
108
108 |
8 |
5.0 |
1.5 |
31 |
TNF, PNF
3
3 |
nd
2.1, 1.8, 2.1
2.1, 1.6, 2.4 |
|
109
109 |
9 |
5.8 |
1.9 |
43 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
3 |
nd
nd
2.9, 3.8, 3.4 |
|
110
110 |
8 |
4.1 |
1.8 |
23 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
2 |
nd
nd
2.5, 2.1 |
|
111
111 |
8 |
2.7 |
0.9 |
6 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
2 |
nd
nd
2.0, 0.6 |
|
112
112 |
13 |
4.8 |
0.7 |
20 |
TNF, PNF
4
4 |
nd
2.1, 2.0, 1.7, 1.6
2.6, 1.3, 2.7, 2.4 |
|
113
113 |
13 |
6.3 |
2.6 |
74 |
1
0
0 |
0.9
nd
nd |
dead |
114
114 |
8 |
4.1 |
1.2 |
17 |
2
2
2 |
1.7, 1.9
1.7, 1.7
2.1, 2.2 |
|
115
115 |
5 |
2.2 |
0.8 |
3 |
0
0
0 |
nd
nd
nd |
dead |
116
116 |
8 |
4.4 |
0.3 |
23 |
3
3
3 |
1.7, 1.0, 1.4
1.7, 0.9, 1.6
2.5, 0.7, 1.8 |
|
117
117 |
8 |
5.4 |
1.7 |
28 |
3
3
3 |
1.3, 2.8, 1.8
1.8, 3.0, 2.1
1.7, 3.6, 2.2 |
|
118
118 |
8 |
5.3 |
1.3 |
34 |
5
5
5 |
1.0, 1.3, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4
1.0, 1.9, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0
1.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.0, 1.5 |
|
119
119 |
13 |
5.4 |
2.3 |
48 |
4
4
4 |
1.9, 0.8, 1.5, 1.6
2.2, 0.9, 1.3, 1.9
2.4, 0.9, 1.6, 1.6 |
|
120
120 |
8 |
5.6 |
1.4 |
28 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
2 |
nd
nd
1.8, 2.1 |
|
121
121 |
13 |
6.3 |
2.6 |
71 |
2
2
2 |
1.9, 2.5
2.4, 2.6
2.4, 2.7 |
|
122
122 |
5 |
2.9 |
1.0 |
6 |
1
TNF, PNF
1 |
2.2
nd
2.1 |
|
123
123 |
8 |
5.0 |
1.8 |
31 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
2 |
nd
nd
2.1, 1.6 |
|
124
124 |
8 |
4.1 |
1.1 |
17 |
2
2
2 |
1.9, 2.1
1.8, 2.0
1.8, 1.8 |
|
125
125 |
8 |
4.4 |
1.1 |
14 |
2
2
2 |
1.6, 1.5
2.0, 1.6
1.4, 1.4 |
|
126
126 |
13 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
54 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
3 |
nd
nd
2.4, 2.5, 2.4 |
|
127
127 |
8 |
4.3 |
1.2 |
28 |
1
1
1 |
1.8
2.0
2.3 |
|
128
128 |
13 |
4.9 |
1.6 |
34 |
3
3
3 |
1.6, 2.4, 2.0
1.7, 2.8, 2.0
1.8, 2.8, 2.1 |
|
129
129 |
10 |
5.3 |
2.0 |
34 |
4
4
3 |
2.0, 2.0, 1.0, 2.2
2.2, 2.2, 1.7, 2.3
2.2, 2.0, 2.3 |
|
130
130 |
8 |
5.3 |
1.6 |
23 |
2
2
2 |
1.1, 3.1
1.1, 3.7
3.9, 1.4 |
|
131
131 |
8 |
4.8 |
2.6 |
26 |
3
3
3 |
1.4, 1.2, 1.1
1.9, 1.5, 1.4
1.0, 1.7, 1.6 |
|
132
132 |
8 |
4.4 |
1.5 |
17 |
2
2
NP |
1.5, 2.0
1.9, 2.0
nd |
hogs |
133
133 |
8 |
4.2 |
1.7 |
20 |
0
1
1 |
nd
0.8
1.3 |
|
134
134 |
8 |
3.4 |
1.1 |
9 |
0
2
2 |
nd
1.4, 1.6
1.4, 1.4 |
|
135
135 |
13 |
5.4 |
1.0 |
28 |
2
2
2 |
2.8, 1.7
3.2, 1.9
3.9, 1.8 |
|
136
136 |
13 |
5.7 |
2.3 |
48 |
2
3
3 |
1.9, 1.9
2.4, 2.3, 1.4
2.1, 2.2, 2.0 |
|
137
137 |
8 |
4.6 |
1.5 |
17 |
3
3
3 |
1.8, 1.8, 1.7
1.6, 1.6, 1.3
1.3, 1.2, 1.2 |
|
138
138 |
13 |
5.7 |
2.6 |
43 |
TNF, 4
4
3 |
1.1, 1.4, 1.8, 1.1
1.2, 1.7, 2.4, 1.4
3.0, 1.2, 1.2 |
|
139
139 |
5 |
2.9 |
1.0 |
6 |
1
1
1 |
1.8
1.9
2.1 |
|
140
140 |
10 |
5.4 |
1.2 |
28 |
0
0
0 |
nd
nd
nd |
dead |
141
141 |
13 |
5.0 |
1.0 |
23 |
4
4
4 |
1.6, 1.6, 1.8, 1.5
–, –, –, –
2.0, 1.8, 1.5, 1.5 |
|
142
142 |
13 |
6.4 |
2.1 |
62 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
4 |
nd
nd
2.6, 1.3, 1.1, 1.2 |
|
143
143 |
13 |
6.3 |
1.9 |
51 |
TNF, PNF
TNF, PNF
3 |
nd
nd
2.9, 2.7, 2.6 |
|
144
144 |
5 |
3.9 |
1.7 |
23 |
2
2
2 |
1.0, 1.0
1.4, 1.3
0.9, 1.0 |
|
145
145 |
5 |
3.5 |
0.9 |
11 |
1
1
1 |
1.4
1.5
1.4 |
|
146
146 |
13 |
5.9 |
1.5 |
37 |
2
2
2 |
1.8, 1.6
2.0, 1.9
2.2, 2.3 |
|
147
47 |
13 |
5.7 |
1.6 |
34 |
4
4
4 |
1.0, 1.4, 1.4, 1.8
1.5, 1.5, 2.0, 2.0
1.7, 1.5, 1.7, 1.2 |
|
148
148 |
13 |
6.8 |
3.0 |
54 |
1
1
1 |
2.5
3.4
3.2 |
|
149
149 |
13 |
6.7 |
1.5 |
51 |
6
6
6 |
1.8, 1.1, 1.0, 0.9, 1.1, 1.8,
2.1, 2.0, 1.9, 1.4, 2.0, 2.0
2.9, 1.7, 1.9, 1.9, 1.7, 2.4 |
|
150
150 |
5 |
2.9 |
1.0 |
9 |
2
2
2 |
1.3, 1.3
1.4, 1.4
1.0, 1.2 |
|
The plants being surveyed are part of a larger population occurring on private land in South Texas. The area of the survey site itself is defined with a transect of 17-gauge electric fence wire secured with steel stakes the locations of which are recorded with a high resolution GPS. The transect zigzags through the study site with all plants in the study being located within approximately one-half meter of the wire. The area of the study site has not yet been accurately measured but we estimate it to be around half a hectare.
We also tagged and measured a control group of 50 plants on 23 NOV 2008, which in future monitoring will give us an idea of the magnitude of natural mortality not associated with harvesting. {The results from our March 2009/2010 visits concerning those 50 individuals.}
An additional 20 plants (#201-220) were harvested during the November 2008 monitoring to make up for what was believed to be lost plants from the original group of 50 harvested plants. {The results from our March 2009/2010 visits concerning those twenty individuals.}
7 March 2009 update:
Interestingly we found the same number of harvested study plants (with their tags) but as can be seen in the table above these were not entirely the same plants & tags as had been located on 23 November 2008.
On this visit we used a Trimble high-resolution GPS instrument to record the location of all tags and/or plants located.
Complete or partial burial of plants and their tags was sometimes encountered. To aid in future visits we added a rebar stake near each tagged plant.
6 March 2010 update:
A number of our tags and plants were completely buried and hence provided missing data in 2009. This year, 2010, thanks to the use of a high powered metal detector, we located all of our tags, stakes and plants unless the plants themselves were totally missing from the study site.
Feral hog activity was extensive at this site so we will split the presentation of our data assessment into two conclusions: mortality involving hogs and mortality not involving hogs.
Lophophora is surviving many known challenges.
Regrowth study site showing typical Tamaulipan thornscrub vegetation
If you would like to help support additional studies of this type, designed to answer basic questions that are critical to the optimal stewardship/management of vulnerable cactus species, please send a contribution, of $25 USD or whatever amount you can afford, to the Cactus Conservation Institute, P.O. Box 561, Alpine, TX 79830.
We also now accept donations via PayPal.
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