Saguaros: The Crowned Jewel of the Sonoran Desert

1
SaguarosThe Crowned Jewel of the Sonoran Desert
2
Do Saguaros Grow Older on the East or West Side
of the Tucson Mountains?
3
Our Hypothesis

• Null There is no correlation between the side of
  the mountain, east or west, and age.
• Alternative Saguaros on the West side will
  generally live to be older because they are not
  exposed to as much sunlight than those on the
  East side.

4
Importance

• Humans moving farther into the desert.
• Loosing habitat.
• Conservation increasingly important.
• To know what areas or regions will be better to
  conserve.

5
Background Information

• Saguaro Cacti (cereus giganteus)
• Slow Growth
• Sprout at 75 years
• Mature at 100 yrs
• Oldest, up to 200 yrs
• More than 5 Arms
• Shallow Root System

6
Objective

• To determine if the geographical location of a
  Saguaro cactus on a mountain has any effect on
  the age reached.

7
Technique

• Observed number of arms on each saguaro.
• On East West Side of Tucson Mountain.
• Hiked and Counted 500 cacti on each slope
• Compiled our results into data.

8
WEST SLOPE
9
Cacti Counting
10
EAST SLOPE
11
DATA

• WEST SLOPE
• 0 Arms - 165
• 1 Arm - 45
• 2 Arms - 89
• 3 Arms - 90
• 4 Arms - 80

• EAST SLOPE
• 0 Arms - 253
• 1 Arm - 41
• 2 Arms - 66
• 3 Arms - 82
• 4 Arms - 62

12
East Slope vs. West Slope
13
Calculations

• WEST SIDE
• 0 Arms - 200
• 39.7
• 1 or more Arms - 304
• 60.3

• EAST SIDE
• 0 Arms - 253
• 50.2
• 1 or more Arms - 251
• 49.8

14
Results

• Reject null Hypothesis
• Accept Alternative Hypothesis
• Grow older on West Side of Mountain

15
Overview

• Reasons why we think Saguaros grow older on the
  West Side of Tucson Mountain.
• Less Sunlight
• Conserve Water Loss
• Farther from City Population
• Less Detrimental to Saguaros, from Smog,
  Pollution, etc.

16
Attack of the killer Cacti