Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
edited by Theodore H. Fleming and Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
University of Arizona Press, 2002 eISBN: 978-0-8165-4742-5 | Cloth: 978-0-8165-2204-0 | Paper: 978-0-8165-4021-1 Library of Congress Classification QK495.C11C64 2002 Dewey Decimal Classification 583.56
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Although cacti such as the saguaro and organ pipe have come to define the Sonoran Desert for many people, they represent some 170 species of columnar cacti found in many parts of the Americas. These giant plants are so dominant in some ecosystems that many species of animals rely on them for food and shelter. They are pollinated by bats in central Mexico and Venezuela, by birds and bees in northern Mexico and Peru.
This book summarizes our knowledge about the ecology, evolution, and conservation of columnar cacti and their vertebrate mutualists to show that the very survival of these cacti depends on animals who pollinate them and disperse their seeds. Contributors from the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia explore aspects of geology and evolution that have forged this relationship, review findings in anatomy and physiology, and discuss recent research in population and community ecology as well as conservation issues. Ranging from the Sonoran Desert to the northern Andes, these studies reflect progress in understanding how abiotic and biotic factors interact to influence the evolution, distribution, and abundance of cacti and mutualists alike.
In addition, this book examines the ways in which humans, through the process of domestication, have modified these plants for economic benefit. The contributors also review phylogenetic relationships between cacti and nectar-feeding bats in an effort to understand how bat-plant interactions have influenced the evolution of diversity and ecological specialization of both. Because of the number of migratory pollinators feeding on columnar cacti, the authors make conservation recommendations aimed at preserving fully functional ecosystems in arid portions of the New World tropics and subtropics.
Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists provided a benchmark for both conservation efforts and future research.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Theodore H. Fleming is a professor of biology at the University of Miami and the author of The Short-Tailed Fruit Bat: A Study in Plant-Animal Interactions. Alfonso Valiente-Banuet is the head of the Community Ecology Laboratory and the Department of Functional and Applied Ecology of the Institute of Ecology, UNAM.
REVIEWS
“Provides a wealth of reliable information and will be a must-have for anyone studying cacti or nectar-feeding bats. . . . Spending time with this book leaves no doubt that columnar cacti and their mutualists play important roles in the ecosystem they inhabit.”—Ecology
“It is a book written at university level, but readable for the serious cactus enthusiast.”—Plant Science Bulletin
“An important contribution to the literature on species interactions and mutualisms, as well as one of the most significant works ever published on the two topics of columnar cacti and nectar-feeding bats.”—Peter E. Scott, Indiana State University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I : Geology and Evolution
CHAPTER 1 Environmental History of the Sonoran Desert
Thomas R. Van Devender
CHAPTER 2 Phytogeography of the Columnar Cacti (Tribe Pachycereeae)
in Mexico: A Cladistic Approach
Patrica Dtvila-Aranda, Salvador Arias-Montes, Rafael Lira-Saade,
Jose Luis Villaseior, and Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
CHAPTER 3 The Phylogeny and Systematics of Columnar Cacti:
An Overview
Robert S. Wallace
CHAPTER 4 Phylogenetic Relationships of Pachycereeae: A Cladistic
Analysis Based on Anatomical-Morphological Data
Teresa Terrazas and Sofia Loza-Cornejo
CHAPTER 5 Phylogeny and Convergence in Cactophilic Bats
Nancy B. Simmons andAndrea L. Wetterer
CHAPTER 6 Genetic Diversity in Columnar Cacti
J. L. Hamrick, John D. Nason, Theodore H. Fleming,
and Jafet M. Nassar
PART II : Anatomy and Physiology
CHAPTER 7 Evolutionary Trends in Columnar Cacti under Domestication
in South-Central Mexico
Alejandro Casas, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, and Javier Caballero
CHAPTER 8 Growth Form Variations in Columnar Cacti (Cactaceae:
Pachycereeae) within and between North American Habitats
Martin L. Cody
CHAPTER 9 Physiological Ecology of Columnar Cacti
Park S. Nobel
PART III : Population and Community Ecology
and Conservation
CHAPTER 10 Pollination Biology of Four Species of Sonoran Desert
Columnar Cacti
Theodore H. Fleming
CHAPTER 11 Biotic Interactions and Population Dynamics
of Columnar Cacti
Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, Maria del Coro Arizmendi,
Alberto Rojas-Martinez, Alejandro Casas, Hector Godinez-Alvarez,
Carlos Silva, and Patricia Ddvila-Aranda
CHAPTER 12 The Role of Bats and Birds in the Reproduction
of Columnar Cacti in the Northern Andes
Pascual J. Soriano and Adriana Ruiz
CHAPTER 13 Columnar Cacti and the Diets of Nectar-Feeding Bats
Maria del Coro Arizmendi, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
Alberto Rojas-Martinez, and Patricia Ddvila-Aranda
CHAPTER 14 Population Biology of the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat
Leptonycteris curasoae in Mexico and Northern
South America
Theodore H. Fleming and Jafet Nassar
CHAPTER 15 Why Are Columnar Cacti Associated with Nurse Plants?
Vinicio J. Sosa and Theodore H. Fleming
CHAPTER 16 Cacti in the Dry Formations of Colombia
Adriana Ruiz, Jaime Cavelier, Mery Santos,
and Pascual J. Soriano
CHAPTER 17 Priority Areas for the Conservation of New World
Nectar-Feeding Bats
Mery Santos and Hector T. Arita
Epilogue
Index 369
Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
edited by Theodore H. Fleming and Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
University of Arizona Press, 2002 eISBN: 978-0-8165-4742-5 Cloth: 978-0-8165-2204-0 Paper: 978-0-8165-4021-1
Although cacti such as the saguaro and organ pipe have come to define the Sonoran Desert for many people, they represent some 170 species of columnar cacti found in many parts of the Americas. These giant plants are so dominant in some ecosystems that many species of animals rely on them for food and shelter. They are pollinated by bats in central Mexico and Venezuela, by birds and bees in northern Mexico and Peru.
This book summarizes our knowledge about the ecology, evolution, and conservation of columnar cacti and their vertebrate mutualists to show that the very survival of these cacti depends on animals who pollinate them and disperse their seeds. Contributors from the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia explore aspects of geology and evolution that have forged this relationship, review findings in anatomy and physiology, and discuss recent research in population and community ecology as well as conservation issues. Ranging from the Sonoran Desert to the northern Andes, these studies reflect progress in understanding how abiotic and biotic factors interact to influence the evolution, distribution, and abundance of cacti and mutualists alike.
In addition, this book examines the ways in which humans, through the process of domestication, have modified these plants for economic benefit. The contributors also review phylogenetic relationships between cacti and nectar-feeding bats in an effort to understand how bat-plant interactions have influenced the evolution of diversity and ecological specialization of both. Because of the number of migratory pollinators feeding on columnar cacti, the authors make conservation recommendations aimed at preserving fully functional ecosystems in arid portions of the New World tropics and subtropics.
Columnar Cacti and Their Mutualists provided a benchmark for both conservation efforts and future research.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Theodore H. Fleming is a professor of biology at the University of Miami and the author of The Short-Tailed Fruit Bat: A Study in Plant-Animal Interactions. Alfonso Valiente-Banuet is the head of the Community Ecology Laboratory and the Department of Functional and Applied Ecology of the Institute of Ecology, UNAM.
REVIEWS
“Provides a wealth of reliable information and will be a must-have for anyone studying cacti or nectar-feeding bats. . . . Spending time with this book leaves no doubt that columnar cacti and their mutualists play important roles in the ecosystem they inhabit.”—Ecology
“It is a book written at university level, but readable for the serious cactus enthusiast.”—Plant Science Bulletin
“An important contribution to the literature on species interactions and mutualisms, as well as one of the most significant works ever published on the two topics of columnar cacti and nectar-feeding bats.”—Peter E. Scott, Indiana State University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I : Geology and Evolution
CHAPTER 1 Environmental History of the Sonoran Desert
Thomas R. Van Devender
CHAPTER 2 Phytogeography of the Columnar Cacti (Tribe Pachycereeae)
in Mexico: A Cladistic Approach
Patrica Dtvila-Aranda, Salvador Arias-Montes, Rafael Lira-Saade,
Jose Luis Villaseior, and Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
CHAPTER 3 The Phylogeny and Systematics of Columnar Cacti:
An Overview
Robert S. Wallace
CHAPTER 4 Phylogenetic Relationships of Pachycereeae: A Cladistic
Analysis Based on Anatomical-Morphological Data
Teresa Terrazas and Sofia Loza-Cornejo
CHAPTER 5 Phylogeny and Convergence in Cactophilic Bats
Nancy B. Simmons andAndrea L. Wetterer
CHAPTER 6 Genetic Diversity in Columnar Cacti
J. L. Hamrick, John D. Nason, Theodore H. Fleming,
and Jafet M. Nassar
PART II : Anatomy and Physiology
CHAPTER 7 Evolutionary Trends in Columnar Cacti under Domestication
in South-Central Mexico
Alejandro Casas, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, and Javier Caballero
CHAPTER 8 Growth Form Variations in Columnar Cacti (Cactaceae:
Pachycereeae) within and between North American Habitats
Martin L. Cody
CHAPTER 9 Physiological Ecology of Columnar Cacti
Park S. Nobel
PART III : Population and Community Ecology
and Conservation
CHAPTER 10 Pollination Biology of Four Species of Sonoran Desert
Columnar Cacti
Theodore H. Fleming
CHAPTER 11 Biotic Interactions and Population Dynamics
of Columnar Cacti
Alfonso Valiente-Banuet, Maria del Coro Arizmendi,
Alberto Rojas-Martinez, Alejandro Casas, Hector Godinez-Alvarez,
Carlos Silva, and Patricia Ddvila-Aranda
CHAPTER 12 The Role of Bats and Birds in the Reproduction
of Columnar Cacti in the Northern Andes
Pascual J. Soriano and Adriana Ruiz
CHAPTER 13 Columnar Cacti and the Diets of Nectar-Feeding Bats
Maria del Coro Arizmendi, Alfonso Valiente-Banuet
Alberto Rojas-Martinez, and Patricia Ddvila-Aranda
CHAPTER 14 Population Biology of the Lesser Long-Nosed Bat
Leptonycteris curasoae in Mexico and Northern
South America
Theodore H. Fleming and Jafet Nassar
CHAPTER 15 Why Are Columnar Cacti Associated with Nurse Plants?
Vinicio J. Sosa and Theodore H. Fleming
CHAPTER 16 Cacti in the Dry Formations of Colombia
Adriana Ruiz, Jaime Cavelier, Mery Santos,
and Pascual J. Soriano
CHAPTER 17 Priority Areas for the Conservation of New World
Nectar-Feeding Bats
Mery Santos and Hector T. Arita
Epilogue
Index 369
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC