{"id":30410,"date":"2024-11-18T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T11:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?p=30410"},"modified":"2024-11-15T14:24:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T14:24:02","slug":"cacti-are-surprisingly-fragile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2024\/11\/18\/cacti-are-surprisingly-fragile\/","title":{"rendered":"Cacti are surprisingly fragile \u2013 and five other intriguing facts about these spiky wonders"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Few plant families are as iconic as the resilient, spiky cactus, thriving in the driest deserts and as well as decorating our offices and homes. Their success in both environments comes down to extreme adaptations for surviving with little water \u2013 whether braving the brutal sun or enduring weeks of neglect from busy \u201cplant parents<\/a>\u201d. But there\u2019s much more to the around 1,850 cacti species than their ruggedness. Here are six surprising facts about this succulent plant family that you may not know.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

1. Cacti are no loners<\/h2>\n

Cacti are often depicted as desert loners, but are in fact deeply connected to their ecosystem. Even the formidable\u00a0Sonoran saguaros<\/a>\u00a0that tower 40ft above the desert sand\u00a0depend on<\/a>\u00a0\u201cnurse plants\u201d when young, which shelter seedlings from harsh conditions. When fully grown, cacti also depend on pollinators for reproduction, with different species\u00a0relying on<\/a>\u00a0bees, birds, moths and even bats.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, cacti flowers, fruits and water-filled tissues provide food and hydration to desert animals. Some woodpeckers\u00a0drill nest holes<\/a>\u00a0into cacti stems, then return the next year to live in them. Even in death, cacti serve. Their decaying stems create\u00a0nutrient-rich shelters<\/a>\u00a0for insects and arachnids.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30418″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

2. They survive in tropics and freezing mountains<\/h2>\n

With their thick and spiny exteriors, cacti appear in popular culture as the archetypal desert plant \u2013 from the backdrops in classic Westerns movies to the harsh landscapes of crime drama Breaking Bad. And certainly,\u00a0arid and semi-arid environments<\/a>\u00a0support the greatest number of cactus species.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30420″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]But some cacti are found in tropical rainforests, where they don\u2019t tend to grow in soil, but\u00a0on tree branches<\/a>\u00a0in the shaded and humid canopy. Others are found high in the Andes, where temperatures regularly fall\u00a0below freezing<\/a>, and sometimes form cushion-like structures. One unique species, the lava cactus (Brachycereus nesioticus<\/em>), is found only on the Galapagos Islands. This cactus\u00a0colonises dried lava flows<\/a>,\u00a0providing the foundation<\/a>\u00a0for an entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30419″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

3. The mysterious mistletoe cactus<\/h2>\n

All but one species of cactus are restricted to the Americas. The exception is the mistletoe cactus,\u00a0Rhipsalis baccifera<\/em>, which is found in the\u00a0African tropics, Madagascar and Sri Lanka<\/a>, where it grows drooping from other plants.<\/p>\n

Scientists don\u2019t know exactly how it got to these distant places.\u00a0One hypothesis<\/a>\u00a0argues that birds transported mistletoe cactus seeds in their guts, but we don\u2019t know which bird could have done this. Fruit-eating birds rarely fly over oceans without defecating along the way. In any case, why have no other cacti made similar crossings?[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30423″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Another theory<\/a>\u00a0suggests the mistletoe cactus dates back to when the Americas and Africa were part of the supercontinent\u00a0Gondwana<\/a>. But the timing doesn\u2019t add up, since cacti are thought\u00a0to have evolved<\/a>\u00a0about 100 million years after Gondwana split.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, 16th-century sailors might have transported them. But given the tight quarters and need for practical cargo, why would sailors prioritise a cactus? Perhaps simply because it\u2019s beautiful.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

4. The unexpected threat of climate change<\/h2>\n

Cacti emerged over millions of years as\u00a0arid ecosystems expanded<\/a>, evolving striking adaptations \u2013 including those succulent\u00a0water-storing tissues and spines<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 that helped them survive in extreme environments. These traits have made them symbols of resilience and rugged beauty. You might therefore think a hotter, drier Earth would favour cacti, but they are more fragile than it would seem.<\/p>\n

Many species are finely tuned to specific conditions. As climates shift, they may\u00a0struggle to adapt<\/a>, meaning hundreds of species are threatened in the near future. For instance, the tropical dry forests of\u00a0the Chaco<\/a>\u00a0in Argentina, which host cactus species including\u00a0Stetsonia coryne<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Echinopsis terscheckii<\/em>, are increasingly vulnerable to wildfires, which are exacerbated by invasive grasses and prolonged droughts.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

5. Cacti are supercharged by moderate climes, not deserts<\/h2>\n

The flip side of extinction is speciation, the formation of new species. Cacti have some of the\u00a0fastest rates<\/a>\u00a0of speciation in plants, though it varies widely within the family. One genus boasts over 100 species, whereas others have only one, such as the tiny\u00a0Blossfeldia liliputiana<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in the Andes.<\/p>\n

My recent research<\/a>\u00a0using machine learning suggested a surprising pattern: the fastest rates of speciation happen in moderate, Goldilocks climates. These places are neither too harsh nor too mild, such as having a moderate daily temperature fluctuation of about 10\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

This discovery highlights a hidden sensitivity in cacti. Even Arizona\u2019s mighty saguaros have struggled under\u00a0recent heatwaves<\/a>. As for the question of why arid and semi-arid places contain a high diversity of cacti, it may be due to their remarkable ability to exploit\u00a0diverse ecological niches<\/a>, such as through unique pollinator relationships.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

6. Psychedelic cacti shaped ancient and modern cultures<\/h2>\n

Some cacti produce the powerful\u00a0psychedelic compound mescaline<\/a>, which causes vivid hallucinations and altered states of consciousness upon consumption. Andean cultures have consumed the high-elevation\u00a0San Pedro cactus<\/a>\u00a0for mental and physical healing for thousands of years. Researchers even found traces in a mummified child victim (whose head was transformed into a \u201ctrophy head<\/a>\u201d, possibly as a spiritual sacrifice, between 450 and 100BC). Similarly, various Native American cultures have consumed the spineless peyote for millennia, and religious consumption is now\u00a0protected in law<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]More recently, Aldous Huxley\u2019s 1954 book,\u00a0The Doors of Perception<\/a>, in which he recalls a mescaline experience, profoundly influenced the counterculture of the 1960s, even providing the name for the band\u00a0The Doors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Timothy Leary<\/a>, the controversial Harvard professor fired for experimenting with psychedelics, read this book and became friendly with Huxley. Leary went on\u00a0to be described<\/a>\u00a0by former US President Richard Nixon as \u201cthe most dangerous man in America\u201d for his leading role in the 1960s psychedelic movement.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”30415″ img_size=”medium” add_caption=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Today, research suggests mescaline may hold therapeutic promise.\u00a0A 2021 survey<\/a>\u00a0of 452 people found that among those with depression, anxiety, PTSD or drug use disorder, nearly two-thirds reported improvement after taking mescaline, even without taking it for that purpose.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”30416″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\n

Far from just being desert survivors, cacti are sensitive, interconnected and downright mysterious. With many species under threat from extinction, it is crucial to protect these remarkable plants, preserving their evolutionary legacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Jamie Thompson, Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading<\/p>\n

This article is republished from\u00a0The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the\u00a0original article<\/a>.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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