Low-temperature tolerance and cold hardening of cacti

Journal Article · Wed Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Ecology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/1940106· OSTI ID:6526842

Nobel, P S

Reduced uptake by the chlorenchyma cells of cacti of a stain (neutral red) was used as an indicator of low-temperature damage resulting from cooling stems in the laboratory. Necrosis set in a few degrees below the temperature at which the fraction of cells accumulating stain was reduced by 50%. Coryphantha vivipara, Opuntia polyacantha, and Pediocactus simpsonii, which range to over 300 m altitude in southern Wyoming, were quite cold tolerant. Relationships among tissue cold sensitivity, morphological features which protect the stems from low temperatures, and the occurrence of species in progressively colder regions were investigated. Differences in tissue cold sensitivity accounted for the approx. = 600 m higher elevational limit of Coryphantha vivipara var. rosea compared to the morphologically similar var. deserti in southern Nevada. In contrast, morphological differences alone could adequately explain the relative northern limits of the columnar cacti Carnegiea gigantea vs Stenocereus gummosus and the barrel cacti Ferocactus acanthodes vs. F. wislizenii in the southwestern United States, as previously indicated using a computer model. Cold hardening in response to decreasing day/night air temperatures was observed for 10 species. A decrease from 50/sup 0//40/sup 0/ to 10/sup 0//0/sup 0/ lowered by 4/sup 0/ the temperature at which the fraction of the chlorenchyma cells taking up stain was reduced 50% for both D. rhodacantha and T. candicans, with a half-time for the shift of approx. = 3 d. The tolerance of subzero temperatures and the ability to cold harden allow cacti to range into regions with considerable wintertime freezing.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Los Angeles
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00012
• OSTI ID: 6526842
• Journal Information: Ecology; (United States), Journal Name: Ecology; (United States) Vol. 63:6; ISSN ECOLA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510100 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
560203* -- Thermal Effects-- Plants-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION
CACTI
DATA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FREEZING
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
INFORMATION
MORPHOLOGY
NECROSIS
NUMERICAL DATA
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PLANT STEMS
PLANTS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TOLERANCE
VARIATIONS