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Saguaros: The Crowned Jewel of the Sonoran Desert

Saguaros: The Crowned Jewel of the Sonoran Desert. Do Saguaros Grow Older on the East or West Side of the Tucson Mountains?. Our Hypothesis. Null: There is no correlation between the side of the mountain, east or west, and age.

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Saguaros: The Crowned Jewel of the Sonoran Desert

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  1. Saguaros:The 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. 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 DATA

  12. East Slope vs. West Slope

  13. 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% Calculations

  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

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