High annual productivity of certain agaves and cacti under cultivation |
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| Authors: | P S NOBEL E GARCÍA-MOYA† E QUERO‡ |
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| Institution: | Department of Biology and Laboratory of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA;Centro de Botánica, Colegio de Postgraduados, Chapingo, Mexico 56230, Mexico;Centro de Investigación en Química Aplicada, Saltillo, Coahuila 25100, Mexico |
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| Abstract: | To help ascertain the maximal productivity of plants with Crassulacean acid metabolism, measurements were undertaken on four potentially highly productive CAM species at optimal leaf or stem area indices of 4 to 6. Shoot area and shoot biomass were based on regression equations for material harvested from adjacent plants at 3-month intervals; in addition, the monitored platyopuntias were harvested to determine their dry weight at the end of the observation period. Agave mapisaga and A. salmiana near Mexico City had a productivity averaging 40Mg ha?1 year?1 and exhibited higher maximal rates of net CO2 uptake than previously reported for CAM plants (29–34 μmol m ?2 s?1). When irrigated and fertilized daily, Opuntia amyclea and O. ficus-indica in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, had an average productivity of 46Mg ha?1 year?1. These are among the highest productivities ever reported for any plant species. |
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| Keywords: | Agave mapisaga Agave salmiana CO2 uptake leaf area index Opuntia amyclea Opuntia ficusindica productivity stem area index |
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