Known challenges to Lophophora

DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT

Loss of habitat is the single biggest threat to Lophophora. Far outweighing all other threats combined in terms of having an adverse impact on the species numbers and distribution.

Images of South Texas below include many areas of known historical importance for Lophophora collection. The vast majority of the native brush has been cleared at some point in its known history according to USDA NRCS. Peyote is now gone from much of this region.

Clearing brushland in Texas using a small bulldozer

 

 

A common attachment used for clearing thorny brush is a root plow.

Root plowing removes thorny plants by cutting them below the ground level.
The thorny brush slowly comes back although more weakly. Much of the undergrowth does not, including most globular cacti such as Lophophora.

The land below was entirely rootplowed around 43 years ago (some more recently).

We were told that it used to contain Lophophora but does not any longer. The disappearance was assumed to be the result of overharvesting but we suspect that the rootplowing played a larger role.

Much of the plant life that one would expect to be here was still absent. We could locate no cacti other than scattered horse cripplers and an occasional Opuntia.

What is a root plow?

Above showing a trunnion-mounted root plow in action Below showing detail of a root plow raised above ground Both are from the US Army Field Manual 5-164 – “Tactical Land Clearing”

Lophophora Disease

Control #168 was showing clear signs of an unidentified disease organism on 6 March 2010.

168

168

Plant had died and decayed by 26 July 2010.
(The partially excavated carcass is shown below).

168

Control #166 had also died of a disease when we visited in March 2016.
We suspect this may be a rot following damage by an insect such as the blue cactus borer
but we have not yet positively identified the organism that is responsible.

Here are some more images of #166 in 2016:

rot rot
rot rot
rot rot
rot rot
rot rot

 

Control #148 was showing indications of a fungal disease on 10 March 2014.

 

148

148

148


Control #164 is infested with some sort of a scale insect. 10 March 2014.

 

164

164

And also on #180 in March 2016.

scale

All of the above were in Jim Hogg County, Texas.

LOPHOPHORA DROUGHT

Assorted drought stressed williamsii var. echinata in 2009 – finally seeing the return of some rain.

HOGS ON LOPHOPHORA

The damages above were likely caused by a rodent or another small herbivore

Predator activity impacting last year’s regrowth on subject #206

FEET ON LOPHOPHORA

Deer, pigs, humans and other animals can injure peyote by stepping on it.
Notice the fresh inury and the healed scars from the assorted previous injuries in the images shown above?

FIRE ANTS ON LOPHOPHORA

In March of 2012, we noticed fire ant (Solenopsis sp.) activity occurring within the study site.
It will be interesting to see how or if they impact the Lophophora population.

LOPHOPHORA FREEZING

Freezing can be extreme in some parts of Lophophora’s range from time to time.

The images above are from populations in three different Chihuahuan Desert locations.

The plants shown experienced a cold spell that probably never saw the temperature rise much above -10蚓 (12蚌) for three days. We can really only guess as there was no actual temperature monitoring at the actual sites.

Many of those plants are going to live. Some will not. And a couple of them very clearly died. It is not always possible to tell immediately.

The plant below in South Texas experienced rain with a hard freeze earlier on the same morning of this photograph. It will be fine.

HOGS ON LOPHOPHORA

Two images above show hog diggings near control #151.

The image below shows part of control #151, perhaps broken off by passing porcine traffic?

The hogs appear to be digging for something other than peyote.

Do not confuse this digging with the human holes encountered in Mexico. The two are usually easy to tell apart.

Hogs dig with hooves from under the scrub brush and target something typically in or under the nurse plant roots whereas humans trample the nurse plants and use tools for digging out the peyotes.

We have set up a game camera but presently lack a photograph of the hogs.

However, this hog scat that we encountered on 8 March 2010 provided even more tangible physical evidence of their presence than did their holes.

Two hogs were glimpsed on the run not far from the study site on our July 2010 visit.

To learn more about feral hogs visit the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department website and download “The Feral Hog in Texas” PDF.

We have not yet captured images of the hogs we’ve seen but this video depicts the problem nicely.

Did a javelina’s hoof do this damage to var. echinata farther west?

To learn more about javelinas

LOPHOPHORA EATEN BY RABBITS

In 2016 we noticed some minor damages from had occurred at the study site. The most likely candidate is Sylvilagus floridanus (eastern cotton-tail rabbits). Most of the digging seemed to be for something other than Lophophora but a few plants experienced some nibbling of their roots, tufts or pups.

LOPHOPHORA WITH RAIN

Lophophora williamsii wet with rain in South Texas. Rain is commonly infrequent but it just as commonly arrives as extremely intense downpours. Rain in South Texas can also occur before or even during freezing weather.

LOPHOPHORA WITH RAIN

Snails cause some minor damages to Lophophora in South Texas.

This snail near a population in Val Verde County is possibly Euglandia singleyana (Striate Wolfsnail)

Gastropod damage encountered on 6 March 2010 in Jim Hogg County
and a snail shell from one of the most common candidates;
probably the predatory Euglandina texasiana (Glossy Wolfsnail).

Tiny snail shell from another possible contributor in Jim Hogg County