Peter Breslin | February 14th Speaker

Gates October Meeting, February 14th at 7pm PST
Redlands Church of the Nazarene
1307 East Citrus Avenue
Redlands, CA 92374

The past decade or so has seen a renaissance of saguaro studies, with more than a dozen studies on the saguaro and its response to the environment in a time of rapid change being published. People have been noticing heat stress, drought stress, and other signs of decline of saguaros in their neighborhoods. These signs include increased mortality, loss of arms, increased vulnerability to being blown over by wind, and more black oozing rot. Scientists are still working to figure out exactly what is causing these signs of decline, but preliminary findings suggest that drought and hotter temperatures over the summer, especially hot summer nights, are leading to stress for the saguaro. In this talk, Peter Breslin, PhD, the Ray Mariner Turner Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Desert Lab on Tumamoc Hill at the University of Arizona, outlines the life history, ecology, and importance of the saguaro cactus, and presents the latest knowledge of what the future may hold for this iconic giant cactus.

Who is Peter Breslin, PhD?

Peter started studying cacti in habitat more than 30 years ago and decided to get a Ph.D. in cactus evolution and biogeography at age 52, focused on the Mammillaria and Cochemiea of Baja California. He finished his Ph.D. at 58, at Arizona State University.

He has published widely on topics in cactus evolution and ecology, including being one of the authors of The Field Guide to Cacti and Succulents of Arizona, published by the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society. He is currently conducting the sixth installment since 1964 of the long-term saguaro survey on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Arizona, as a postdoctoral research fellow at The Desert Lab at The University of Arizona. He is also the managing editor for CSSA publications and edits both the Cactus and Succulent Journal and the annual peer-reviewed yearbook, Haseltonia.