The role of high infrared (IR) reflectance in the temperature regulation of a single species of cactus, Cereus giganteus (saguaro cactus), was investigated. Two independent methods were used to determine the effect of high near-IR reflectance on C. giganteus stem temperatures. The first method was to measure the surface temperature of two individual plants of comparable size and health, one of which was partially shaded by a canopy of loose sun-screening material. The second method involved the numerical solution on a computer of the energy balance, or heat transfer, equation for C. giganteus. High reflectance at near-IR wavelengths was found to decrease the peak surface temperature reached by C. giganteus by 3.2 to 3.3°C. This figure is valid for the fairly mild environmental conditions encountered in the Sonoran Desert at an altitude of 940 m during late September and early October.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/277222 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Smith, Mark William, 1961- |
| Contributors | Slater, Philip N. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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