Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ecology Of Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia Humifusa) In Oak Openings Preserve, Northwestern Ohio, Scott R. Abella, John F. Jaeger

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Opuntia humifusa (eastern prickly pear cactus) is listed as potentially threatened in Ohio, and we examined the characteristics of O. humifusa sites in Oak Openings Preserve in northwestern Ohio’s Oak Openings region in an attempt to provide data that may help protect this species. Opuntia humifusa occurrences were associated with loose sands of the xeric Udipsamment Ottokee and Oakville soil series on sites that had been cleared before the 1940s during failed agricultural attempts. Shading by encroaching canopy trees is a threat to several O. humifusa populations in Oak Openings Preserve, and treatments that reduce canopy cover at these sites …