A vegetation and camera trap survey of animals associated with Cylindropuntia ramosissima in the Mojave, Desert, CA, in 2023

The cacti species, Cylindropuntia ramosissima, is a common and relatively dominant species in the Mojave Desert. The morphology and distribution of this species surveyed. At one site, Sunset Cove in the Mojave National Preserve, mixed vegetation, open sites without a canopy, and the cacti were camera trapped to capture animal co-occurrences. This study of plant-animal interactions with Cylindropuntia ramosissima in the Mojave desert, California was used to identify its visitor guild and factors that influence visitation and flowering. Camera trap deployments were also paired with visual observations for a total of n=40. Cacti height negatively correlated with vertebrate visitation at the camera trapped site. Evidence of potential competition between pollinator species was observed. Height, branching number, and density correlated positively with flowering number at survey sites.