Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2021-07-30 Pre-Columbian Cultivation of Agave Species Through Rock Mulching: Potential for Modern Applications Hector Genaro Ortiz Cano Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Life Sciences Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Ortiz Cano, Hector Genaro, "Pre-Columbian Cultivation of Agave Species Through Rock Mulching: Potential for Modern Applications" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 9174. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/9174 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Pre-Columbian Cultivation of Agave Species Through Rock Mulching: Potential for Modern Applications Hector Genaro Ortiz-Cano A dissertation submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy J. Ryan Stewart, Chair Steven L. Petersen Neil C. Hansen Michael T. Searcy Antonio Villanueva-Morales Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences Brigham Young University Copyright © 2021 Hector Genaro Ortiz-Cano All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Pre-Columbian Cultivation of Agave Species Through Rock Mulching: Potential Application for Modern Cultivation Hector Genaro Ortiz-Cano Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, BYU Doctor of Philosophy As global temperatures rise, cultivation of C3 and C4 crops in arid and semi-arid regions will face major challenges in producing biomass for billions of people. Conventional agricultural techniques that require copious irrigation will need to be complemented with dryland-farming techniques and drought-tolerant crops, such as those from the Agave genus, which use CAM photosynthesis.