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Abstract Detail



Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization

Shimansky, Tierney [1], Melton, Anthony [2], Soltis, Douglas [3], Soltis, Pamela S. [4].

The effects of climate change on species living in wet prairies in Florida.

Wet prairies in northern Florida are some of the most diverse communities in the United States and average over 20 species per square meter, in some locations. Thirty rare and endemic plant species reside in these communities and the diversity of these species is dependent on differences in moisture conditions across the prairie, as well as differences in annual fire and flooding regimes. Ecological niche modeling was used to predict the response of these species with different ranges to changes in climate by 2070. A species list containing 60 species gathered from the FNAI guide to natural communities for wet prairies was used to examine the changes in endemic species, federally listed species, and species that have broad ranges while also occurring in the wet prairie community. Locality points for the 60 species and bioclimatic layers were used to generate ecological niche models, which were projected into the predicted climate of 2070. For the rare endemics, both Pinguicula ionantha and Scutellaria floridana had a percent increase in the amount of predicted area of suitable climate, while Polygala lewtonii had a decrease in predicted area of suitable climate. All the other endemic species had an increase in predicted area of suitable climate. Schoener’s D was calculated for present and future projections to assess the overlap of current and predicted future distributions. There was a broad range in the D values both for the rare and endemic species, and the endemic species, suggesting that the reaction to climate change can be highly variable and species-dependent. While there was a general trend of increasing suitable habitat, the suitable climate shifted away from the wetland area. This shift is notable since the species in these areas are highly dependent on the specific attributes of the wet prairie environment. Different factors will also have influence on the probability of the species establishing in the predicted area ranges and conservation efforts will be needed in order to achieve expansion into new habitat ranges.


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1 - University of South Carolina, School of the Earth, Ocean, and Environment , 701 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
2 - University of Florida, Dept. of Biology, 220 Bartram Hall, P.O. Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611
3 - Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, United States
4 - Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, United States

Keywords:
wet prairies
Endangered Species
Rare plant.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization
Location: Grand Ballroom - Exhibit Hall/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PBI009
Abstract ID:547
Candidate for Awards:None


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