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Abstract Detail



Biodiversity Informatics & Herbarium Digitization

O'Brien , Elizabeth [Libby] [1], Edwards, Robert D. [2], Radosavljevic, Aleksandar [3], Funk, Vicki [4].

Patterns of Plant Endemism and Diversity in the Guiana Shield .

The Guiana Shield is a vast region of mostly undisturbed forests and ancient geological formations covering nearly 2.3 million km2in northeast South America. It contains many varied ecosystems and has long been regarded as a region with high biodiversity. Yet, it has remained relatively unexplored and the spatial patterns of diversity and endemism are only broadly understood. Following 30 years of intensive collection and curation as part of the Biodiversity of the Guiana Shield (BDG) program, we use 77,973 plant occurrence records to investigate patterns of species diversity and endemism across the shield. Measures of species richness appear to be correlated such that areas of low diversity also have low endemism and vice versa, with regions in western Venezuela and eastern Guyana being highest for both. However, many areas in the study region have low or no species counts, likely an artifact of sampling effort. To better understand the spatial patterns in data-deficient areas, we use Generalized Dissimilarity Models (GDM) to predict plant diversity based on environmental variables.


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1 - Villanova University , Environmental Science, 800 Lancaster, Ave, Villanova , PA, 19085, USA
2 - Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
3 -
4 - DEPT OF BOTANY-NHB 166, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC, 20013, United States

Keywords:
Endemism
diversity
Guiana Shield 
Generalized Dissimilarity Models (GDM).

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: PBI011
Abstract ID:937
Candidate for Awards:None


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