Abstract Detail

Conservation Biology

Hartley, Nathan [1], Hardy, Christopher [2].

Diversity and Rarity in the Pennsylvanian Wetland Flora.

Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic habitats that heralded for providing numerous ecological services and hosting a great breadth of biodiversity. Being that wetlands comprise less than 2.5% of the total surface area of Pennsylvania, I sought to determine whether Pennsylvanian wetlands serve as phytodiversity hotspots, to what degree Pennsylvania wetlands serve as refugia for Pennsylvanian Special Concern taxa, and whether Pennsylvanian wetlands harbor statistically skewed patterns of phytophylogenetic diversity from those in upland habitats or in the Commonwealth as a whole. The 2013 National Wetland Plant List’s wetland fidelity ratings were applied to the native vascular flora of Pennsylvania in order to identify phylogenetic patterns between five larger clades/grades (pteridophytes, gymnosperms, non-eudicot dicots, monocots, and eudicots) species richness. One-fifth of the state’s native vascular plant species, and over one-fourth of all rare, threatened, or otherwise endangered species within the state were found to be completely reliant on Pennsylvanian wetlands. The most striking phylogenetic pattern observed was the proportional diminishment of monocot species richness from obligate wetland to non-wetland (upland) habitats as eudicot diversity reciprocally increased. Monocotyledonous flowering plants (monocots) were disproportionately abundant in the Pennsylvanian obligate wetland flora and accounted for over 50% of wetland vascular plant diversity, compared to 33.4% in the entire native Pennsylvanian flora, and ca.19.1% globally. Obligatory wetland monocots had greater phylogenetic breadth and species richness than upland monocots. The grass order, Poales, comprised over half the species richness of obligate wetland and upland monocot floras, but obligate wetland poalean taxa exhibited greater familial phylogenetic breadth and species richness. These findings underscore the significance with which wetlands contribute to the phytodiversity of the Pennsylvania flora and provide a novel argumentative base for the pursuance of wetland protection from ongoing and future anthropogenic threats.

1 - Duke University, Biology, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708
2 - James C. Parks Herbarium, 288 Roddy Science Building, 50 E Frederick St, Millersville, PA, 17551, USA

Keywords:
wetland fidelity
monocots.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 26, Conservation Biology I
Location: 104/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: 26006
Abstract ID:149
Candidate for Awards:None