Introduction: Geology, floristic provinces, endemism, distributional patterns

   

Rarity in age

Quaking aspen in Fish Lake Ntl. Forest, Utah (Populus tremuloides). Estimated age of roots: 80,000 years old. Average age of above ground stems: 130 years.

     

Bristle cone pine (Pinus longaeva), White Mountains, California. Estimated age of oldest individual: 5,063 years old. OLDEST NON-CLONAL TREE ON EARTH!

     

Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). Highest density of 1000+ year old individuals in Black River (Sampson, Pender, Bladen cos.). Estimated age of oldest: 1500 years+.

Rarity in form

Phylogeny of Sarraceniaceae (Ellison et al. 2012, PLOS ONE)

Species richness and endemism on a global scale

Fig. (Kier et al. 2009 [PNAS]). Global patterns of endemism richness (ER; range equivalents per 10,000 km2) for (A) vascular plants, (B) terrestrial vertebrates, (C) amphibians, (D) reptiles, (E) birds, and (F) mammals across 90 biogeographic regions.

Results of a recent assessment of vascular plant species richness. (a) Vascular plant species per ecoregion. (b) Ecoregions highest in species richness in each biome within each biogeographical realm. Realms: AA, Australasia; AN, Antarctic; AT, Afrotropics; IM, IndoMalay; NA, Nearctic; NT, Neotropics; OC, Oceania; PA, Palearctic. Biomes: 1 – tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests; 2 – tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests; 3 – tropical and subtropical coniferous forests; 4 – temperate broadleaf and mixed forests; 5 – temperate conifer forests; 6 – boreal forests/taiga; 7 – tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands; 8 – temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands; 9 – flooded grasslands and savannas; 10 – montane grasslands and shrublands; 11 – tundra; 12 – mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub; 13 – deserts and xeric shrublands; 14 – mangroves. From (Kier et al. 2005 [J. Biogeogr.]).

     

Ecoregions vary by scale.

      

The Southeast has the greatest species richness in amphibians (Duellman & Sweet 1999)

The Southeast has the greatest species richness of freshwater mussels [43-50% in danger of extinction!] (Graf & Cummings 2007)

     

The Southeast has the greatest species richness of freshwater snails (Johnson 1999)

     

The Southeast has the greatest species richness just about every major insect group, including Diptera (flies), Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps), and Lepidoptera (butterflies) (A. Deans, pers. comm.)

Introduction to the flora of the southeastern United Sates and the Carolinas
(incl. comparative floristics, patterns of endemism at regional and local scales, plant communities)

Plant species richness in the Southeastern United States

Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plains [6000 spp; 1306 endemic spp. + 297 endemic subsp.; 21–26% endemism; fide Sorrie & Weakley 2001]

244 spp. new to science described in southeastern United States since 1960s (incl. 83 taxa occurring in the Carolinas)

Southern and Central Appalachians and Piedmont __________?

Interior Low Plateau and Ozark/Ouachita Highlands_________?

Tropical South Florida [1647 spp + 190 ssp; 165 spp (9%) in this area endemic to Florida fide Long & Lakela 1971;

Sorrie & Weakley 2001 estimate 53 spp endemic to South Florida]

Table: Species richness and endemism (from Gentry 1986 or Acevedo & Strong 2012 [West Indian Islands only], unless otherwise indicated)

*Data from Weakley (2005) and LeBlond (2001)

** Data from Sorrie & Weakley (2001)

***Species richness data from PLANTS and NatureServe Explorer (accessed Aug 2009)

****Endemic species data from World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-WCMC), 2004. Species Data (unpublished, September 2004).

*****Loarie SR, Carter BE, Hayhoe K, McMahon S, Moe R, et al. (2008) Climate Change and the Future of California's Endemic Flora. PLoS ONE 3(6): e2502.

California floristic province:

So...27% endemism in the southeastern Coastal Plain is rather impressive, especially considering the limited variation in topography.

Let's take a closer look...

Figure from: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/USGS_2pc_geologic_us_map.jpg

The following series of figures comes from Sorrie & Weakley (2001)

NatureServe categories: G1= Critically Imperiled; G2 = Imperiled; G3 = Vulnerable; G4 = Apparently secure

Some patterns appear to co-occur in plants in animals, as summarized by Soltis et al. (2006):

Plant species distributional data can also be organized by state to localize the highest concentrations of rare endemics (from Estill & Cruzan 2001):

What explains all these patterns? 

Exact causes unknown, but likely interplay between uplift, emersion, changes in climate (incl.

hydrology) and fire regimes.  Causal speciation events were likely multiple and cannot be traced to common occurrences

across all taxonomic groups.  Much work on individual taxa remains before a holistic understanding can emerge...

So, what about the Carolinas?

How are species distributed in our neck of the woods?

Fig. (from Franklin & Finnegan 2010). Physiographic provinces of North Carolina.

 

Following data is from Weakley (2005)

 

 

Rare species: How are rare species distributed in North Carolina?

Let's find out...

Exercise: Determining the distribution of rare species in North Carolina

Materials: (1) Plant Conservation Program (PCP) current list of listed-species, (2) Natural Heritage Program (NHP) database

Query the NHP database for thirty species chosen from the PCP list. Make sure you check the "topo" option in the NHP database. Open a Word document into which the distribution maps resulting from the NHP database search can be pasted. Once you have all the maps together, study them and note similarities and differences in patterns.

Table: Distributions of listed species by physiographic region and habitat in North Carolina.  Excludes taxa generally distributed through two or more regions (i.e., General Bottomland [13 spp.], General Woodlands [4 spp.], General Wetlands [1 sp.], Pied/CP Woodland [3 spp.], Pied/CP Moist Bottom [4 spp.], Pied/M Mafic [4 spp.], Riverside Glade [5 spp.]) or historic taxa (9 spp.). See also these maps for summaries by:

G/S rank

Exercise: How to make a dynamic plant species checklist for anywhere in North Carolina.

Tools: SERNEC Portal

Navigate to Dynamic Tools > Dynamic Checklist. Enter a radius. Click on the map at the point for which you desire a checklist. Click "Build Checklist". Note: This is an up-and-coming tool. Checklists are based on vouchered herbarium specimens. NSF is currently supporting databasing and imaging of herbarium specimens in the SERNEC consortium. Over the next four years, you will see much additional data here.