| Abstract Detail
Ecological Section Palmer, Michael W. [1]. The FloraS of North America Project. Botanists and ecologists in North America have a rich tradition of writing Floras, or lists of vascular plants (also known as checklists, florulae, botanical inventories, etc.). The potential of using these floras as baselines for understanding patterns of, and threats to, modern biodiversity cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, floristic work is often published in obscure sources and is very difficult for biodiversity stakeholders to obtain. Although information technology and data transfer amongst scientists are both growing by leaps and bounds, floras are largely doomed to obscurity on dusty shelves. The FloraS of North America Project (not to be confused with the Flora of North America Project) is an attempt to catalogue vascular plant species lists, and extract meaningful data for macroecological analysis. So far, there are 8124 references in the bibliography. 1940 meet the minimum requirements for at least some subsequent analyses. 1176 have enough data for complete analysis. I demonstrate how these data can be used for assessing species-area relationships, latitudinal and elevational gradients, patterns of exotic invasion, and cross-correlations between different levels of the taxonomic hierarchy, and behavior of botanists. Part of the purpose of this poster is a plea for help in locating copies of obscure floras.
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Related Links:
FloraS of North America Project
1 - Oklahoma State University, Department of Botany, College of Arts and Sciences, 104 Life Sciences East, Stillwater, Oklahoma, 74078, USA
Keywords:
floristics
Biogeography
biodiversity
species area relationships
species richness
exotic species
bibliography
latitudinal gradient.
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 33-41
Location: Salon C, D & E - Gov Ballroom/Hilton
Date: Tuesday, August 16th, 2005
Time: 12:30 PM
Abstract ID:173 |
