Abstract Detail

Conservation Biology

Mangadu, Aparna D [1], Moody, Michael L [2], Zhuang, Mingna [3].

Constructing a Plant Species Checklist for Castner Range, Texas and Identifying Important Species Through Species Distribution Models.

Castner Range National Monument is the area of land in El Paso, Texas that stretches from the Northeast section of the Franklin Mountains to the very top of North Franklin Mountain. The vegetation of the area includes a variety of desert scrub and endemic plant species and has remained true to its original flora despite the weapons firing practice that took place in the area from 1926 to 1966. Additionally, Castner Range receives the heaviest amount of rainfall for the Franklin Mountains which possibly gives rise to unique vegetation patterns. Since the native vegetation is still present, some plant species may serve as bioindicators and aid in analyzing the health of the ecosystem. A current checklist of the plant species present in the region has not been constructed due to difficulties in present day surveying. To address this, I georeferenced historical plant specimens of the UTEP Biodiversity Collections, recorded for El Paso County, Texas and obtained georeferenced records from Seinet and GBIF. I used the literature to confirm occurrence records. Using QGIS, I constructed a map of all specimens that were found within the boundary of Castner Range to create a checklist and identify historical collecting trends and gaps. In total, 120 families, 343 genera, and 625 species were identified from 1702 specimen records.   Using this data, we used MaxEnt to construct species distribution models for important species in order to assess the effects of climate change on this region.

1 - The University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Geological Sciences, 11820 Pueblo Seguro Way, El Paso, TX, 79936, United States
2 - University Of Texas At El Paso, Department Of Biology, 500 W. University Ave., Bioscience Bldg 2.120, El Paso, TX, 79968, United States
3 - The University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Biological Sciences, 500 W University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, United States

Keywords:
Castner Range
Georeferencing
Niche Modeling
species distribution models
Species Checklist.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P1, Conservation Biology Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM(EDT)
Number: P1CB015
Abstract ID:992
Candidate for Awards:None