Abstract Detail

Floristics & Taxonomy

McGowan, Harrison [1], Fisher, Amanda [2].

A Flora of the Chiquito Basin, Santa Ana Mountains, California.

The California Floristic Province is home to at least 6,143 plant species and has a similar amount of plant diversity compared to the entire Northeastern United States. However, over the decades 75% of natural habitat in California has been lost to development. Of the habitat remaining, the additional stress of climate change and development may pose a threat to California's native plant populations. In light of these risks my project aims to update the Flora of one such area. My project for the last two years has been to provide an updated Flora of the Chiquito Springs Basin in the Santa Ana mountains of Southern California (Orange and Riverside Counties). The Chiquito Basin study area is 44 km²  (10,900 acres) and rises from the west near Casper's Wilderness Park (220 m) to a ridge (1378 m) on the eastern boundary near Lake Elsinore. Fire and development are threats present in this area. The most recent checklist for the Santa Anas was published by Lathrop and Thorne in 1978. The goal of this project is to provide an updated checklist of the vascular plants of the Chiquito Basin using newly collected and historic specimens. After two field seasons I have collected 1,025 new voucher specimens and there are an additional 989 specimens from the study area collected by other botanists. The new vouchers will be imaged and available as a checklist on the Consortium of California Herbaria 2 (CCH2). There are 23 rare plant taxa in the Chiquito Basin including  Clinopodium chandleri  (Lamiaceae),  Lilium humboltii  (Liliaceae),  Monardella hypoleuca ssp. intermedia  (Lamiaceae),  Romneya coulteri  (Papaveraceae), and  Chorizanthe leptotheca  (Polygonaceae).  Plant communities include Coastal sage scrub, Riparian, Foothill grassland, Oak woodland, Scrub Oak chaparral, Chamise chaparral, and Manzanita chaparral. The updated Flora will provide an account of a natural area under increasing recreational pressure and also serve as a resource for further study of California's valuable plant communities.

1 - 311 6th Street, Huntington Beach, CA, 92648, United States
2 - California State University Long Beach, Biological Sciences, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA

Keywords:
California biodiversity
chaparral
climate change
Coastal Mountains
Floristics
herbaria
public lands
Flora.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P2, Floristics & Taxonomy Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Tuesday, July 20th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM(EDT)
Number: P2FT017
Abstract ID:1073
Candidate for Awards:None