Abstract Detail

Biogeography

Crist, Clarissa [1], Hanes, Margaret Mae [2].

Building Geographic Distribution Models for Five Plant Genera on Madagascar.

The processes driving species radiations of plants on Madagascar remain inadequately explored. The wide variety of climates on Madagascar and the remarkable contrast between the eastern and western sides of the island have been long been invoked to explain the extraordinary degree of microendemism. Recent patterns of speciation identified in the island’s rich fauna are complicated and suggest that many processes have contributed. Many speciation hypotheses have been put forth though relatively few have been explicitly tested in Malagasy plants. We reconstruct the geographic distribution of species in the Hibiscus tribe (Malvaceae) as a first step to uncover some of the driving forces in speciation on Madagascar. Using georeferenced distribution records from the herbaria of MO and P as well as personal field collections, the range of 27 species were determined and adjusted with environmental niche modeling using climate data for each of the 19 BIOCLIM variables downloaded from the WorldClim data set. The resulting maps were used to calculate species richness and endemism rates throughout the group.

1 - Eastern Michigan University, 401M Mark Jefferson Science Complex, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197, USA
2 - Eastern Michigan University, 441 Mark Jefferson Science Complex, Ypsilanti, MI, 48197, USA

Keywords:
ecological niche modeling
Malvaceae
Madagascar
species distribution
Hibisceae.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Biogeography
Location: Exhibit Hall/Omni Hotel
Date: Monday, June 26th, 2017
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PBG002
Abstract ID:330
Candidate for Awards:None