Conservation of the endangered Pinus palustris ecosystem based on Coastal Plain centres of plant endemism

Question: Can the geographic patterning of endemic plant species inform reserve selection in a region of high endemism? Location: The southeastern Coastal Plain of North America, focusing primarily on the imperiled Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) ecosystem. Methods: We documented the high level of p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied vegetation science 2006-05, Vol.9 (1), p.59-66
Main Authors: Sorrie, Bruce A, Weakley, Alan S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biodiversity conservation
Biogeography
Coastal plains
conservation areas
Florida
forest trees
geographical distribution
Gulfs
Habitat conservation
indigenous species
Littoral ecosystems
Longleaf pine
Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
Nature conservation
phytogeography
Pinus palustris
Plant biodiversity
plant ecology
Plants
savannas
Southeastern North American Coastal Plain
Special Feature: Conservation and Restoration of the Pinus palustris Ecosystem
Taxa
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Question: Can the geographic patterning of endemic plant species inform reserve selection in a region of high endemism? Location: The southeastern Coastal Plain of North America, focusing primarily on the imperiled Pinus palustris (longleaf pine) ecosystem. Methods: We documented the high level of plant endemism in the region, and characterized the endemic taxa into distributional subregions. Results: A total of 1630 plant taxa are endemic to the Coastal Plain, a large proportion of which are endemic to phytogeographical subregions within the Coastal Plain, with particularly large numbers of narrow endemics occurring in the East Gulf Coastal Plain and Florida Peninsula. Conclusions: This pattern of local endemism presents challenges in conserving the full biota of the region: a reserve system focusing on few and large conservation areas has theoretical benefits for long-term management and viability, but will fail to capture many local endemics. We propose that the dispersed distribution of endemic species will require a mixture of large core reserves and smaller satellite reserves. Nomenclature: Kartesz (1999) with minor exceptions and modifications and updates from the taxonomic literature.
ISSN:1402-2001
1654-109X
DOI:10.1658/1402-2001(2006)9[59:COTEPP]2.0.CO;2