Abstract Detail

Anatomy and Morphology

Tang, Keana [1], Fisher, Amanda [1].

A Visual Guide and Morphometric Analysis of Leaf Shapes of Common Shrubs of the Santa Ana Mountains of Southern California.

Coastal Southern California has a Mediterranean climate that supports shrub dominated communities like chaparral. The chaparral is one of the common plant communities in the Santa Ana Mountains of the Cleveland National Forest. Many of the shrubs have similar looking sclerophyllous leaves, but short flowering times that can make species identification difficult. I created a visual guide of leaf characteristics to help identify common shrubs for a vascular plant flora checklist. After making the guide, I designed a morphometric study to test if leaves from chaparral species have a different shape than leaves of closely related species located near the coast. Coastal areas are 4˚C warmer in the winter than 30 km inland, but inland areas are 14˚C warmer in the summer. Herbarium specimen images of 15 shrub species from Anacardiaceae, Boraginaceae, Rhamnaceae, and Rosaceae were downloaded from the Consortium of California Herbaria (CCH2). Five specimens were examined for each species and in each specimen, three full leaves were assigned 12 landmarks using ImageJ. The leaf shapes were compared in a PCA in MorphoJ for each family and combined. A morphometric analysis can help us determine if these species have evolved distinct leaf shapes and give us a better understanding of how plants adapt to climate.

1 - California State University Long Beach, Biology, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA, 90840, USA

Keywords:
California
Chaparral
geometric morphometrics
herbarium specimen images
Leaf evolution.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Anatomy and Morphology Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 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: PAM005
Abstract ID:421
Candidate for Awards:Developmental and Structural Section best poster