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Abstract Detail



Floristics in North America: Current needs, priorities and opportunities

Gillespie, Lynn [1], Saarela, Jeffery [1], McMullin, Troy [1], Sokoloff, Paul [1], Bull, Roger [1].

Biodiversity of the Canadian Arctic flora: New floristic discoveries represent critical baseline biodiversity data.

Exploration of the flora of the Canadian Arctic has been ongoing for almost two hundred years, yet substantial gaps remain in our floristic understanding of this large, rapidly changing and difficult-to-access region. Detailed information on the diversity and distribution of Arctic plants and lichens at local, regional and global levels is urgently needed to understand the potential impacts of climate change on Arctic flora. Since 2008 we have been conducting comprehensive vascular plant inventories in botanically-understudied regions of the Canadian Arctic; lichen exploration began in 2016. The data from our >10,000 new collections, all housed permanently in the National Herbarium of Canada at the Canadian Museum of Nature, and from other herbaria in Canada and internationally, adds important baseline knowledge to our understanding of Arctic plant and lichen biodiversity. Our collections not only fill in gaps in the known distributions of Arctic species, but also include new species, first records for specific areas (e.g., territories, parks, islands), major range extensions, collections of poorly-known species at the northern or southern edges of their ranges, and new discoveries of rare species.


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1 - Canadian Museum Of Nature, PO Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, ON, K1P 6P4, Canada

Keywords:
Arctic
flora
vascular plants
Lichens
Floristics.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: CO13, Floristics in North America
Location: Tucson J/Starr Pass
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Time: 2:15 PM
Number: CO13002
Abstract ID:777
Candidate for Awards:None


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