| Abstract Detail
The Hills are Alive: Ecology and Evolution of the Intermountain West Flora Rushworth, Catherine [1], Wadgymar, Susana [2]. The Hills are Alive: Ecology and Evolution of the Intermountain West Flora. This symposium highlights research examining the ecology, evolution, and ethnobotany of plant species, communities, and people of the Intermountain West. The Intermountain West encompasses a large geographic region within North America and an incredible range of habitats, including deserts, temperate grasslands, shrublands, coniferous forests, and montane meadows. Environmental characteristics of these ecoregions are extraordinarily variable; in some, environmental gradients are gradual, while others contain dramatic geological formations that create stark changes in elevation and aspect. Furthermore, the habitats in this area face unique disturbance regimes, including wildfire, intense grazing, invasive species, extreme isolation, and drought and reduced snowpack due to climate change. The richness of the native flora, high level of endemism, and remarkable species interactions of the Intermountain West can be attributed to its ecological, climatic, and geological complexity. The speakers in this symposium address a breadth of topics that reflect the biological diversity of Botany’s 2021 host region, including the evolution of Intermountain plants and pollinators, coevolution between rusts and montane wildflowers, restoration and local adaptation in Great Basin native species, ecological studies of alpine plants at a Long Term Ecological Research site, the ecology and evolution of sagebrush, and the relationship between the ecology of wild food systems and nutrition for residents of the Flathead Indian Reservation. This symposium will broadly examine interactions between species, and the impacts of humans on the ecology of this vital area, within the biologically rich host biome of Botany 2021.
1 - UC Davis, Department Of Evolution And Ecology, Storer Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, United States
2 - Davidson College
Keywords:
none specified
Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Number:
Abstract ID:6
Candidate for Awards:None |
