Floristic inventories, a comprehensive list of plant species present at a given site, can serve a number of purposes. They allow assessment of diversity at a given site, of habitats within that site, as well as among sites.... [ view full abstract ]
Floristic inventories, a comprehensive list of plant species present at a given site, can serve a number of purposes. They allow assessment of diversity at a given site, of habitats within that site, as well as among sites. They also are useful in understanding floral characteristics, studying ecological communities, and as a tool to drive conservation decisions. This research took place at Walden West Biological Station during the summer and fall of 2016. This station, located in Franklin Township of Lenawee County, is a 119-acre property that includes wetlands, woodlands, and several small bodies of surface water. Specimens were collected, identified, entered into a database, pressed and dried, and then mounted for permanent preservation in Adrian College’s herbarium. Analyses were performed in the R statistical program to assess alpha and beta diversity among habitat types. Within the site, a total of 209 species were found, distributed among four terrestrial habitats: woodland, open field, roadside, and wetland. Beta diversity, measured with the Sorensen index of similarity, showed that the wetlands were most unique in their flora from the other three habitat types.
This research significantly connected to the Ribbons of Excellence. Botanical research is a never-resting discipline due to taxonomy continually changing with genetic advances, which makes this research fit well with the “Learning throughout a lifetime” ribbon. Completing herbarium specimens takes an artistic eye, which also makes this research in line with “Developing creativity” ribbon. This research will be helpful in showing the prevalence of invasive plant species at Walden West for the conservation easement, and the removal these species that negatively impact native communities coincides with the “Caring for humanity and the world” ribbon. The identification of species and analyses performed met the standards of “Thinking critically” ribbon. Because the work utilizes statistical analyses (math), plant identification and morphology (biology), artistic expression in specimen preservation (visual arts), and understanding habitat types based in part on geology, this work also crosses boundaries and disciplines.
