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Title: THE DYNAMIC FLORA OF A MIDWESTERN CITY 3: AN ANALYSIS OF FLORISTIC CHANGE AND PLANT COLLECTION PATTERNS IN AMES, IOWA SINCE 1858.

Author
item NORRIS, W - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item LEWIS, D - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Widrlechner, Mark
item THOMPSON, J - RETIRED
item POPE, R - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Iowa Academy of Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/21/2000
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: During an ongoing plant inventory of the vascular flora of Ames conducted since 1991, 860 vascular plant species have been identified within 2 miles of the city limits. Another 159 species are documented from herbarium vouchers made in or near Ames before 1990. Among these 1019 total plant species are 33 (more than 1.5 % of the known Iowa flora) not listed in the most recent (1994) checklist of Iowa vascular plants, as well as 26 species (13 found since 1991) listed as endangered, threatened or special concern by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Furthermore, the total number of plant species documented from this city since 1858 is greater than the number of plant species reported from all but one of Iowa's counties. Our results demonstrate the need for a revival of floristic study in Iowa to create a more complete baseline describing our state flora. Detailed comparisons between the current (1991-1999) and pre-1900 Ames floras (e.g., proportion of species native, characteristics of species "lost" and "gained", etc.) will also be presented.