A new floristic atlas for the Southeast based on taxon concept relationships Robert K. Peet 1, Alan S. Weakley 1,2 & Xianhua Liu 1,3 1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2 The North Carolina Botanical Garden 3 National Evolutionary Synthesis Center

Radford, Ahles & Bell 1968 Our History & Tradition

Why we need a new Atlas New names New names New taxon concepts (lumps & splits) New taxon concepts (lumps & splits) New discoveries New discoveries Taxa new to science Taxa new to science New collections & overlooked collections New collections & overlooked collections New data sources (Plots, Heritage lists) New data sources (Plots, Heritage lists) New determinations New determinations

Challenges in creating a modern Southeastern floristic atlas 1. Regional floras are generally obsolete and incomplete. 2. Local atlases follow idiosyncratic taxonomies. 3. Few museum collections have been databased. 4. Museum collections are rarely determined to concept. 5. Floristic lists and ecological datasets with multiple taxonomic authorities and inconsistent taxonomic concepts have defied integration.

Abies lasiocarpa Abies bifolia Abies lasiocarpa sec. Little sec. USDA PLANTS sec. Flora North America Three concepts of subalpine fir Splitting one species into two illustrates the ambiguity often associated with scientific names.

USDA Plants & ITIS Abies lasiocarpa var. lasiocarpa var. arizonica One concept ofAbies lasiocarpa

Flora North America Abies lasiocarpa Abies bifolia A narrow concept of Abies lasiocarpa Partnership with USDA plants to provide plant concepts for data integration

High-elevation fir trees of western North America AZ NM CO WY MT AB eBC wBC WA OR Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica Abies lasiocarpa var. lasiocarpa Distribution USDA - ITIS Flora North America Abies bifolia Abies lasiocarpa Minimal concepts ABC

Andropogon virginicus complex in the Carolinas 9 elemental units; 17 base concepts, 27 scientific names

The good news: Multiple organizations are developing tools for concept use and integration. Multiple organizations are developing tools for concept use and integration. The challenge: Few large-scale compilations of concepts and their relationships are available. Few large-scale compilations of concepts and their relationships are available.

Massive Import Scanned indices -- OCRScanned indices -- OCR Spreadsheets for preliminary concept documentationSpreadsheets for preliminary concept documentation Import into software tool for managing concepts and relationshipsImport into software tool for managing concepts and relationships

Concept mapper

SE floristic works mapped 1.Weakley Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and Surrounding Areas 2.Small Manual of the southeastern flora 3.Fernald Gray's manual of botany 4.Gleason Britton and Brown illustrated flora 5.Radford, Ahles & Bell Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas 6.Gleason & Cronquist Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada Flora of North America north of Mexico 8.Kartesz A synonymized checklist for the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland 9.Wofford Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge 10.Godfrey & Wooton Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States 12. Recent monographs and revisions (>2000)

Concept mapping progress ~ relationships of taxon concepts to Weakley 2005 concepts~ relationships of taxon concepts to Weakley 2005 concepts Based on ~ 800 taxonomic references.Based on ~ 800 taxonomic references.

Toward a new Atlas Carya carolinae-septentrionalis, Radford et al How to integrate new sources of data??

Add dynamic access to NCU collection Carya carolinae-septentrionalis NCURAB

NCURABUSDACVS Add USDA PLANTS records & CVS vegetation plot data

But wait !! There is a concept issue According to Radford 1968, USDA PLANTS v 4.0, & Weakley 2005According to Radford 1968, USDA PLANTS v 4.0, & Weakley 2005 –Carya carolinae-septentrionalis –Carya ovata According to Stone 1997 in FNAAccording to Stone 1997 in FNA –Carya ovata var australis –Carya ovata var. ovata

Carya carolinae-septentrionalis Some nominal occurrences might or might not represent the taxon

All specimens of Carya ovata must be identified to nominal concepts

Consider Cleistes Cleistes bifaria was split off C. divaricata after Radford et al. was published.Cleistes bifaria was split off C. divaricata after Radford et al. was published. Radford et al. records must be mapped as ambiguous.Radford et al. records must be mapped as ambiguous. Kartesz incorrectly maps all Cleistes in the Carolinas as C. divaricata owing to uncritical import of records from Radford.Kartesz incorrectly maps all Cleistes in the Carolinas as C. divaricata owing to uncritical import of records from Radford.

Data layers SpecimensSpecimens –NCU (~8, nominal) –NCSU (nominal) –Weymouth Woods (~ Weakley) –UNCC (in process, ~43,000 - Weakley) High-quality databasesHigh-quality databases –Sorrie’s SE Costal Plain endemics (Weakley) –NC Natural Heritage Program (Weakley) –Harmon et al West Virginia atlas (US) –Selected literature records (idiosyncratic)

Data layers – 2 Other databasesOther databases –Radford et al. (Radford) –USDA PLANTS (US) Site recordsSite records –Carolina Vegetation Survey (~300,000) Total county records in database ~1,500,000Total county records in database ~1,500,000

Specimens matching the name

..\..\New Folder\Snap32.jpg Images matching the name

Community types with the concept

Link to Vegetation plots with the taxon

Design: Allow user to select date-specific version of Weakley.Allow user to select date-specific version of Weakley. Allow user to select a Weakley, PLANTS, or FNA perspective (or others?).Allow user to select a Weakley, PLANTS, or FNA perspective (or others?). Data needs: Map relationships to PLANTS v 4.0Map relationships to PLANTS v 4.0 Map relationships between PLANTS and FNAMap relationships between PLANTS and FNA Date-stamp changes in WeakleyDate-stamp changes in Weakley More distribution layersMore distribution layers Next steps?

LinksConceptMapper Weakley flora NCU Atlas of the SE flora NSF (SEEK, VegBank), NC Bot. Garden