Projects

Current and Recently Completed Projects

Vascular Flora of the San Francisco Peaks

Will Moir (left at summit of Mt. Agassiz) has been compiling all of the collections from the San Francisco Mountains. These historical collections include specimens made by Elbert Little, James Morefield, Jim Rominger and many M.S. students at NAU such as Clark Schaack and Laurie Paulik.

Will has over 800 species records for the Peaks. He is actively hunting for species that have not been found in the last 20-80 years. He is also completing keys to the species by the communities in which they occur.

Click this link for the most up to date version of Will's flora. Navigate through the file using the tabs at the bottom of the page.
Vascular Flora of the San Francisco Peaks, 2nd edition

Rhamnaceae authors: Susie Neal, Mar-Elise Hill (standing); Kyle Christie, Laura Davis, and Michael Currie (sitting).

Vascular Plants of Arizona Project

The students and staff of the Deaver Herbarium are contributing treatments for the new Arizona Flora. These families have not yet been published in the Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences:

Rhamnaceae

Portulacaceae

Fabaceae I: Errazurizia, Psorothamnus, Marina

Randy Scott, at left in herbarium, is currently working on a monograph of the genus Brickellia (Asteraceae). He will be on sabbatical this coming academic year 2006-2007 collecting plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru/Bolivia/Argentina.

Monograph of Brickellia.

Flora of North America Brickellia treatment.

Nancy is busy collecting Nemacladus throughout the West. She is completing a species level phylogeny based on molecular and morphological data and a taxonomic revision of the genus.

Monograph of Nemacladus

Monograph of Lysipomia

Tina studies the evolution and adaptive radiation of plants in extreme environments. Her recent work has focused on reconstructing species level phylogenies in Lysipomia, a genus endemic to tropical alpine tundra of South America, and Nemacladus, a genus endemic to deserts in North America. These studies involve gathering molecular sequence data from chloroplast or nuclear genomes, as well as collecting macro- and micromorphological data. She uses the phylogenies to study the biogeography of the plants as well as the origin of unusual morphological features. In collaboration with other NAU biologists, Tina has also initiated population level studies of threatened or endangered plants endemic to the southern Colorado Plateau. These studies use genetic “fingerprints” of individuals to gage genetic diversity within relic populations or to substantiate reports of hybridization of federally listed species with widespread Rocky Mountain relatives. For more information on these projects see her lab group web page.

Kyle Christie, M.S. Biology 2006.
Floristic Inventory of the Pinyon Juniper Woodlands in the San Francisco Peaks Volcanic Field

Kyle's floristic inventory of the P-J documented new species to the state, county, and possibly one new species. He showed that Pinyon-Juniper woodland on the Colorado Plateau is species rich and very different from the PJ below the Mogollon Rim. His thesis includes an analysis of floristic regions that have contributed to the Colorado Plateau PJ and also correlates vegetation communities to the age the substrate in the San Francisco Peaks volcanic field. Kyle's thesis is unpublished but available in the Deaver Herbarium.

Currently Kyle is working for The Nature Conservancy at Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.

Kristin Kampe, M.S. Biology 2006.
Ethnobotany of the San Francisco Mountains

Kristin's thesis documented the ethnobotanical flora of the San Francisco Peaks, focusing on medicinal and ceremonial plants of thirteen Native American tribes who find the peaks sacred. This medicinal flora provides a comparative analysis of plant usage by these tribes based on application as well as by distribution of species.

Kristin is relocating to Amhurst, MA where she will be paring down her thesis for publication in the Journal of Ethnobotany.

Mar-Elise Hill, M.S. Biology 2005.

Vascular Flora of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

This research was funded by the NPS.

Glenn Rink, M.S. Biology 2003.

Floristic Inventory of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Apache County, Arizona.

Glenn completed a Flora of Canyon de Chelly as his thesis project. The flora was published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club in 2006. Two additional papers (sampling bias and rephotography) will be submitted for publication in the coming months. To see a checklist for Canyon de Chelly click on Canyon de Chelly at the SeiNet BioExplorer site (http://seinet.asu.edu/bioExplorer/ChecklistChoices.jsp)
or select the pdf file below:

Flora of Canyon de Chelly as pdf file

This research was funded by the NPS.

	Vascular Flora of the San Francisco Peaks Will Moir (left at summit of Mt. Agassiz) has been compiling all of the collections from the San Francisco Mountains. These historical collections include specimens made by Elbert Little, James Morefield, Jim Rominger and many M.S. students at NAU such as Clark Schaack and Laurie Paulik. Will has over 800 species records for the Peaks. He is actively hunting for species that have not been found in the last 20-80 years. He is also completing keys to the species by the communities in which they occur. Click this link for the most up to date version of Will's flora. Navigate through the file using the tabs at the bottom of the page. Vascular Flora of the San Francisco Peaks, 2nd edition
Rhamnaceae authors: Susie Neal, Mar-Elise Hill (standing); Kyle Christie, Laura Davis, and Michael Currie (sitting).	Vascular Plants of Arizona Project The students and staff of the Deaver Herbarium are contributing treatments for the new Arizona Flora. These families have not yet been published in the Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Sciences: Rhamnaceae Portulacaceae Fabaceae I: Errazurizia, Psorothamnus, Marina
	Randy Scott, at left in herbarium, is currently working on a monograph of the genus Brickellia (Asteraceae). He will be on sabbatical this coming academic year 2006-2007 collecting plants in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru/Bolivia/Argentina. Monograph of Brickellia. *Flora of North America Brickellia* treatment.**
	Nancy is busy collecting Nemacladus throughout the West. She is completing a species level phylogeny based on molecular and morphological data and a taxonomic revision of the genus. Monograph of Nemacladus
	Monograph of Lysipomia Tina studies the evolution and adaptive radiation of plants in extreme environments. Her recent work has focused on reconstructing species level phylogenies in Lysipomia, a genus endemic to tropical alpine tundra of South America, and Nemacladus, a genus endemic to deserts in North America. These studies involve gathering molecular sequence data from chloroplast or nuclear genomes, as well as collecting macro- and micromorphological data. She uses the phylogenies to study the biogeography of the plants as well as the origin of unusual morphological features. In collaboration with other NAU biologists, Tina has also initiated population level studies of threatened or endangered plants endemic to the southern Colorado Plateau. These studies use genetic “fingerprints” of individuals to gage genetic diversity within relic populations or to substantiate reports of hybridization of federally listed species with widespread Rocky Mountain relatives. For more information on these projects see her lab group web page.
Kyle Christie, M.S. Biology 2006.	Floristic Inventory of the Pinyon Juniper Woodlands in the San Francisco Peaks Volcanic Field Kyle's floristic inventory of the P-J documented new species to the state, county, and possibly one new species. He showed that Pinyon-Juniper woodland on the Colorado Plateau is species rich and very different from the PJ below the Mogollon Rim. His thesis includes an analysis of floristic regions that have contributed to the Colorado Plateau PJ and also correlates vegetation communities to the age the substrate in the San Francisco Peaks volcanic field. Kyle's thesis is unpublished but available in the Deaver Herbarium. Currently Kyle is working for The Nature Conservancy at Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.
Kristin Kampe, M.S. Biology 2006.	Ethnobotany of the San Francisco Mountains Kristin's thesis documented the ethnobotanical flora of the San Francisco Peaks, focusing on medicinal and ceremonial plants of thirteen Native American tribes who find the peaks sacred. This medicinal flora provides a comparative analysis of plant usage by these tribes based on application as well as by distribution of species. Kristin is relocating to Amhurst, MA where she will be paring down her thesis for publication in the Journal of Ethnobotany.
Mar-Elise Hill, M.S. Biology 2005.	Vascular Flora of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area This research was funded by the NPS.
Glenn Rink, M.S. Biology 2003.	Floristic Inventory of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Apache County, Arizona. Glenn completed a Flora of Canyon de Chelly as his thesis project. The flora was published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club in 2006. Two additional papers (sampling bias and rephotography) will be submitted for publication in the coming months. To see a checklist for Canyon de Chelly click on Canyon de Chelly at the SeiNet BioExplorer site (http://seinet.asu.edu/bioExplorer/ChecklistChoices.jsp) or select the pdf file below: Flora of Canyon de Chelly as pdf file This research was funded by the NPS.