From Plant Press, Vol. 3, No. 4, October 2000.
By Gary A. Krupnick
Current research in conservation biology within the Department is coming from an unlikely source as of lately. Paula DePriest and her graduate student Rebecca Yahr (Duke University) have been conducting research on Cladonia perforata, a federally listed endangered lichen species. Of the 962 species listed as endangered in the U.S., only two are lichens. Compared to the 565 flowering plant species, it comes as no surprise that lichens typically do not make headlines. Recently, Science News devoted its cover issue to lichen biodiversity (Vol. 158; August 2000).
Cladonia perforata was described in 1952 by lichenologist Alexander Evans from a species collected on Santa Rosa Island off of Florida's panhandle. Since its description, it has been found in 13 other locations, all in central Florida. In 1995, Hurricane Opal flattened and denuded the dunes on Santa Rosa Island, reducing the C. perforata community by seventy percent. Current research by DePriest and Yahr focuses on reintroduction of the lichen to its original habitat. Replanting efforts are proving to be astonishingly difficult. Molecular research shows that lineages from the central Florida populations differ sharply with the panhandle population, reducing hope of working with transplants. The survivors of the hurricane, however, are beginning to show recolonization efforts on areas of exposed sand. The research by DePriest and Yahr has been funded through grants by the National Science Foundation's Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET), the US Fish and Wildlife Services and the US Air Force.
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