The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Honors Theses Honors College Fall 12-2017 Morphological, Genetic, and Environmental Characterization of an Unusual Population of Isoetes (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiophyta) Shannon L. Walker University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses Part of the Evolution Commons Recommended Citation Walker, Shannon L., "Morphological, Genetic, and Environmental Characterization of an Unusual Population of Isoetes (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiophyta)" (2017). Honors Theses. 539. https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/539 This Honors College Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi Morphological, Genetic, and Environmental Characterization of an Unusual Population of Isoetes (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiophyta) by Shannon Walker A Thesis Submitted to the Honors College of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in the Department of Biological Sciences December 2017 ii Approved by __________________________________________ Mac H. Alford, Ph.D., Professor and Thesis Advisor Department of Biological Sciences __________________________________________ Janet Donaldson, Ph.D., Chair Department of Biological Sciences __________________________________________ Ellen Weinauer, Ph.D., Dean Honors College iii Abstract A large and unusual population of Isoetes (Isoetaceae, Lycopodiophyta) in the DeSoto National Forest, Wayne County, Mississippi, was studied to determine if the individuals there represent a new species or if they represent part of the variation of the one primary species of the longleaf pine belt of Mississippi, Isoetes louisianensis, which it most closely resembles.