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The Vascular Flora of Greater San Quintãłn, Baja California, Mexico

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The Vascular Flora of Greater San Quintãłn, Baja California, Mexico Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CGU Theses & Dissertations CGU Student Scholarship 2010 The aV scular Flora of Greater San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico Sula E. Vanderplank Claremont Graduate University Recommended Citation Vanderplank, Sula E., "The asV cular Flora of Greater San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico" (2010). CGU Theses & Dissertations. Paper 2. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/2 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii Dedication: For my late uncle (Fredric) Charles Vanderplank, who bequeathed educational and travel funds that enabled my career, and who continues to inspire me. iii Table of contents Dedication--------------------------------------------------------- page iii List of tables ----------------------------------------------------- page vii List of figures ----------------------------------------------------page viii Introduction Location ---------------------------------------------------------- page 1 Physical setting -------------------------------------------------- page 2 Socioeconomic and conservation context ---------------------- page 4 History of the area----------------------------------------------- page 4 Current land use and conservation status --------------------- page 6 Previous biological studies -------------------------------------- page 7 Conservation significance --------------------------------------- page 8 Methods Documenting the flora ------------------------------------------ page 8 Assessment of the perennial vegetation by km square -------page 10 Results and discussion Part 1: The Flora of San Quintín --------------------------------page 13 Potential losses from the flora ------------------------------page 18 Habitat overview --------------------------------------------page 28 Part 2: Vegetation Analysis -------------------------------------page 32 Part 3: Multivariate Analyses -----------------------------------page 34 Part 4: Conservation Recommendations -----------------------page 36 Conclusions ------------------------------------------------------page 39 Acknowledgments -----------------------------------------------page 40 Literature cited --------------------------------------------------page 43 Figures -----------------------------------------------------------page 52 Appendices Appendix 1: Checklist of the flora of Greater San Quintín, based on collections made between 2005 and 2010------------------page 80 Appendix 2: Table of taxa listed by Thorne (1989) as occurring in San Quintín but not seen in the field in the present study --- page 127 Appendix 3: Checklist of taxa in the maritime succulent scrub habitat; non-native, sensitive, endemic, and rare species are identified --- -------------------------------------------------------------- page 128 Appendix 4: Checklist for the riparian areas; non-native, sensitive, endemic and rare species are identified ------------------ page 133 Appendix 5: Checklist for the saltmarsh habitat; non-native, sensitive, endemic and rare species are identified ------------------ page 136 iv Appendix 6: Checklist for the vegetation of the dunes and beaches; non-native, sensitive, endemic, and rare species are identified --- -------------------------------------------------------------- page 137 Appendix 7: Checklist for taxa of vernal pool habitats; sensitive, endemic and rare species are identified ----------------- page 140 Appendix 8: Checklist of taxa frequenting shell middens; non-native, sensitive, endemic and rare species are identified ------- page 141 Appendix 9: List of ruderal weeds from Greater San Quintín that were commonly found along roadsides and were not assigned to a specific habitat --------------------------------------------- page 142 Appendix 10: Table of perennial and selected non-native species from Greater San Quintín that were included in the vegetation study--- -------------------------------------------------------------- page 143 v List of tables Table 1: Numerical summary of the Flora of San Quintín by composition, nativity, conservation status, and life form----------- ----------------------------------------------------------------page 14 Table 2: The ten largest native plant families in Greater San Quintín ----------------------------------------------------------------page 15 Table 3: Table of species not relocated during the present study, but represented by voucher specimens in regional herbaria------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------page 19 Table 4: Accessions deposited in the conservation seed bank of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden during the course of this study--------- --------------------------------------------------------------- page 27 Table 5: Summary of taxa by habitat, including middens and vernal wetland areas------------------------------------------------ page 29 vi List of figures Fig. 1: Baja California peninsula showing the geographic and floristic position of Greater San Quintín -----------------------------page 52 Fig. 2: Greater San Quintín, outlined in red, is delineated by the Río Santo Domingo in the north, the Arroyo El Socorro in the south, and the transpeninsular highway in the east. ------------------ page 53 Fig. 3: Local place names and important physiographic points within Greater San Quintín. --------------------------------------- page 54 Fig. 4: Agriculture has fragmented the natural habitats of Greater San Quintín and large swaths of level land are in cultivation.--page 55 Fig. 5: Salt marsh vegetation of Greater San Quintín (image taken east of Monte Sudoeste near the village of La Chorera). ------ page 56 Fig. 6: Vegetation of young dunes at Greater San Quintín (coastal dunes north of La Chorera). -------------------------------page 57 Fig. 7: Vegetation of riparian areas in Greater San Quintín --page 58 Fig. 8: Maritime succulent scrub vegetation in Greater San Quintín (photo taken inside the crater of the largest cinder cone in the volcanic field). ------------------------------------------------page 59 Fig 9: Vegetation map of Greater San Quintín modified from Geographic Information System layers provided by INEGI page 60 Fig 10: Image from the summit of Monte Ceniza showing inundated areas east of Bahia San Quintín. ----------------------------page 61 Fig 11: Spatial pattern of abundance of Dudleya anthonyi , endemic to the Greater San Quintín.-------------------------------------page 62 Fig. 12: Spatial pattern of abundance of Lophocereus schottii in Greater San Quintín. -----------------------------------------page 63 Fig. 13: Total species richness by km square for perennial vegetation of Greater San Quintín. --------------------------------------page 64 Fig. 14: Spatial pattern of km squares with higher (red) and lower (yellow) total species richness than expected (Pearson’s 1% residuals). ----------------------------------------------------page 65 Fig. 15: Spatial pattern of km squares with higher (red) and lower (yellow) native species richness than expected (Pearson’s 1% residual).------------------------------------------------------page 66 Fig 16. Spatial pattern of km squares with higher (red) endemic species richness than expected (Pearson’s 1% residual). -page 67 Fig. 17: Spatial pattern of km squares with higher (red) richness of rare species than expected (Pearson’s 1% residual). -----page 68 Fig. 18: Spatial pattern of km squares with significantly higher (red) non-native species richness than expected (Pearson’s 1% residual). ----------------------------------------------------------------page 69 vii Fig. 19: Distribution and abundance of Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (iceplant) in Greater San Quintín as an example of one non-native species. ------------------------------------------page 70 Fig. 20: Graph showing area of natural vegetation per km square, plotted against species richness. ---------------------------page 71 Fig. 21: Results of principal components analysis (factor loadings). Species clusters are interpreted by habitat type. ---------page 72 Fig. 22: Axis 1 of the principal components analysis plotted against elevation of km squares. -----------------------------------page 73 Fig. 23: Eigenvector values from the principal components analysis are displayed, providing an ordination of individual km squares.page 74 Fig. 24: Spatial pattern of strongest habitat signal from each km square based on the eigenvector values from the principle components analysis (see Fig 23). -------------------------page 75 Fig. 25: Distribution and abundance of Jaumea carnosa in Greater San Quintín. -------------------------------------------------------page 76 Fig. 26: Distribution and abundance of Ambrosia chenopodifolia in Greater San Quintín. ----------------------------------------page 77 Fig. 27: Distribution and abundance of Ambrosia monogyra in Greater San Quintín. --------------------------------------------------page 78 Fig. 28: Distribution and abundance of Helianthus niveus in Greater San Quintín. --------------------------------------------------page 79 viii The Vascular Flora of Greater San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico. Location This study is focused on the area between parallels 30 and 31 on the Pacific Coast of Baja California, Mexico, here referred to as ‘Greater San Quintín’ (Fig. 1). Greater San Quintín
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