Campus Units
Agronomy, Entomology, North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, Botany
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2001
Journal or Book Title
Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science
Volume
108
Issue
4
First Page
124
Last Page
1409
Abstract
We compared two floras compiled in Ames, Iowa: (1) an "historic" flora based on two published floras (1871, 1890) and on 1450 herbarium voucher specimens of plants collected in Ames between 1859 and 1899, and (2) a "current" flora compiled by us during recent fieldwork (1990-2000). Our goals were to determine 1) long-term changes in composition (i.e., the proportion of native species) over time, 2) long-term changes in the abundance of individual plant species over time, and 3) the extent of gains and losses of native and non-native plant species. We found that the proportion of native species declined over time from 83.5% to 71.2%. Native taxa had a greater tendency to decrease in abundance and a lesser tendency to increase in abundance than did non-native taxa (p :S 0.001). Furthermore, historically uncommon plant taxa (regardless of origin) were more prone to extirpation from the flora than were more abundant taxa (p :S 0.001). Of the 277 plant species that likely entered the Ames flora after 1899, 160 of them (57.8%) are nonnative including eleven aggressive invasive species: garlic mustard (A/liaria petio!ata (Bieb.) Cav. & Grande), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC.), crown vetch (Coroni!!a varia L.), leafy spurge (Euphorbia esu!a 1.), Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Herder), purple loosestrife (Lythrum sa!icaria 1.), Osage orange (Madura pomifera (Raf. ex. Sarg.) Schneider), white mulberry (Moras alba 1.), European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica 1.), multiflora rose (Rosa mu!tiflora Thunb. ex Murray) and Siberian elm (U!mus pumi!a 1.). We argue that more floristic inventory work is needed to facilitate continued analysis of human impact on the Iowa flora.
Rights
Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Norris, William R.; Widrlechner, Mark P.; Lewis, Deborah Q.; Thompson, Jimmie D.; and Pope, Richard O., "More than a Century of Change in the Ames, Iowa Flora (1859-2000)" (2001). NCRPIS Publications and Papers. 73.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ncrpis_pubs/73
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Botany Commons, Entomology Commons, Plant Breeding and Genetics Commons
Comments
This article is from Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science 108 (2001): 124.