Jennifer L Summers
Tulane University, USA
Title: Schoenoplectus americanus clones and genetic heat map across kirkpatrick marsh, edgwater, MD
Biography
Biography: Jennifer L Summers
Abstract
Salt marshes are increasingly important for coastal ecosystems around the world in the face of climate change. Ecosystem services provided by salt marshes include wildlife habitat, water filtration, fishery nurseries, storm buffers, AND land-building. The plants that compose salt marshes include sedges like Schoenoplectus americanus. S. americanus is foundational sedge found throughout North America and contributes majorly to marsh accretion (land-building) through its rhizomal growth. Understanding the genetic landscape or variation in genomes of individuals across different spatial scales, of salt marsh sedges like S. americanus helps climate change scientists better estimate salt marsh species’ capacity to adapt to major climatic change going forward. S americanus is a clonal plant whose reproduction and dispersal are poorly understood. Recent studies suggest it exhibits surprisingly substantial genetic variation across short distances. Mapping the genetic landscape of S. americanus builds on basic biological understanding of clonal plant spread and the dynamics of salt marsh plant reproduction. Using GIS technology (ESRI ArcMap 10.3), I built maps of the clonal ranges of S. americanus sampled from across Kirkpatrick Marsh in Edgewater Maryland, the site of decades-long studies on salt marshes and climate change implemented by collaborators at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. In addition to mapping individual genotypes that appear multiple types across the marsh, I mapped out different microclimate associated with the plots we sampled. Finally, I took the results of our comparison of genetic similarity across all individuals into 2-5 clusters and interpolated them to illustrate genetic grouping of samples across Kirkpatrick Marsh.