EAPSI: Modeling Plant Species Distributions to Support Biological and Cultural Diversity Under Climate Change

Bond Matthew, Honolulu NY

Investigators

Abstract

Climate change has altered the distributions of many species around the world, although the extent of its future effects on organisms and human society remains uncertain. This project will use computer modeling to calculate how climate change is likely to affect two plant species. Kuta (Eleocharis sphacelata), a native rush used for Mâori weaving, and kûmarahou (Pomaderris kumeraho), an endemic shrub used in Mâori traditional medicine, are critical to Mâori culture and the function of New Zealand ecosystems. The project will create maps of where these species are currently located, simulate how the locations of these species will be affected by climate change, and develop management recommendations in collaboration with Mâori groups and conservation organizations. Project outcomes will also advance understanding of similar cultures and ecosystems across the Pacific, particularly in the researcher's home institution, Hawai'i. The researcher will be collaborating with Dr. Priscilla Wehi, an ecologist and conservation biologist at Landcare Research Dunedin. Dr Wehi's expertise in Maori culture and New Zealand native species will be integral to the success of this project. This project will use species distribution modeling to contribute to conservation of New Zealand's biocultural diversity under conditions of climate change. The researcher will use Environmental Niche Models to estimate the fundamental niche of kuta (Eleocharis sphacelata), a native rush used for Mâori weaving, and kûmarahou (Pomaderris kumeraho), an endemic shrub used in Mâori traditional medicine. These species niches will be used to project the fundamental climatic envelope of these two species using future climate scenarios for New Zealand. Culturally informed management recommendations will then be developed in collaboration with Mâori groups and conservation organizations. This project will advance biocultural conservation across the Pacific where floras, colonization histories and climate threats experienced by many indigenous peoples are strongly related. The similarities of New Zealand and the researchers home institution, Hawai'i, are particularly strong, providing significant opportunities for future collaboration. The host researcher, Dr. Priscilla Wehi, is an ecologist and conservation biologist at Landcare Research Dunedin. Dr Wehi's expertise in Maori culture and New Zealand native species will be integral to the success of this project. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Korea.