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Conservation Implications Of Genetic Variation In Three Rare Species Endemic To Florida Rosemary Scrub, Rebecca W. Dolan, Rebecca Yahr, Eric S. Menges, Matthew Halfhill

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Habitat conversion and fire suppression during the last 50 yr have greatly reduced and altered Florida scrub vegetation, resulting in threats to the persistence of its unique flora. As part of a larger conservation project, we investigated patterns of isozyme variation in three rare perennial scrub plants with overlapping ranges endemic to Florida rosemary scrub on the Lake Wales Ridge. All three species have low levels of genetic variation, comparable to or lower than those generally reported for rare plants with restricted geographic ranges. Liatris ohlingerae has more than twice the expected heterozygosity of the other two species, with little …