The Flora of the Southeastern United States – Conservation Riches, Challenges, and Tools.

ABOUT THE PRESENTATION: Dr. Weakley discussed biodiversity patterns in the Southeastern United States, and the implications those patterns have for past, present, and future biodiversity resilience. He’ll also discuss the “Flora of the Southeastern United States Project”, and how innovative ways of developing floristic information can empower citizen science and public engagement in documentation and conservation of the region’s floristic diversity, and provide land managers and conservation professionals with better information on which to base management decisions. The Project is developing an interlinked set of floras (with flexible formatting and content), wildflower guides, and apps, all based on a standard and modern taxonomy, and integrated with management-relevant information such as Wetland Status, Coefficients of Conservatism / Floristic Quality Index, Grasslandiness Index, and conservation ranks (GRanks, SRanks, and Province-Ranks). This platform provides a new foundation for the inventory and management of the region’s critical biodiversity. ABOUT OUR PRESENTER: Alan Weakley is a plant taxonomist, community ecologist, and conservationist specializing in the Southeastern United States. He holds a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from Duke University. He has worked as botanist and ecologist for the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, and as regional and chief ecologist for The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe. He has worked cooperatively with most federal and state land-managing agencies in the southeastern U.S. He is currently Director of the UNC Herbarium, a department of the N.C. Botanical Garden, and teaches as adjunct faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill and at the Highlands Biological Station. Alan is author of the Flora of the Southeastern United States and its app version, FloraQuest, and co-author (with Chris Ludwig and Johnny Townsend) of the Flora of Virginia and the Flora of Virginia App, which have received awards including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Conservation. He is also co-author (along with Laura Cotterman and Damon Waitt) of Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast. He has also released an app, FloraQuest, co-developed with Michael Lee and Rudy Nash, covering the Southeastern United States flora. He has authored over 100 journal articles and book chapters, and is in high demand as a speaker on plant taxonomy, community classification and mapping, biogeography, and biodiversity conservation. He is active with the Flora of North America project and the United States National Vegetation Classification, serves as an advisor to the N.C. Natural Heritage Program and N.C. Plant Conservation Program, and is a co-founder of the Carolina Vegetation Survey. As a trustee and board member of public and private conservation granting agencies and foundations, he has helped oversee $400,000,000 of land conservation grants in the Southeastern United States.