Projected climate change threatens
significant range contraction of Cochemiea halei (Cactaceae), an
island endemic, serpentine adapted plant species at risk of
extinction
Peter B. Breslin, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ. pbreslin@asu.edu
Martin F. Wojciechowski, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State
University, Tempe, AZ.
Fabio Albuquerque, Science and Mathematics Faculty, Arizona State
University, Mesa, AZ.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Janet Franklin for her assistance and
provision of R code in her extremely useful Biotic Distributions class
at Arizona State University; Erick Lundberg and his assistance with GIS
in R; Karla Moeller for reading the manuscript and offering helpful
suggestions; and Capitan Marco at Magdalena Bay Whales for hospitality
and reliable transportation to the islands. Funding for this project was
provided by more than 30 donors to a crowd funding effort on
Experiment.com, the Central Arizona Cactus and Succulent Society, the
San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society, the Cactus and Succulent Society
of America, and Arizona State University’s College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences. A version of this paper was part of Peter Breslin’s Ph.D.
dissertation, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Environmental Life Sciences Ph.D. program at Arizona State
University.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Peter B. Breslin began PhD studies in the fall of 2014, investigating
questions regarding the biogeography and evolution of Cactaceae. Under
the advisement of Martin Wojciechowski, with the help of committee
members Lucas Majure, Shannon Fehlberg, Fabio Albuquerque and Jon
Rebman, Breslin pursued research into the molecular phylogenetics,
ancestral biogeography, climate change impacts on habitat suitability
and population viability of the Mammillaria and Cochemiea(Cactaceae) of Baja California and adjacent regions.