Modeling Present and Future Distributions of Selected North American Grassland Plants

Kansas State University

   

   

   

The Great Plains region of North America is known for its appreciable environmental heterogeneity. It is unclear how this variability will effect vascular plant species under future climate. Kansas State University examined the distributions of thirty common Great Plains vascular plant species under current and future climate conditions.

Using species occurrence, climate, soil, and elevation data, researchers employed MAXENT to model current and future distributions. These maps depict four of the sixteen species exhibiting the most dramatic results, most notably, range loss for many species.

Courtesy of Elias Martinson.

Map Book Page [PDF]