Hymenocallis henryae is a perennial flowering plant species found only in a few counties on the Florida panhandle. It lives on the edges of wetlands in these areas. The species has been formally petitioned to be protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. Counts of this species have been recorded in mapping software ArcGIS by a few researchers since the first recordings in 1940. We chose to focus specifically on data from the year 2000 to present, as many counts before then were not reliable. These data were then grouped into populations, and the counts for each defined population were grouped based on what year they were collected. We asked whether the population counts of H. henryae were relatively stable over time. Population counts can be helpful to inform policy decisions. Plants with stable populations will likely persist under the current conditions. Some H. henryae populations appear to be recently declining in numbers. Some populations have persisted since their first documented counts in 1940. We found a slight upward trend of all counts within the species. The previously described threats include climate change, development, herbivory, and poaching. The location of this species near the Florida coast makes potential increased hurricane frequency and strength a concern, as we have found that after Hurricane Michael in 2018, multiple populations of H. henryae had declined or been extirpated. These counts and findings lay a foundation for further research with future plant counts via well-defined counting methods. This further research includes a genetic study by Miami University graduate student Maria Vogel to best inform listing decisions by the USFWS.
Author: Angelica Vasilatos
Advisor: Richard Moore, Biology
Graduate Student Advisor: Maria Vogel, Biology
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