Meeting Abstract
Technological advances, such as the development of geographic information systems, have provided the study of biogeography with unprecedented levels of data manipulation and interpretation of geographic and biological data. In conservation, with the goal of ensuring enough suitable habitat and connectivity for both gene flow and dispersal across fragmented habitat, biogeographical understanding of species can be illuminating. However, management considerations for certain species can be ill-informed if information on current species distributions is incomplete. This is especially relevant in heterogeneous landscapes with high species diversity. Texas, the second largest state in the U.S. that spans 10 distinct ecoregions, has some of the highest pocket gopher diversity nationwide. With 11 species and nearly 30 described subspecies, little is known about the present-day distributions of pocket gophers within the state. Moreover, the hypothesis that increasing aridity facilitates the displacement of Thomomys bottae by Cratogeomys castanops in west Texas has yet to be addressed by an ecological modeling approach. To address the need for improved distribution maps to better inform conservation management, three genera of pocket gophers were collected across the state of Texas. Museum records from each genus were incorporated to provide historical context. Here, using a maximum entropy algorithm, we compare past and present-day ecological niche models for selected species using fine-scale soil, vegetation and climate data, which includes aridity measures. These models will provide not only a clearer outlook on the management needs of pocket gophers in Texas, but can offer new insights to the physiological requirements of these fossorial rodents.
