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.