Quantifying biological diversity in vernal pool plant communities has typically relied on traditional observational approaches, which can be problematic for a variety of reasons, i.e. cost, logistics, required expertise. In addition, the complex spatial heterogeneity, rapid seasonal change, and unpredictable variation in annual rainfall that is inherent to the system make detecting individual plant species presence and understanding ecological patterns of plant communities extremely difficult.

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Thus, I use complementary eDNA metabarcoding, visually-based plant survey approaches, and experimentation to better understand ecological patterns and biogeographical effects that might shape diversity in vernal pool plant communities.  

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More coming soon!​

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eDNA soil seed bank and plant diversity expirement

More coming soon!​

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Reference libraries and barcode markers

More coming soon!​

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