Plant Science — OUR SCIENTISTS

Pati Vitt, Ph.D.

Curator, Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank
Conservation Scientist

Ph.D., University of Connecticut, 1997

Research Interests

Plant demographic responses to restoration management activities
Reproductive ecology and conservation of orchids
Ecological and evolutionary responses to climate change
Seed banking the prairie flora
Research challenges associated with assisted migration

Statement

My long-term research interests have focused on the reproductive ecology and population demographics of rare and threatened plants. I am particularly interested in how populations of rare and threatened plants fare under management schemes that are often targeted at community structure and ecosystem functioning rather than on maintaining occurrences of any individual species. Conservation must take place at multiple scales, and my research attempts to understand the impact across scales.

Conservation research on rare species has provided a framework within which to understand the biological consequences of small and fragmented populations. In this way, rare plants can serve as model species as we strive to understand how continued habitat fragmentation will affect more common species. I am particularly interested in elucidating the multiplicative impacts of climate change in the context of fragmented landscapes, and how species will respond to these challenges over time. For example, many species will have to contend with both rapid climate change and barriers to migration on top of other anthropogenic influences such as habitat conversion and pollution.

As seed dispersal distances can be quite limited, and populations are restricted from moving beyond the boundaries of natural areas, how will their evolutionary trajectories be impacted? How will this affect the extinction probabilities of very common species? And will loss of species begin to translate into a loss of critical ecosystems services? A philosophical, as well as technical, question arises from this: Should we intervene? What research will be required for us to create models of human assisted migration of species if it becomes necessary to intervene? Can research elucidate model of assisted migration that could mimic natural migration patterns that would arise under climate change if species were not concomitantly faced with additional anthropogenic challenges?

publications

Dibble, A.C., W.A. Wright, S.C. Gawler, P. Vitt, and C.S. Campbell. Altering the environment for a declining rare orchid: Fifteen-year demographic study of Isotria medeoloides in Maine, USA. (Submitted: Journal of Ecology)

Dibble, A.C., W.A. Wright, S.C. Gawler, P. Vitt, and C.S. Campbell. Decline of a woodland orchid: Demography of Isotria medeoloides over fifteen years in Maine, USA. (Submitted: Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society)

Vitt, P., T. Knight, and B.P. Kendall. Effects of community level management on Tomanthera auriculata, a rare non-target prairie annual. (Submitted: Ecology and Society).

Havens, K., P. Vitt, M. Maunder, E.O. Guerrant, and K. Dixon. 2006. Ex situ plant conservation and beyond. BioScience (56)6:525-531.

Havens, K., L.V. Jefferson, and P. Vitt. 2004. Chicago Botanic Garden reaches beyond its borders. Public Garden 18:35-36.

Havens, K., M. Maunder, E.O. Guerrant, and P. Vitt. 2004. Conservation research at botanic gardens and arboreta. Public Garden 19:40-43.

Havens, K., E.O. Guerrant, M. Maunder, and P. Vitt. 2004. Managing genetic risks: guidelines for ex situ plant collection maintenance. In Saving the Pieces: The value, limits, and practice of off-site plant conservation, ed. E.O. Guerrant, K. Havens, and M. Maunder.

Vitt, P. and K. Havens. 2004. Integrating quantitative genetics into ex situ conservation practices. In Saving the Pieces: The value, limits, and practice of off-site plant conservation, ed. E.O. Guerrant, K. Havens, and M. Maunder.

Vitt, P., K.E. Holsinger, and C.S. Jones. 2003. Local differentiation and phenotypic plasticity of size and gender change in Arisaema triphyllum. Am. J. Bot.

Bell, T. J., M. Bowles, J. McBride, K. Havens, P. Vitt, and K. McEachern. 2002. Reintroducing Pitcher’s Thistle. Endangered Species Bulletin 27(3):14-15.

Cardon, Z.G., A.D. Czaja, J.L. Funk, and P. Vitt. 2002. Periodic carbon flushing to roots of Quercus rubra saplings affects soil respiration and rhizosphere microbial biomass. Oecologia 133:215-223.

Vitt, P. 2001. Gender-related and genotypic differences in gas exchange of male and female clones of the gender-switching species Arisaema triphyllum (Araceae). Rhodora. 103:387-404.

Vitt, P. 1997. Functional ecology of gender change in Arisaema triphyllum (Araceae): An interdisciplinary approach. PhD diss., University of Connecticut.

Vitt, P. and C.S. Campbell. 1997. The reproductive biology of Isotria medeoloides (Pursh) Raf. Orchidaceae. Rhodora.

Holsinger, K.E. and P. Vitt. 1996. The future of conservation biology: what’s a geneticist to do? Enhancing the Ecological Basis of Conservation: Heterogeneity, Ecosystem Function and Biodiversity. Proceedings from the Carey Conference VI, 1995.

Vitt, P. 1991. Conservation of Isotria medeoloides: A federally endangered terrestrial orchid. Master's thesis, University of Maine.

Plant Science — OUR SCIENTISTS

Pati Vitt, Ph.D.

Curator, Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank Conservation Scientist

Curator, Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank
Conservation Scientist