Committee Chair

Shaw, Joey

Committee Member

Blankenship, Dillon; Hunt, Nyssa

Department

Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Conservation status ranks measure the potential risk of extinction for species at the global, national, and subnational levels, taking into account rarity, threats, and population trends. This study used the NatureServe system to generate provisionary subnational conservation status ranks (s-ranks) for the vascular flora of Tennessee using five methods: (1) assigning an s-rank based on surrounding state s-ranks, (2) assigning an s-rank based on the percentage of counties with an occurrence record, (3) using FME to calculate criteria and assign an s-rank, (4) using RareCat to calculate criteria and assign an s-rank, and (5) using ArcGIS Pro to calculate criteria and assign an s-rank. These methods generated provisionary s-ranks for 99% of Tennessee’s flora (2,992 species). A manual was created on how ArcGIS Pro can be used to calculate criteria and assign provisionary s-ranks, which was shared with NatureServe and their state-level partners to further ranking efforts.

Acknowledgments

I begin by thanking my parents, Theo and Anja Prins, who instilled inside of me a love for nature and a desire to make a difference for the planet. They have continuously supported me and encouraged me to follow my dreams and for that, I am incredibly grateful. Next, I would like to express my immense gratitude to Christopher Closson, for always believing in me and for providing constant encouragement even from afar. I thank my advisor, Dr. Joey Shaw, for inspiring my love for botany and for providing invaluable guidance and insight throughout this project. I thank the members of the Shaw Lab for reading drafts, testing methods, and being a source of joy in the office over the past two years. I thank my committee members, Nyssa Hunt and Dillon Blankenship for sharing their GIS expertise and for contributing insightful ideas that strengthened this project. Lastly, I would like to thank several individuals from the Tennessee Natural Heritage Program and NatureServe for their guidance and assistance.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2025

Subject

Botany--Geographic information systems--Tennessee; Endangered plants--Geographic information systems--Tennessee; Plant conservation--Geographic information systems--Tennessee

Keyword

NatureServe; Conservation Status Ranks; S-Ranks; Botany; Modeling; ArcGIS

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

x, 200 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Date Available

5-31-2026

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Available for download on Sunday, May 31, 2026

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