POTENTIAL DISTRIBUTION MODELING OF pensTeMOn OKlaHOMensis (PLANTAGINACEAE)

penstemon oklahomensis is an endemic to the southern plains region that occurs in Oklahoma and one location in Texas. As an aid to conservation of this species, we used a species distribution model to map the possible extent of penstemon oklahomensis in Oklahoma. Location data were derived from specimens in the Oklahoma Vascular Plants Database and occurrence records maintained by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory. We then modeled the potential distribution of p. oklahomensis with MaxEnt, a technique suitable for presence-only data. Resulting maps were used to field validate the model and determine if a gap in the southwestern portion of its range was a sampling artifact, resulting in two new first county records for the species.