Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Climate Change
Leandra Gonzalez - Florida International University
Co-Author(s): Dr. Berry Brosi Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, Connor Morozumi Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia and Loy Xingwen Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Plant-pollinator interactions are an integral part of many terrestrial ecosystems. However, phenological mismatches caused by global climate change have the potential to decouple plants and pollinators partnerships. Phenological mismatch can be defined as a change in life history timing that affects interactions between species, with the life stage of one or more species occurring earlier or later than recent historical norms. As the impacts of global climate change increase, so does the potential for phenological mismatch between species. This project examines accelerated snowmelt, an artifact of climate change, and its impacts on the phenology, pollination, and seed set of a subalpine plant, Delphinium nuttallianum. To test pollination limitation, we compared three pollination treatments; open, open-hand and exclusion. These treatments were conducted within two manipulated plots and two control plots. The manipulated plots simulated global climate change via accelerated snow-melt, and the control plots were kept consistent. We hypothesized that D. nuttallianum was pollen limited and that pollination and seed production would be lower in plots with accelerated snow melt. From this experiment, we observed that D. nuttallianum is potentially pollen limited, however accelerated snow-melt, in our case, led counterintuitively to higher seed set. This project was made possible through the National Science Foundation, The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Florida International University and The USDA-NIFA Hispanic Serving Institutions Higher Education Grants Program 2016-03476-2009.
Leandra Gonzalez Abstract.docxFunder Acknowledgement(s): The National Science Foundation (REU through the Ecological Societies of America Fellowship) The USDA-NIFA Hispanic Serving Institutions Higher Education Grants Program 2016-03476-2009.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Berry Brosi, bbrosi@emory.edu
Role: For this research, I actively mapped the experimental sites, subjected the Delphinium to their appropriate pollination limitation experiment, hand pollinated the Delphinium, collected the seeds, hand counted the seeds and performed data analysis based on the data collected.