Collaborative Research: Comparative Breeding Structure of Four Species of Sonoran Desert Columnar Cacti

合作研究：索诺兰沙漠柱状仙人掌四种植物的育种结构比较

• 批准号: 9421673
• 负责人: Theodore Fleming
• 金额: $ 14.08万
• 依托单位: University of Miami
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-05-01 至 1999-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9421673&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Comparative; Breeding; Structure

9421673 FLEMING The Sonoran Desert is the lushest, most species-rich desert in the world. Conspicuous among its uniquely drought-adapted plants are four species of columnar cacti: saguaro (Carnegia gigantea), organ pipe (Stenothereus thurberi), senita (Lophocereus schottii), and cardon (Pachycereus pringlei). These species often occur in high densities, represent much of the living plant biomass in their communities, and serve as sources of food (nectar, pollen, fruit, and seeds) and shelter for a large number of desert animals. Despite the obvious ecological their reproductive biology and the importance of different kinds of pollinators for their reproductive success. In this study, we will conduct experiments to document the relative contribution of bats, moths, birds, and bees to the pollination success of columnar cacti and will analyze the genetic composition of seeds in the fruits produced by these pollinators. Our overall goal is to understand how different kinds of pollinators affect the genetic structure of populations of their food plants. Studies of the breeding system of desert plants are of particular importance because their extremely episodic recruitment (cactus populations gain new individuals in only one year in ten, on average) can have long-lasting effects on the genetic composition of individuals in their populations. Thus, the examination of four species of columnar cacti whose flowers are visited by different combinations of bats, birds, and insects will serve as a model system for studies of pollination biology as well as provide new insights into the processes that shape the genetic diversity of desert plant species. Our study will be the most detailed picture of the contributions of different kinds of pollinators to the breeding systems of flowering plants to date. Such knowledge is critical if we are to understand the role of pollinators in plant speciation, the origin of plant-pollinator interactions, and the potential genetic consequences to plants o f the loss of pollinators through human disturbance.

小行星9421673 索诺兰沙漠是世界上最茂盛、物种最丰富的沙漠。 在其独特的干旱适应植物中，引人注目的是四种柱状仙人掌：仙人掌（Saguaro）、管风琴（Stenothereus thurberi）、塞尼塔（Lophocereus schottii）和卡登（Pachycereus pringlei）。 这些物种通常以高密度出现，代表了其社区中大部分的活植物生物量，并作为大量沙漠动物的食物来源（花蜜，花粉，水果和种子）和庇护所。 尽管它们的生殖生物学和不同种类的传粉者对其生殖成功的重要性具有明显的生态学意义。 在这项研究中，我们将进行实验，记录蝙蝠，飞蛾，鸟类和蜜蜂对柱状仙人掌授粉成功的相对贡献，并分析这些授粉者产生的果实中种子的遗传组成。 我们的总体目标是了解不同种类的传粉者如何影响其食用植物种群的遗传结构。 沙漠植物的繁殖系统的研究是特别重要的，因为他们的极端偶发性招聘（仙人掌种群获得新的个人在十年只有一年，平均）可以有长期的影响，在其种群中的个人的遗传组成。 因此，四种柱状仙人掌的花被蝙蝠，鸟类和昆虫的不同组合访问的检查将作为授粉生物学研究的模型系统，以及提供新的见解形成沙漠植物物种的遗传多样性的过程。 我们的研究将是迄今为止不同种类的传粉者对开花植物育种系统的贡献的最详细的图片。 如果我们要了解传粉者在植物物种形成中的作用，植物-传粉者相互作用的起源，以及由于人类干扰而失去传粉者对植物的潜在遗传后果，这些知识是至关重要的。