Dissertation Research: Does the Presence and Spatial Arrangement of Co-flowering Species Affect Threshold Critical Population Densities in Plants?

论文研究：共花物种的存在和空间排列是否会影响植物的临界种群密度？

• 批准号: 0206098
• 负责人: William Morris
• 金额: $ 0.83万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-07-15 至 2006-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206098&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Does; Presence; Spatial

Plants in small or sparse populations may receive insufficient pollinator visits to produce enough seeds to replace dying individuals. Thus, populations below some threshold size or density may be doomed to extinction. If a co-occurring plant species shares pollinators, its presence may increase both visitation and seed production of plants in sparse populations by increasing local flower density. This may lower the threshold density above which populations persist. Experiments proposed will determine conditions under which plant species can lower or raise threshold population densities of other plant species, using experimental arrays of plants at different densities, with and without co-occurring plants, and measuring pollinator visitation, pollen receipt by flowers, and the numbers of fruits and seeds produced. Experimental data, combined with data on growth and survival of individuals in natural populations, will be used in population models to determine whether populations of each density and species treatment persist.Plant populations will likely become smaller and sparser as the landscape becomes more fragmented and degraded. This project will inform ecologists and conservationists about whether small or sparse populations are more likely to persist in the presence of other species. Also, this project will inform land managers working to re-establish populations of native plants in restored areas.

小种群或稀疏种群中的植物可能会受到不充分的授粉者访问，以产生足够的种子来取代垂死的个体。因此，低于某个阈值大小或密度的种群可能注定要灭绝。如果一个共生的植物物种共享传粉者，它的存在可能会通过增加当地的花密度来增加稀疏种群中植物的访客和种子产量。这可能会降低种群持续存在的门槛密度。拟议的实验将确定植物物种在什么条件下可以降低或提高其他植物物种的门槛种群密度，使用不同密度的植物实验阵列，有没有共生植物，并测量授粉者访问、花接受花粉以及产生的果实和种子的数量。实验数据与自然种群中个体生长和存活的数据将被用于种群模型，以确定每个密度和物种处理的种群是否持续存在。随着景观变得更加碎片化和退化，植物种群可能会变得更小和更稀疏。这个项目将告知生态学家和自然资源保护者，小种群或稀疏种群更有可能在其他物种的存在下继续存在。此外，该项目还将通知土地管理人员在恢复地区重建本土植物种群的工作。