RUI: Analysis of Competition for Pollination in East African Acacia

大多数开花植物依靠传粉媒介进行繁殖，但对许多植物群落中植物与传粉媒介相互作用的了解有限。在以几种金合欢树为主的东非木本大草原上，每一种金合欢树在一天中特定但不同的时间释放花粉，昆虫传粉者密切跟踪树木的花粉释放模式。本研究的目的是确定自然选择是否对金合欢群落花粉释放时间的结构起作用，以响应传粉者服务的竞争。该研究将集中研究较大群落中的一种金合欢，并将结合遗传分析和肯尼亚的实地实验，以确定(i)不同花粉释放时间和传粉者对种子生产的影响，（ii）自花受精对繁殖的重要性，以及（iii）传粉者携带金合欢花粉的距离。本研究的结果将有助于了解植物如何适应其生物环境，以及植物与传粉者的相互作用如何有助于新植物物种的形成。这项研究将加强对东非广泛而未被充分研究的生态系统中这些相互作用的理解，该生态系统在生态和经济方面具有重要意义。这项研究将显著加强该项目所在机构对生态学、遗传学和进化论本科生的教育，特别是将为占该项目学生多数的女性和中低社会经济地位的学生扩大研究机会。

Most flowering plants depend on pollinators for reproduction, yet understanding of plant-pollinator interactions in many plant communities is limited. In East African woody savannahs dominated by several species of acacia tree, each acacia species releases its pollen at specific, but different, times during the day and insect pollinators closely track the pollen release patterns of the trees. The goal of this study is to determine whether natural selection is acting to structure pollen release times in acacia communities in response to competition for pollinator services. The study will focus on one acacia species within the larger community and will combine genetic analyses and field experiments in Kenya to determine (i) the effect of different pollen release times and pollinators on seed production, (ii) the importance of self-fertilization to reproduction, and (iii) the distances over which pollinators carry acacia pollen. The results of this study will enhance understanding of how plants adapt to their biotic environment and how plant-pollinator interactions could contribute to the formation of new plant species. This study will bolster understanding of these interactions in a widespread and understudied ecosystem that has great ecological and economic importance in East Africa. The study will significantly enhance education of undergraduates in ecology, genetics, and evolution at the PI's home institution, and in particular, will broaden research opportunities for women and students of middle to low socioeconomic status, who make up a majority of the PI's students.