DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Quantifying pollen limitation and reproductive assurance mechanisms in Gesnariae species with contrasting pollination systems

动物授粉对于许多开花植物的结实是必不可少的。然而，访花者并不总是传递足够的花粉来使所有种子受精。这种现象被称为花粉限制，为了避免它，许多植物已经进化出自主自花授粉的机制。本研究将量化花粉限制和自主自交的苦苣苔族种与对比授粉系统的种子集的贡献。苦苣苔族是一个在大安的列斯群岛多样化的植物群。 有些物种只由蜂鸟或蝙蝠授粉，而其他物种则是多面手（例如蝙蝠，蜂鸟和昆虫）。专业花卉平均每天接受一次访问，而多面手花卉每天接受许多访问。 以前的工作表明花粉限制和蜂鸟授粉的自交机制的存在之间的关系。 该项目旨在使用来自多米尼加共和国和波多黎各的12种苦苣苔族物种来证实这一发现。 这项研究将阐明我们对安的列斯群岛一个研究不足的植物群中授粉系统和自交机制进化过程的理解。自交的发展可能对稀有苦苣苔族物种的保护至关重要，因为它允许植物在没有传粉者的情况下繁殖。 如果没有自我的能力，植物可能会面临更大的灭绝风险，如果传粉者数量下降。因此，这项研究是相关的，我们了解花的演变和保护稀有和狭窄分布的植物在脆弱的生态系统的加勒比群岛。

Animal pollination is essential for seed set in many flowering plants. However, floral visitors do not always transfer enough pollen to fertilize all seeds. This phenomenon is known as pollen limitation and to avoid it, many plants have evolved mechanisms of autonomous self-pollination. This study will quantify pollen limitation and the contribution of autonomous selfing to the seed set of Gesnerieae species with contrasting pollination systems. The Gesnerieae is a plant group that diversified in the Greater Antilles. Some species are exclusively pollinated by hummingbirds or bats, while others are generalists (e.g. bats, hummingbirds and insects). Specialist flowers receive in average one visit per day, while generalist flowers receive many visits per day. Previous work suggests a relationship between pollen limitation and the presence of selfing mechanisms with hummingbird pollination. This project is designed to corroborate this finding using twelve Gesnerieae species from Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. The research will illuminate our understanding of the processes underlying the evolution of pollination systems and selfing mechanisms in a poorly studied plant group from the Antillean islands. The development of selfing could be critical to the conservation of rare Gesnerieae species since it allows plants to reproduce in the absence of pollinators. Without the ability to self, plants could be a greater risk of extinction if pollinator populations decline. Thus, this study is of relevance to both our understanding of floral evolution and the conservation of rare and narrowly distributed plants in the fragile ecosystems of the Caribbean archipelago.