International Planning Grant: Pollination in a Biodiversity Hotspot

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The international planning grant will facilitate the development of collaboration between the PI Dr. Tia-Lynn Ashman at the University of Pittsburgh and Drs. Conchita Alonso and Carlos Herrera of Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC) in Seville, Spain. The ultimate research objective is to determine the response of pollination and pollen limitation of plant reproduction to increasing diversity across a wide range of plant community diversities, and determine whether this relationship differs for endemics. The work will take advantage of a hotspot of plant diversity in the Baetic Mountain Ranges of southern Spain. The goal of the planning grant is to jointly conduct feasibility studies and to gather the necessary preliminary data that will inform the design and implementation of the crucial experimental tests of hypotheses concerning the mechanisms that underlie global pollen limitation-biodiversity gradients. The project will contribute to the development of two students as members of a global community of scientists. This work will ultimately result in a better understanding of the relationship between plant-pollinator interactions and biodiversity, which is important for effective conservation of both plants and pollinators, especially in the face of modern threats such as changing climate, pollinator declines and habitat loss.