US-Brazil: PhD Dissertation- Quantifying fruit yields of a major forest crop in Amazonia's last frontier: do pollinators matter?

本论文的研究建议旨在支持Roxaneh S。Khorsand在PI Suzanne Koptur博士的指导下，在巴西罗赖马进行一种特定非木材森林产品的生殖生物学研究，即雌雄异株棕榈树，也称为"buriti"。 Rozaneh女士将与巴西的两位导师合作，并分享他们的实验室设施。 它们是：（a）Reinaldo巴博萨博士，国家亚马逊河研究所首席研究员;（B）Silanco Buzato博士，巴西圣保罗大学生态学教授和授粉专家。 研究生Khorsand还将比较棕榈的授粉和坐果在未受干扰的栖息地和被大豆种植园分割的栖息地之间的差异。研究的最终目标是：1）阐明该物种的授粉生物学; 2）量化每个栖息地的传粉者多样性; 3）确定传粉者和坐果是否在栖息地之间存在差异，如果存在差异，则确定这些差异的生态和生理原因。 此外，该研究将研究人为干扰对该物种繁殖成功的影响，包括人类学组成部分，以更好地了解棕榈的文化和经济重要性。

This dissertation research proposal aims to support Ms. Roxaneh S. Khorsand working under PI Dr. Suzanne Koptur to conduct research in Brazil on the reproductive biology of a particular non-timber forest product in Roraima, Brazil, namely the dioecious palm, Mauritia flexuosaa, also known as "buriti". Ms. Rozaneh will collaborate with two mentors in Brazil and share their laboratory facilities. They are: (a) Dr. Reinaldo Barbosa, a primary researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA); and (b) Dr. Silvana Buzato, an ecology professor and pollination specialist at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Graduate student Khorsand will also compare the palm's pollination and fruit set among undisturbed habitats and habitats fragmented by soy plantations. The ultimate goals of the research are to: 1) elucidate the pollination biology of this species; 2) quantify pollinator diversity in each habitat; and 3) determine if pollinators and fruit set differ across habitats, and if they do, identify the ecological and physiological causes of these differences. Furthermore, the study will examine the consequences of anthropogenic disturbance for the reproductive success of the species, including an anthropological component to gain a better understanding of the cultural and economic importance of the palm.