DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The role of phenology in plant-pollinator interactions and plant reproduction

物候学，自然历史事件的时间，对所有生物都很重要。例如，每年春天，蝴蝶和蜜蜂都会出现在新鲜盛开的花朵上觅食？所有的物候事件的例子。这些事件的同步性通常取决于温度或白天长度的变化。气候变化导致的气温升高改变了动植物的物候，在某些情况下，导致历史上同时大量出现的生物之间的“不匹配”。这些不匹配可能对生存和繁殖产生巨大的影响，特别是当一个物种严重依赖另一个物种的成功时。 这方面的一个例子是春天野花的出现之前出现的昆虫授粉。 该实验的目标是研究物候变化引起的植物繁殖变化的机制，将有助于了解物候变化如何影响本地植物的授粉。物候是对气候变化最敏感的生态响应之一，物候变化有很好的文献记录。然而，面对气候变化，缺乏关于物候变化对授粉影响的信息令人不安。绝大多数开花植物，包括许多粮食作物，依靠昆虫或其他动物授粉，授粉者每年提供约1120亿美元的生态系统服务;因此，调查气候变化如何影响植物，授粉者及其相互作用至关重要。这项研究的结果将提供深入了解一个关键的生态系统服务将如何响应与气候变暖相关的物候变化。此外，拟议的研究整合教学，指导和实地调查，并提供了一个本科生的实地研究机会。

Phenology, the timing of natural history events, is important to all organisms. Each spring, for example, butterflies and bees emerge to forage on freshly blooming flowers ? all examples of phenological events. Synchrony in these events is typically determined by changes in temperature or day length. Increased temperatures due to climate change have altered phenologies of plants and animals, in some cases causing "mismatches" between organisms that have historically emerged in abundance at the same times. These mismatches can have dramatic consequences for survival and reproduction, especially when one species depends heavily on another species for its success. An example of this is the emergence of spring wildflowers before emergence of the insects that pollinate them. The proposed experiment targets the mechanisms behind changes in plant reproduction due to altered phenology, and will contribute to the current understanding of how altered phenology affects pollination of native plants.Phenology is one of the most sensitive ecological responses to climate change, and changes in phenology are well documented. However, in the face of climate change, the lack of information on the effects of altered phenology on pollination is troubling. The vast majority of flowering plants, including many food crops, rely on insects or other animals for pollination, and pollinators provide an estimated $112 billion/year in ecosystem services; therefore, investigating how climate change could affect plants, pollinators and their interactions is critically important. The results of this study will provide insight into how a key ecosystem service will respond to variation in phenology associated with climate warming. In addition, the proposed research integrates teaching, mentoring, and field investigation and provides a field research opportunity for an undergraduate student.