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

物候学，即自然历史事件发生的时间，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刚刚盛开的花朵上觅食。所有物候事件的例子。这些事件的同步性通常由温度或白昼长度的变化决定。气候变化导致的气温升高改变了动植物的物候特征，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”。这些不匹配会对生存和繁殖造成严重后果，尤其是当一个物种的成功严重依赖另一个物种时。这方面的一个例子是，在授粉昆虫出现之前，春天的野花就已经出现了。该实验旨在研究物候变化导致植物繁殖变化的机制，并有助于目前对物候变化如何影响原生植物授粉的理解。物候学是对气候变化最敏感的生态响应之一，物候学的变化已被充分记录。然而，面对气候变化，缺乏物候变化对授粉影响的信息是令人不安的。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进行授粉，传粉者每年提供的生态系统服务估计为1120亿美元；因此，研究气候变化如何影响植物、传粉媒介及其相互作用至关重要。这项研究的结果将为了解关键的生态系统服务如何响应与气候变暖相关的物候变化提供见解。此外，本研究集教学、辅导及实地调查为一体，为本科生提供实地研究的机会。

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.