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Abstract Detail



Pollination Biology

Eisen, Katherine [1], Case, Andrea [2], Caruso, Christina [3].

Sources of variation in pollen dispensing schedules of Lobelia siphilitica.

Plants have evolved many traits that increase the amount of pollen transferred to the stigmas of other plants. One way that plants can increase pollen transfer is by restricting the amount of pollen dispensed on a pollinator during a single visit; by dispensing pollen more gradually when pollinator visitation rates are high, plants can increase their male reproductive success without producing more pollen. In order for traits that promote pollen dispensing to evolve, there must be a genetic basis for variation in pollen dispensing schedules within populations. To investigate sources of variation in pollen dispensing schedules, we characterized the pollen presentation schedules of flowers on plants from open-pollinated maternal families from a population of the herbaceous perennial Lobelia siphilitica (Campanulaceae). L. siphilitica has secondary pollen presentation, a trait that allows plants to regulate the amount of pollen dispensed. We simulated pollinator visits at a regular interval and calculated the cumulative release of pollen grains from individual flowers. There was considerable variation in the shape of the dispensing curve among flowers. We will determine how this variation is partitioned among families and plants within families. If pollen dispensing schedules vary significantly among families, we can infer that there may be a genetic basis for pollen dispensing traits in L. siphilitica.


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1 - Cornell University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 215 Tower Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA
2 - Kent State University, Box 5190, 256 Cunningham Hall, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA
3 - University Of Guelph, Department Of Integrative Biology, New Science Complex, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

Keywords:
pollen dispensing
pollen dispersal
floral evolution
Sexual selection
Lobelia siphilitica.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 8
Location: Salon 6/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 11:30 AM
Number: 8013
Abstract ID:1036
Candidate for Awards:None


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