Sedgwick Reserve

13 Apr, 05 AM - 13 Apr, 10 AM

Among the myriad factors that contribute to the dynamic nature of ecological systems, the paired processes of ontogeny (i.e. organismal development) and phenology (i.e. the seasonal timing of life cycle events) may be the most commonplace. For example, plant-pollinator interactions depend on the synchrony of receptive flowers and active pollinators. The timing of many other interactions may be similarly important; unlike resource pulses or disturbance events, ontogeny and phenology are constant and ubiquitous processes. In the context of complex ecological networks, these processes drive much of the temporal variation in species interactions: the nature and strength of interactions can change dramatically over time, simply due to matters of timing. Understanding how ontogeny and phenology affect species interactions may be particularly important in the context of climate change. It appears certain that many of the phenological cues which influence the timing of species interactions will be altered during our current period of rapid environmental change. For example, many studies suggest that long-standing relationships between soil temperature, snow melt, rainfall and photoperiod cues may have already begun to diverge. How will these changes affect the phenology and ontogeny of species interactions? My future research in this area is designed to address four key questions: 1) How do the phenological trajectories of species interactions vary across natural environments? 2) What are the mechanistic phenological cues that affect the timing of specific interactions? 3) What are the fitness consequences of pairwise species interactions at different stages of ontogeny? and 4) How will phenological shifts in species interactions affect the broader ecological community?

Visit #15019 @Sedgwick Reserve

Approved

Under Project # 9885 | Research

The phenology and ontogeny of milkweed-herbivore interactions

faculty - University of California, Davis

Reservation Members(s)

Louie Yang Apr 13, 2008 (1 days)
Louie Yang Apr 13, 2008 (1 days)

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