Sagehen Creek Field Station

15 Jun, 01 PM - 16 Jul, 01 PM

Objectives: Test the hypothesis that promiscuous hub plant species are also hubs of floral microbe diversity and dispersal in native plant communities by: 1) Constructing a quantitative plant-flower visitor-floral microbe dataset (comparative dataset), and 2) Comparing nectar microbe diversity of robbed (promiscuous) and unrobbed (non-promiscuous) flowers of Aquilegia formosa (observational and experimental dataset). The study will be conducted at a high elevation (2400m) wet meadow. The focal plant community includes 20 species that bloom during the same seasonal window in June-July. Preliminary observations suggest that the plant species vary strongly in promiscuity. Flower visitor survey: Over a 2-week period, for each of the 20 focal plant species, 40 individuals will be observed for flower visitors during two 15-minute time windows. Flower visitors will be observed to verify contact with floral tissue and then collected for identification. Flowers that have been exposed to visitors during the sampling period will be bagged in mesh for 24 hours (50 flowers per species) to allow for nectar accumulation. Then, the whole flower will be excised, frozen, and analyzed with Illumina high-throughput sequencing Nectar microbe communities of robbed and un-robbed columbine: Natural variation in nectar microbe diversity, assessed with Illumina sequencing, will be established by collecting nectar from 30 unmanipulated and unrobbed flowers, and 30 unmanipulated and robbed flowers. In addition, I will establish three experimental treatments (30 flowers/treatment): (1) spurs will be covered with clear plastic straws to prevent nectar robbing, (2) spurs will be pierced with a sterile implement to simulate the wounding created by nectar robbers, and the resulting holes left open for visitation by the natural community of nectar robbers; and (3) spurs will be pierced with a sterile implement to simulate the holes chewed by nectar robbers, but then covered with a plastic straw to preclude visits by robbers. Flowers will be monitored for flower visitors to evaluate the efficacy of treatments as above. Nectar will be collected for microbial analysis.

Visit #40298 @Sagehen Creek Field Station

Approved

Under Project # 29583 | Research

nectar collection and flower visitor observations in a high elevation wet meadow

graduate_student - University of California, Davis

Reservation Members(s)

Ash Zemenick Jun 15 - Jul 16, 2015 (32 days)
Group of 4 Undergraduate Student Jun 15 - Jul 16, 2015 (32 days)

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Cabin 5 Jun 15 - Jul 16, 2015
Apartment 1 Jul 22 - 26, 2015
Cabin 1 Jul 22 - 26, 2015