Male fitness of perennial plant Echinacea angustifolia is not significantly influenced through visitation by specific bee taxa

Name: Lauryn Hill
Major: Biology
Advisor: Jennifer Ison
Habitat fragmentation is the disruption of continuous blocks of land that reduce the size and increases the isolation of plant populations. Small plant populations are subject to the interacting processes that occur in small population biology, such as the Allee effect, which can lead to extinction. This study aimed to determine how different pollinator species impacted the male fitness of the prairie plant Echinacea angustifolia through the inclusion of a genetic component. I used data from prairie restoration plot experiments, with restricted pollinator visitation (Pearson, 2020). I then genotyped paternal plants and matched them with the resulting offspring using microsatellite analysis. I found that no pollinator taxa examined in this study had significant effect on male fitness. Based on these results, researchers can create more effective conservation plans focused on maintaining the native pollinator taxa of Echinacea angustifolia.

Lauryn will be online to field comments on April 16:
10am-noon EDT (Asia: late evening, PST: 6-8am, Africa/Europe: early evening)

Posted in I.S. Symposium 2021, Independent Study on April 10, 2021.