Abstract Detail



Ecology

McCall, Andrew [1], Banta-Long, Wendy [1], Brennan, Aedin [1], Cain, Ethan [1], Hurst, Philip [1], Fiegel, Haley [1], Karkut, Max [1], Ngo, Hang [1], O'Neill-Dee, Conner [1], Postema, Elizabeth [2], Sok, Rebecca [1], Smith, David S. [3].

How does growth and reproduction of spicebush (Lindera benzoin) vary over three seasons?

Plants respond to the changing environment in different ways which may impact the composition of natural areas like forests.  In particular, understory shrubs and small trees could be impacted by changes in growing period, precipitation, and light availability, although such plants are relatively understudied in these regards versus trees and annual plants.  One way to understand how both abiotic and biotic factors affect shrub reproduction is through phenotypic selection analysis.  We examined what factors affected female fruit production in the dioecious shrub Lindera benzoin over three field seasons (2016-2018) across a latitudinal gradient in Ohio.  In particular, we explored whether fruit production depended on population, new branch growth, leaf size, herbivory rates, and light intensity. We found that most of the variation in fruit production occurred among different field seasons and populations, with little evidence that light or new growth affected female fitness. Across years, the population with the highest per-plant fruit production varied with no consistent pattern. Herbivory negatively affected fruit number in 2017 but not in 2016 and 2018.  The variability of fruit number across years was unexpected and may point to either extreme weather events or variation in pollinator service. Fruit number in any particular year may also depend on the previous year’s growth or fruit production.  Because the pollinators of L. benzoin are little-known, future work will involve both collection and identification of floral visitors in this system.


1 - Denison University, Biology, 100 West College St, Granville, OH, 43023, USA
2 - University of California, Davis, Animal Behavior, 227 Life Sciences Addition, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
3 - California State University, San Bernardino, Biology, San Bernardino, CA, 62407, USA

Keywords:
Natural Selection
herbivory
Lindera
understory.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Ecology Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2020
Time: 5:00 PM Time and date to be determined
Number: PEC011
Abstract ID:559
Candidate for Awards:None


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