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The Ecology and Evolution of Pollinator-mediated Interactions Among Spring Flowering Plants

Pollinator sharing in mixed species communities is expected to significantly contribute to mating patterns in contemporary populations but may also affect the evolutionary trajectory of traits associated with plant mating. In this thesis, I considered how the spring environment and pollinator sharing may contribute to the widespread convergence in traits among spring flowering species using comparative biology. The proposed correlation between a spring flowering phenology and white or light floral colour, fleshy fruits, woody growth forms and understory occupation is confirmed. In addition, I examined the effects of pollinator responses to community and population traits to determine the relative importance of inter- and intraspecific interactions in pollinator mediated reproductive success of a spring flowering species, Trillium grandiflorum. In this study, the reproductive success of T. grandiflorum was pollen limited. However, the magnitude of pollen limitation was influenced only by intraspecific density and varied independently of community diversity. The results of this thesis contribute significantly to our understanding of pollinator-mediated interactions in spring flowering communities but also highlight future avenues of investigation.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/20186
Date January 2011
CreatorsHensel, Lisa E
ContributorsSargent, Risa
PublisherUniversité d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Source SetsUniversité d’Ottawa
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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