Quantifying Nectar Trait Responses to Natural Variation in Water Availability in Subalpine Plant Communities

Abstract

Floral rewards are crucial for plant reproductive success and pollinator survival. Although nectar volumes and sugar concentrations have been quantified for many species of flowering plants, many questions remain regarding sources of intraspecific and interspecific variation, including the effects of abiotic factors, such as temperature and precipitation, on community nectar production. Many of these abiotic factors are being altered under climate change, limiting our ability to predict the production of the important resource. To help address this knowledge gap, I quantified nectar traits (volume, sugar concentration, and total sugar content) for 24 pollinator-visited plant species in subalpine meadows varying in water availability. This allowed me to quantify interspecific variation in nectar traits, and to compare nectar traits at both the community and species levels, (1) between dry and wet meadow habitats, and (2) between a dry, early-snowmelt year and a wet, late-snowmelt year. I observed considerable variation in nectar traits among species. When comparing community nectar traits across dry and wet meadows for the entire summer growing season, I observed that nectar volume was greater in wet meadows. When comparing nectar traits across years, I found no overall differences in nectar traits between years, but a variety of patterns for individual species considered. Taken together, this research provides an image of the nectar resource landscape, and how this resource landscape may continue to respond to climate change. 5

Local Knowledge Graph (13 entities)

Related Works

Items connected by shared entities, co-authorship, citations, or semantic similarity.

References (28)

8 in Knowledge Hub, 20 external