The effects of snowmelt date, soil moisture, and precipitation on nectar and floral morphology of Ipomopsis
Abstract
Climate change is putting montane plant species at risk that rely on historical patterns of precipitation and snowmelt timing. Floral traits, such as nectar production and morphology can be impacted by water availability. Hybridization of plants has the potential to provide adaptation to climate change through an increase in genetic variation. This study looked at nectar production and concentration, corolla length, stamen length, and style length in response to snowmelt date, summer precipitation, and soil moisture content. The focus populations included Ipomopsis aggregata and hybrids of Ipomopsis aggregata and Ipomopsis tenuituba. I expected that nectar production, corolla length, stamen length, and style length would decrease as water availability in the soil decreased, while nectar concentration would increase. I also predicted that floral traits would respond less to water availability in hybrids than I. aggregata due to their more efficient water usage and occupation of drier, rockier soil. The response of I. aggregata was much more stable than the hybrid response to changes in water availability via precipitation. In 2025, average soil moisture was not found to affect average floral traits in specific plants, with all plants experiencing dry conditions. Both nectar related traits and floral morphological traits were not correlated with average soil moisture. Instead, the average nectar production decreased with Julian date as the average nectar concentration increased. Over 15 years, nectar production and concentration responded to summer precipitation, but only minimally to the date of snowmelt. Though 2025 was informative on the plants’ responses to changes in water availability, the severe drought conditions may have limited this study’s ability to determine the true effects of water availability on floral traits, given the narrow range of soil moisture.
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References (18)
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