How does road dust influence Ipomopsis pollination?

Abstract

Premise of research. Road dust affects the quantity of pollen received by Ipomopsis aggregata flowers, with dusty flowers receiving less pollen than undusty flowers. One possibility is that hummingbird pollinators visit dusty flowers less and deliver less pollen. This could happen if dusty flowers produce less nectar. Methodology. I collected a total of ninety-one I. aggregata flowers from experimentally dusted and non-dusted plants in Maxfield Meadow. The flowers had been enclosed in drinking straws for twenty-four hours beginning when they were elongated buds. I measured the nectar quantity (mg of sugar), flower length (mm) and nectar concentration. In addition to nectar measurement, a total of eight censuses were done every three days to count the total number of flowers per plant produced over the 2018 flowering season Pivotal results. Dusted I. aggregata flowers were shorter than undusted flowers and produced less nectar. These two findings may be related since flower size and nectar production were positively correlated. Conclusion. There are some factors that could have caused variation in the data. Two mechanisms are discussed, which refer to the quantity of nectar such as water limitations and bud’s morphology when enclosed in the straw.

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