Variability in plant phenological responses to climate change is likely to lead to changes in many ecological relationships as the climate continues to change. We used a 34‐yr record of flowering times and flower abundance for four species (two Delphinium [Ranunculaceae] species and two Mertensia [B

Insect herbivory is pervasive in plant communities, but its impact on microbial plant colonizers is not well-studied in natural systems. By calibrating sequencing-based bacterial detection to absolute bacterial load, we find that the within-host abundance of most leaf microbiome (phyllosphere) taxa

It is suggested that the insect herbivore guild on Cardamine cordifolia responds to concentration and composition of glucosinolates and exerts its greatest pressure on plants with lower concentrations.

The dispersion pattern of resources in a population of Delphinium nelsonii showed that subject plants and their neighbors were likely to have the same “temperature”, indicating that resources were patchy.

There is growing evidence of nonrandom reproductive success in plants. The potential evolutionary effect of these patterns depends on the extent to which they reflect nonrandom transmission of genes between generations. A recent tendency has been to examine these patterns in the context of sexual se

Interactions between a plant species (Corydalis caseana), a bumble bee nectar robber (Bombus occidentalis), and a bumble bee pollinator (B. appositus) were studied. There were no significant differences between naturally robbed and unrobbed flowers in fruit set or mean seed set per fruit. Plots of C

It is suggested the relocation to Myrmica nests, rich in phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen, may result in greater survivorship of seedlings, and the hypothesis that relocation of ant-dispersed seeds into ant nests may be advantageous to the plant species involved is suggested.

It is shown that individuals are able to identify when young, and presumably vulnerable, marmots are calling, and to respond by engaging in vigilance and to discriminate between at least one broad age–sex category.

Relative tendencies toward dispersal or philopatry in a marked population of alpine mammals, the pika (Ochotona princeps), were investigated over a 3-year period in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to help understand their low intrapopulation genetic variability.

A long-standing question in ecology is how species interactions are structured within communities. Although evolutionary theory predicts close size matching between floral nectar tube depth and pollinator proboscis length of interacting species, such size matching has seldom been shown and explained

AbstractCritical zone influences on hydrologic partitioning, subsurface flow paths and reactions along these flow paths dictate the timing and magnitude of groundwater and solute flux to streams. To isolate first‐order controls on seasonal streamflow generation within highly heterogeneous, snow‐domi

In all of 16 experimental replicates discrimination against albinos was reduced or eliminated after painting, and albino handling times declined toward values for blue-flowered inflorescences, indicating that an inferior nectar guide increases the energetic cost of foraging at albino.

Trapline foraging—repeated sequential visits to a series of feeding locations—presents interesting problems seldom treated in foraging models. Work on traplining is hampered by the lack of statistical, operational approaches for detecting its existence and measuring its strength. We propose several

Reciprocal seed transplants suggest that there is fine‐scale adaptation in Colorado populations of the perennial herb Delphinium nelsonii. In four experimental plots, seeds planted within 1 m of the maternal parent produced seedlings that began flowering at a younger age and produced more flowers ov

The importance of nest location in reducing heat loss by radiation and convection is indicated by a preliminary examination of the nest sites of Broad—tailed and Calliope hummingbirds with regard to chilling nights in the Rocky Mountains. Radiation losses are estimated from surface temperatures. Nes

One explanation for low fruit sets in plants with hermaphroditic flowers is that total flower production by a plant is controlled primarily by selection through male function. This male function hypothesis presupposes that success in pollen donation increases more strongly with flower number than do

Climate warming causes plant populations to crash by reducing fecundity and survival across multiple life stages.

Summary Extensive empirical work has demonstrated local adaptation to discrete environments, yet few studies have elucidated the genetic and environment mechanisms that generate it. Here, we advocate for research that broadens our understanding of local adaptation beyond pattern and towards process.

Two interpretations are presented: (1) that partitioning searching time into discrete modes may enhance overaccuracy in invertebrates, as has been demonstrated previously for vertebrates and (2) that search dynamics of this type may explain some discrepancies between the predictions made by simple o