Altered precipitation patterns associated with anthropogenic climate change are expected to have many effects on plants and insect pollinators, but it is unknown if effects on pollination are mediated by changes in water availability. We tested the hypothesis that impacts of climate on plant pollina

Site 5GN2404, situated on a south-facing slope overlooking the Gunnison River Valley, was examined as part of work on the Blue Mesa-Skito Transmission Line. This large scatter of flaked lithic and ground stone artifacts also includes several thermal pits (Barb Lockwood, personal communication, Augus

Abstract Floral phenotypes may be as much the result of selection for avoidance of some animal visitors as selection for improving the interaction with better pollinators. When specializing on hummingbird-pollination, Penstemon flowers may have evolved to improve the morphological fit between bird a

Although flowering traits are often assumed to be under strong selection by pollinators, significant variation in such traits remains the norm for most plant species. Thus, it is likely that the interactions among plants, mutualists, and other selective agents, such as antagonists, ultimately shape

An earthflow that occurred in Gunnison County, Colorado created a natural laboratory to study plant succession. Plant succession and ants can effect the soil composition of grounds left bare and depleted of organic matter by the landslide. This study was conducted to examine if the described success

Secondary transfer of pollen can occur when a second pollinator remobilizes grains that had already been transferred to a flower by a previous pollinator. We used a pollen-color dimorphism to measure components of secondary transfer by bumble bees visiting the lily Erythronium grandiflorum. Remobili

High-altitude and high-latitude sites are expected to be very sensitive to global warming, because the biological activity of most plants is restricted by the length of the short snow- free season, which is determined by climate. Long-term observational studies in subalpine meadows of the Colorado R

Pollen movement within and among plants affects levels of inbreeding and plant fitness as well as the spatial scale of genetic differentiation. Pollen movement has primarily been studied as a function of the direct relationships between plants and pollinators; however, nonpollinating floral visitors

The majority of flowering plants require animals for pollination, a critical ecosystem service in natural and agricultural systems. However, quantifying useful estimates of pollinator visitation rates can be nearly impossible when pollinator visitation is infrequent. We examined the utility of an in

Abstract One cause of reproductive isolation is gamete competition, in which conspecific pollen has an advantage over heterospecific pollen in siring seeds, thereby decreasing the formation of F1 hybrids. Analogous pollen interactions between hybrid pollen and conspecific pollen can contribute to po

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ungulate herbivory (clipped, unclipped) and nutrient variation (ambient, water added, fertilizer and water added) on conspecific and heterospecific pollen receipt to Ipomopsis aggregata. I found that both clipping and adding nutrients influ