Organisms inhabiting seasonal environments must fit their life cycle into a limited time window while also synchronizing periods of resource consumption with timing of resource availability. Introduced non-native species, which often differ in phenology from natives, can alter and expand the seasona

Food underpins fitness and ecological interactions, yet how nutrient availability shapes species interactions in natural communities remains poorly understood. Most nutritional ecology research focuses on laboratory or single-species systems, limiting insight into how nutrient use and nutrient niche

Differences or similarities in floral morphology can affect the interactions between plants and shared pollinator communities. As such, plant species with similar floral morphology may be competing for pollinators or facilitating pollinator attraction. Thus, pollinators mediate selection on floral m

Plant-pollinator interactions are extremely familiar to many different ecosystems all over the world. Many floral species and pollinators have developed intricate and essential adaptations to benefit one another. Aspects of plant reproduction require pollinator visits and many pollinators rely on fl

Flowering plants are in an evolutionary battle for the attention of pollinators to increase their fitness. However, microbes are increasingly recognized as key players in mediating interactions between plants and pollinators. Most studies of floral microbes have focused on the role of obligate necta

Biological interactions reliant on synchronized phenology are being thrown into disarray with warming temperatures and an earlier onset of spring. Migrating Broad-tailed Hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycercus) in Gothic, Colorado tend to arrive and breed in alignment with wildflower flowering phenolo

Spatial-temporal variation in pollinator populations can have an impact in plant reproduction. This study assessed the effects of elevation on flower abundance, pollinator visitation, and types of pollinators visiting the Helianthella quinquenervis This flower species was chosen due to its vast abun

In subalpine ecosystems, climate change has contributed to an earlier snowmelt as a result of warmer temperatures in the winter and spring. This shift may act to limit water availability for plant communities by prolonging the period between initial snowmelt and late-season monsoon rains, placing th

Pollination is essential for maintaining global biodiversity and our world’s food supply. Climate change is causing inefficiencies in plant-pollinator networks, so understanding the factors that determine which pollinators visit which plants will be exceedingly important for a sustainable future. Ou

Many plants have evolved nutrient rewards to attract pollinators to flowers, but most research has focused on the sugar content of floral nectar resources. Concentrations of sodium in floral nectar (a micronutrient in low concentrations in nectar) can vary substantially both among and within co-occu

Plants produce an array of chemical and mechanical defences that provide protection against many herbivores and pathogens. Putatively defensive compounds and structures can even occur in floral rewards: for example, the pollen of some plant taxa contains toxic compounds or possesses conspicuous spin

Plants produce an array of defensive compounds with toxic or deterrent effects on insect herbivores. Pollen can contain relatively high concentrations of such defense compounds, but the causes and consequences of this enigmatic phenomenon remain mostly unknown. These compounds could potentially prot

Animal pollination represents one of the key innovations of the flowering plants, and constitutes

Understanding the effects of water stress on flowering plants is crucial for ecosystem sustainability. Changing water availability due to climate shifts and persistent drought conditions have significant implications for the reproduction and survival of subalpine plants and their pollinators. This p

The date of spring snowmelt is advancing in numerous alpine and subalpine ecosystems due to both rising temperatures and reduced snowpack associated with climate change. Snowmelt is a critical source of water for plants in subalpine ecosystems, so changes in snowmelt timing can affect many important

Hemiparasitic plants rely on their hosts for some of their nutritional requirements, but are still able to photosynthesize and absorb water and nutrients through their roots. Parasitic plants have been shown to impact plant community diversity by reducing dominant species' competitive ability, thus

Climate change is altering water availability in subalpine ecosystems. Shifts in snowmelt timing and summer monsoonal precipitation, which alter soil moisture, have the capacity to elicit plastic responses in plants. Plasticity in floral traits such as nectar production and flower color can impact p

Climate change threatens the close relationship between wildflowers and the hummingbirds that pollinate them, both through gradual warming that shifts and misaligns their phenologies, and also potentially through increasingly erratic day-to-day temperature changes, a phenomenon especially apparent a