Phenology - the timing of life events - determines how a species’ life cycle aligns with the abiotic and biotic environment, however, climate change has altered the environmental cues organisms use to track climate leading to shifts in phenology. In high latitude environments, phenological shifts in

Activation of the complement system is mediated by the interaction between pathogens and pattern recognition molecules (PRMs); mannose-binding lectin (MBL), ficolins, and collectin-10/-11 from the lectin pathway and C1q from the classical pathway. Lectin pathway activation specifically depends on pr

Evidence is presented that discrimination occurs because white flowers have inferior ‘nectar guides’ and therefore require longer handling times than blue flowers, and pollinators may experience lower net rates of energy intake on white flowers, a sufficient reason for undervisitation by optimally-f

ABSTRACT Demographically oriented sampling in the wild and biochemical study of allozymes in the laboratory have been used to probe maintenance of the phosphoglucose isomerase polymorphism of Colias butterflies.—The several alleles at this locus show negative or no covariation among their frequencie

The hypothesis that a sychrony of the time of seed dispersal and the period when most ants (mutualists) and least rodents (predators) are active would be advantageous to the plant species is discussed.

-Field tests quantifying the behavioral responses of ants to the seeds of twenty Rocky Mountain species were conducted in Gunnison County, Colorado. The results indicate that Claytonia lanceolata Pursh, Corydalis aurea Willd., C. caseana A. Gray., Delphinium nelsoni Greene, and Viola nuttallii Pursh

Females tended to specialize upon one or two species, at least in the short term, and the pattern of oligophagy for the population as a whole is partly generated by variation in the host-seeking behavior of individual females.

Reproduction in a population of marked pikas (Ochotonaprinceps) was observed over a 3-year period in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Pikas were seasonally polyestrous; all adult females initiated two litters each summer. However, most females (24 of 25) weaned only a single litter. The number of su

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.

Brink (1982) characterizes the distribution of standing crop of nectar for Delphinium nelsonii as bonanzablank, based on comparison with a Poisson, but this work disagrees with the use of the Poisson and the resulting conclusions.

In Senecio, flowering phenology patterns and differences among pollinators in foraging behavior may have more important consequences for seed set and gene flow patterns than plant density or plant size.

This study describes nectar production patterns for Ipomopsis aggregata and discusses their potential adaptive and ecological significance. It also examines the influence of environmental and other factors on nectar production rate (NPR) and nectar sugar concentration. For I. aggregata there were no

Results of this study suggest that the wing whistle of male broad-tailed hummingbirds is important in maintenance of courting territories and hence in reproductive success.

Aquilegia micrantha occurs in canyons of the Southwestern United States. The pinkish-yellow flowers are nodding or semi-nodding, mildly scented, protandrous, and secrete a concentrated nectar (46% total sugars). Seed set in flowers under pollinator exclosures was 25% compared with 63% for open-polli

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.