Pollination Responses to Introduced Plants and an Elevation Gradient in Camas Dominated Wet Meadows

Rampton, Rowan W.

Pollination Responses to Introduced Plants and an Elevation Gradient in Camas Dominated Wet Meadows

dc.contributor.advisor	Galpern, Paul
dc.contributor.author	Rampton, Rowan W.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Vamosi, Jana
dc.contributor.committeemember	Summers, Mindi
dc.date	2024-02
dc.date.accessioned	2024-01-03T17:28:13Z
dc.date.available	2024-01-03T17:28:13Z
dc.date.issued	2024-01-01
dc.description.abstract	Global change is driving declines in insect biodiversity, with widespread consequences for ecosystem function. Climate change and invasive species are key global change factors, but the ways in which they alter pollination are poorly understood in many systems. Camas meadows occur in the southwestern-most areas of Canada, where they support high floral and pollinator diversity, yet we know little about the pollination ecology of these meadows, let alone how they are impacted by aspects of global change. My objectives in this thesis were to evaluate evidence that camas meadows are experiencing impacts related to climate change and plant invasions. I used a pollen limitation experiment conducted across an elevation gradient to evaluate whether variation in climate generates phenological asynchrony between camas and its pollinators, and used plant-pollinator network analysis to examine whether introduced plants were driving changes in pollination networks. I found that there was no evidence for phenological asynchrony, though camas reproduction was slightly limited by pollen at low elevations, while overall seed production declined as camas approached its elevational limit. Introduced species did not alter network structure, but when removed from networks they had come to dominate, networks were less able to resist further species loss. This suggests that if maintaining pollination is desired, invasive species management decisions should consider the risks associated with losing the floral resources they seek to control. My results describe a system which in its current state, appears robust to the aspects of global change examined (i.e., phenological disturbance and plant invasion) but may be sensitive to further disruption, particularly the removal of abundant introduced plants that pollinators have come to rely upon.
dc.identifier.citation	Rampton, R. W. (2024). Pollination responses to introduced plants and an elevation gradient in camas dominated wet meadows (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117840
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42683
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Science
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	Pollination ecology
dc.subject	Camas meadows
dc.subject	Pollen limitation
dc.subject	Bipartite pollination network
dc.subject	Environmental gradient
dc.subject	Invasive species
dc.subject.classification	Ecology
dc.subject.classification	Botany
dc.subject.classification	Entomology
dc.title	Pollination Responses to Introduced Plants and an Elevation Gradient in Camas Dominated Wet Meadows
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Biological Sciences
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.