Calibrating the data logger…
Masting is a dramatic example of plant reproduction, creating incredible boom and bust patterns of fruits, seeds, or flowers across years and over large spatial areas, including and up to entire continents. In some years, individuals reproduce in great amounts, all at once. In other years, individuals will reproduce very little, or not at all. Examples of masting species can be wind-pollinated, like oak or pine trees. However, animal-pollinated masting species are less often studied. Ecologists are interested in both how and why masting plants reproduce at the same time, even though plants cannot move or communicate with each other. Masting is thought to be beneficial because it can maximize the number of seeds produced in years with many flowers. In other words, when there are many flowers, animal pollinators such as bees are more likely to fertilize flowers than in years where there are few flowers. I would like to test whether this is true in a population of Monument Plant (Frasera speciosa), a species of Gentian that reproduces synchronously in the East River Valley, CO. Frasera speciosa has tall flowering stalks that attract many and diverse pollinators. I plan to experimentally add pollen to some flowers, but not to others, and compare how that affects the number of seeds produced. This work will build upon long-term research on this species in the East River Valley to help address important evolutionary hypotheses in herbaceous, animal-pollinated masting species.