Asking the pikas politely…
In the United States, the 6.2 million kilometers of paved and unpaved public roads and roadsides represent about nineteen percent of the total land area of over nine million Km2 These roadways have major ecological impacts, one of which is dust pollution. When it comes to the effect of dust on plants, research has mainly focused on population abundance as a function of increased pH or physiological effects on water balance or gas exchange. In this study, I looked at the effect of dust on plant reproduction, using Ipomopsis aggregata and Delphinium nelsonii as my study organisms and Gothic road as my site. The aim of my study was to find out whether road dust affects pollinator visitation, fruit production, and seed set. For my methods, I first set out 50-meter-long transects perpendicular to Gothic road and collected dust on filter paper to see whether there was more dust near the road than far away. Then, I recorded observations of hummingbirds visiting Ipomposis aggregata flowers for six hours, counted pollen grains on stigmas of both species, and counted seeds of Delphinium nelsonii fruits. This was done along the existing transects, near the road and far away. I also experimentally dusted Ipomposis aggregata plants that were far away from the road to control for other road effects. Results showed that there is more dust near the road than far away, but no difference in hummingbird visitation or pollen load for Ipomposis aggregata. For Delphinium nelsonii, there were more seeds produced per number of pollen grains near the road than far away. Experimental dusting showed more pollen on non-dusted plants than dusted ones. However, analysis showed that these results were not very strong. This means that while dust can affect the reproduction of plant species and differently so, other road effects or biological factors, like hummingbird foraging behavior, may be stronger. Key words: roads, dust, pollination, seed set, stigma Paulino 3
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