Calibrating the data logger…
In subalpine meadows surrounding Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, perennial wildflowers like Hymenoxys hoopesii are experiencing record drought conditions due to low snow pack. Since H. hoopesii are perennials, they are not obligated to reproduce each season and therefore must balance the tradeoffs between potentially reproducing in a drought year or waiting for better conditions. For plants that produce reproductive structures (flowers), there is a knowledge gap on how water is being allocated within the plant that this study sought to fill in order to better understand the ways in which plants respond to a manipulation of resource availability in environmental conditions (ambient drought conditions and additional water applied) and whether reduction in seed production is an important element of surviving in drought conditions. This study tested if water availability has a direct effect on the quantity and quality of seed production in the species Hymenoxys hoopesii in order to investigate the allocation of water towards seeding to determine seeding’s benefit to plant survival. In order to do this, two groups of plants were studied: the manipulation cohort received water supplement once a week for ~7 weeks, and the control cohort experienced ambient rainfall conditions (in this year, a historic drought). At the end of the season senesced flower heads were collected, seeds were counted, and determined to be mature or immature. Overall allocation of resources to seeding did not change between the control and treatment, but the ability to successfully provision those reproductive structures did have a difference. The analysis of these counts found no significant difference between the total amount of seeds produced and being in either treatment group. A GLMM found that there was a ~4% increase in the amount of mature seeds produced by the manipulated group of plants. However it is important to consider that even for the control group there was a baseline ~91% chance of making a mature, successful seed. This means that even without the water supplement plants that invested in reproduction have a high success rate, and added water only slightly improves that chance, meaning nature is finding a way to persist even in a record drought year.
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