Collaborative Research: Components of Floral Attraction in a Functionally Specialized but Ecologically Generalized Flower Guild

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project studies plants with foul-smelling red flowers that bloom in early spring in the southeastern U.S.A. These plants are intriguing because they appear to be sending the same floral message to pollinators. This looks like a floral syndrome (where unrelated plants converge on a common appearance or odor to lure the same, specific pollinators) BUT something is amiss: these flowers attract as pollinators a guild of generalized insects that feed on decaying organic matter. Documenting blooming patterns, visitors, and floral characteristics in populations across three southeastern states will characterize this apparent syndrome. This project impacts undergraduates who will perform all stages of science for academic credit. Students will read relevant literature and design experiments, set out field plots, collect and analyze their data. The following spring, students will present their results at the Association for Southeastern Biologists? annual meeting and submit them for publication. This project initiates the Wine Guild Curriculum Partnership with the GSU Botanical Garden that will impact several thousand K-12 school children and their teachers. This outdoor curriculum provides hands-on experience with pollination biology. The children will run essentially the same experiments at the Botanical Garden that investigators run in the field, providing first-hand experience with the scientific process and a greater appreciation for this rich floral heritage.