UROP Project

Density-dependent pollination in a synchronously flowering, fire-stimulated herb, Pityopsis graminifolia (Asteraceae)

fire ecology, pollinators, fieldwork

Research Mentor: Fatima Alcantara,
Department, College, Affiliation: Biological Science , Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: falcantara@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Maybe one more
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors, preference for Biology Majors
Project Location: Apalachicola National Forest
Research Assistant Transportation Required: I can drive
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10 hours, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link:
Not participating in the roundtable

Project Description

Fire is a global phenomenon, found in almost every ecosystem, and is thought to drive ecosystem biodiversity, community composition, as well as population dynamics of plants and animals. Fire may have important effects of plant reproduction, as well as pollinator populations and behavior. Climate change and urbanization threaten fire regimes, as well as plant and pollinator populations. Thus, it is important for researchers and land managers alike to learn how fire affects pollinator communities as well as plant reproduction.

In fire-stimulated systems there are some plant species that show dramatic increases in flowering immediately after a fire. This synchronous post-fire flowering is thought to be in part caused by favorable post-fire conditions like a release from competition and a pulse of soil nutrients. However, less attention has been paid to the density-dependent, animal-mediate fitness benefits of high flower densities after fire, like pollination efficiency. Pollination efficiency is the increase of outcrossing at high flower densities due to increased apparency, constancy, or pollinator movement. Most studies conflate burn treatment with flower density, since burned areas have naturally higher flower densities compared to unburned areas. In this study, I plan to manipulate flower density in burned and unburned areas to see the effect of the interaction of density and fire on plant reproduction.

In this project, I aim to answer these questions:
1. How does burn status affect pollination success (quantity and quality of outcrossed pollen transfer) across a flower density gradient?
2. How does burn status affect the abundance and diversity of pollinators across a flower density gradient?


Research Tasks: Some activities a mentee on this project can expect would include: working outdoors in sandhill forests in relatively pleasant weather; walking a few miles per day to and within field sites; squatting and bending repeatedly while collecting data; using a butterfly net to capture insects; handling and identifying live and dead insects; accurately recording field observations; driving to field sites in either my car or yours, counting seeds and flowers in the lab or field, inputting data into excel worksheets, analyzing preliminary data, presenting a poster or presentation.



Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: walk several miles a day, carry 20 lbs, ability to work in heat or cold. Recommended: curious, detail oriented, able to do monotonous work.