Program: The Price of Pollen: Costs of Male Fertility Restoration and Female Frequency in Meadow Checkermallow
October 12 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Monday, October 12, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Program: The Price of Pollen: Costs of Male Fertility Restoration and Female Frequency in Meadow Checkermallow
Presenter: Brooklyn Richards
Location: Cordley Hall Room 2602, Oregon State University
Why do some plant populations contain both female and hermaphroditic individuals? This sexual system, called gynodioecy, occurs in meadow checkermallow (Sidalcea campestris), a perennial wildflower endemic to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In gynodioecious species, females produce only seeds while hermaphrodites produce both seeds and pollen. For females to persist, they need to make up for not producing pollen by having some reproductive advantage over hermaphrodites. At the same time, producing pollen may come with costs for hermaphrodites. In this presentation, Oregon State University PhD candidate Brooklyn Richards will explore how these reproductive tradeoffs may help explain variation in female frequency among meadow checkermallow populations, and what these tradeoffs may mean for the ecology of this native wildflower and its pollinators.
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://oregonstate.zoom.us/meeting/register/4K5SVsWmTCG3-vA0-Uv-fw
