Oral Session #67: Metapopulations,
fragmented landscapes, and patch dynamics. Presiding: C. Kraft.
Thursday, August 9, 2001. 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Hall of Ideas F.
Catherine Hoffman1, Gerardo Camilo1.
St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO USA 1
ABSTRACT- The interaction between spatial patterns and pollination processes has become an important topic in the last few years. Landscape fragmentation can influence the diversity of insects, as well as their interactions with other organisms. Our experiment was based on the minimum threshold theory of landscape connectivity. This theory states that in a randomly assembled landscape of suitable and unsuitable patches, we will see a threshold effect in organism behavior as connectivity increases. In order to determine if spatial connectivity has an effect on pollinator activity, we established a one hectare fragmented area in Louisiana, MO, using a stratified random design. We introduced native prairie plant species, and observed pollinator activity, such as length of visit and number of visits, as each species bloomed. Mantel tests were used to analyze the data. We found that increased connectivity had a significant effect in attracting and keeping pollinators in several native prairie plants. Each of the plants studied had one or more pollination indices that were significantly affected or approached significance with regards to connectivity. We did not observe any threshold responses in any of the variables measured.
KEYWORDS- landscape ecology, prairie restoration, pollination, threshold responses
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