Biodiversity Research Seminar Series (BRS)
BRS Matt Koski: Elevational divergence in gametic thermal performance and floral warming mechanisms
October 25, 2023, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
2212 Main Mall
Speaker: Dr. Matthew Koski, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, USA
Title: Elevational divergence in gametic thermal performance and floral warming mechanisms
Abstract:
Geographically widespread organisms must cope with divergent thermal environments across their ranges. Local adaptation in thermal tolerance and/or thermoregulatory traits and behaviors can aid in persistence under extreme thermal environments. Flowering plants are largely sessile, and most are ectothermic. They have evolved mechanisms that accumulate or dissipate heat from flowers which house temperature-sensitive gametes (pollen and ovules) and attract temperature-sensitive pollinators. I will discuss work from my lab that tests for local adaptation in gametophytic thermal performance optima and breadth across populations of a widespread herb, Argentina anserina, spanning a 1000m elevation gradient in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado. I will then dissect the mechanisms by which flowers of A. anserina accumulate or dissipate heat from solar radiation, and evaluate whether thermoregulation can bring pollen and ovules nearer their optimal performance temperatures. Finally, I will present results of a study testing whether high and low elevation populations have evolved differential plasticity for floral thermoregulatory traits. As thermal stress is expected to become more severe this body of work sheds light on the ways in which sessile organisms can cope with such change.
Host: Amy Angert
This seminar will be hosted both in person in the Beaty Museum auditorium,
as well as via Zoom. The speaker will be presenting in person.
Zoom webinar recording - this will be available for one year:
It will be possible to ask the speaker questions through the chat, Q&A
function, or in person, and these will be moderated by the host.