Pollinators are key drivers of floral evolution through natural selection on floral traits. Co-flowering plants within a community often share pollinators which can generate competitive and/or facilitative interactions among them affecting their reproductive success and ultimately selection on floral traits such as floral scent and color. However, we still know very little about how these pollinator-mediated interactions between co-flowering neighbor species affect each other’s reproduction and pollinator-mediated selection mainly due to lack of appropriate statistical tools. In the SPACE (Speciation, Adaptation and Coevolution) lab at the Biology Department, we are looking for motivated Master students that want to join us in an exciting adventure. We aim to combine novel statistical approaches, recent floral scent analytical methods and fieldwork in the emblematic orchid community of the island of Öland (Sweden) to perform a pioneering study on co-flowering community effects on floral ecology and evolution. During fieldwork in Öland you will learn how to perform pollinator observations, take floral trait and plant fitness measurements and collect floral scent at field. You will also learn on floral scent analyses at the lab and on novel statistical methods (hierarchical joint models) to address co-flowering species effects on plant fitness and phenotypic selection in multispecies communities.
Time plan: Project starts with fieldwork in spring 2024.
Please contact us if you are interested or have any questions.
Contact: Øystein Opedal (oystein.opedal@biol.lu.se), Magne Friberg (magne.friberg@biol.lu.se), Yedra García (yedra.garcia_garcia@biol.lu.se).
Please visit the SPACE website