Program: Seeds, Sex, and Survival: The Plant-Insect Interactions of Meadow Checkermallow (Sidalcea campestris)
November 11 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Monday, November 11, 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Program: Seeds, Sex, and Survival: The Plant-Insect Interactions of Meadow Checkermallow (Sidalcea campestris)
Speaker: Brooklyn Richards
Location: Room 2602, Cordley Hall, Oregon State University Campus, 2701SW Campus Way or via Zoom. (Zoom link in next Bulletin)
The evolution of separate sexes is widespread in flowering plants. Gynodioecy, which is the coexistence of female and hermaphroditic individuals, is often considered a transitional stage in the evolutionary pathway from hermaphrodism to separate sexes, yet the precise genetic and ecological mechanisms remain unclear. Insects mediate a variety of ecological processes in plants that have consequences on plant survival, reproduction, and evolution. Meadow checkermallow (Sidalcea campestris) is a gynodioecious species endemic to Oregon’s Willamette Valley that is a critical resource to native prairie pollinators and suffers high rates of pre-dispersal seed predation by a specialist weevil (Macrorhoptus sidalceae). In this presentation, Oregon State University PhD student Brooklyn Richards will be presenting her research on plant-insect interactions that potentially influence the mating system dynamics of S. campestris.
