REU: Effects of Seed Dispersal on Fitness in a Forest Shrub
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Joann P. Roskoski', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
A crucial, but poorly known, force affecting the genetic                structure of natural populations is dispersal.  For most                        organisms, it is difficult to trace an individual once it leaves                its place of birth, and even more rarely do we know what factors                will determine whether or not the individual survives or                        successfully reproduces.  The problem of tracking a dispersing                  individual is especially difficult in the case of plant seeds                   which are swallowed by fruit-eating animals.  It is virtually                   impossible to be sure where the seeds of a particular parent                    plant are deposited, because an animal often eats many fruits                   from a variety of plants and may defecate them over a long time                 span.                                                                                   This study is designed to track seed dispersal in a North               American shrub, the spicebush (Lindera benzoin) by turning the                  usual question backwards: where are the parent plants of seeds                  that are deposited in known locations?  The seed-producing parent               of a given seed can be identified by matching up patterns of                    genetically-determined proteins.  Experimental plantings of seeds               will then show how important it is to seedling survival for seeds               to be deposited far away from other spicebush seedlings, away                   from the nearest spicebush adult, or in shady versus sunlit                     conditions.  The answers to these questions will reveal how seed                dispersal affects the genetic mixing of this plant population,                  how effective animal dispersers are in depositing seeds in sites                beneficial to spicebush plants, and what characteristics of                     individual plants favor high reproductive success.  These basic                 results in turn can be used in management plans for preserving                  isolated plant populations in which dispersal is artificially                   restricted.
{'FirstName': 'Charles', 'LastName': 'Janson', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'H', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Charles H Janson', 'EmailAddress': 'charles.janson@mso.umt.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000179400', 'StartDate': '10/15/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
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[{'Code': '1127', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}, {'Code': '9120', 'Text': 'CROSS-DIRECTORATE PROGRAMS'}]
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