Timing Is Everything: What Preserved Specimens Can Tell Us About Risks for Plant-Pollinator Interactions
November 17, 2022
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
Laura Lampe
Chico State Department of Biological Sciences
View the Presentation Here
The timing of life history stages in plants and their pollinators is strongly tied to environmental cues, which have shifted with climate change. When the timings of flowering in plants and flight periods in pollinators respond differently to changes in climatic cues, these events may become misaligned and important species interactions disrupted. Luckily, the information provided by specimens in herbaria and entomological collections can help us characterize changes over time and identify risks of these disruptions. Thank you, collecting naturalists and community science!
My talk will describe my master's thesis research utilizing herbarium and insect specimen data to examine changes in the timing of flowering and flight periods of select plants and pollinators in Northern California. In particular, I will show how these changes may be different in lowland versus alpine habitats, which are thought to be more sensitive to climate change. I'll also highlight my adventures in the field, where I validated the timing of contemporary flowering as predicted by up to 156 years of herbarium records.
Bio: Laura Lampe is a graduate student of the Chico State Department of Biological Sciences. She is scheduled to complete her Master's thesis, "Plant-pollinator phenological misalignment in Northern California's alpine versus lowland habitats," in Fall 2022. She has also worked in environmental consulting since 2018 and served since 2019 as the garden curator of Gateway Science Museum. At Gateway Gardens, Laura plans and maintains exhibits featuring over 120 native plant species and provides educational programming that highlights California's ecoregions and ecology.
