Phenological Variation Among Western Populations of Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
Additional Funding Sources
This project is supported by a 2018-2019 STEM Undergraduate Research Grant from the Higher Education Research Council.
Abstract
Western monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) have declined ~97% from historic abundances in the early 1980s and are being evaluated for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss and fragmentation in wintering, migratory, and breeding areas are considered key causes. Since monarchs depend on milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) for reproduction, there is increased interest among conservationists to plant milkweeds as habitat restoration. Showy milkweed (Aslceipias speciosa) is the most common and abundant milkweed species in the Western US. Successful habitat restoration will require germplasm that is adapted for target restoration environments and seasonal phenology. Phenological traits are adaptive, easily observable, and shaped by climate; making them helpful in genecological applications for determining seed transfer zones. We evaluated phenological variation among 35 showy milkweed populations from across the Intermountain West to determine geographic patterns of adaptive traits and their relationships to local climates using a common garden approach. We used remotely sensed climate data in conjunction with growth and reproductive phenology data to identify variation in adaptive traits and correlate them to elevation and climate variation. Here we present the results of our analyses and their implications for defining seed transfer zones for showy milkweed in the context of monarch butterfly conservation.
Phenological Variation Among Western Populations of Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)
Western monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) have declined ~97% from historic abundances in the early 1980s and are being evaluated for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss and fragmentation in wintering, migratory, and breeding areas are considered key causes. Since monarchs depend on milkweeds (Asclepias sp.) for reproduction, there is increased interest among conservationists to plant milkweeds as habitat restoration. Showy milkweed (Aslceipias speciosa) is the most common and abundant milkweed species in the Western US. Successful habitat restoration will require germplasm that is adapted for target restoration environments and seasonal phenology. Phenological traits are adaptive, easily observable, and shaped by climate; making them helpful in genecological applications for determining seed transfer zones. We evaluated phenological variation among 35 showy milkweed populations from across the Intermountain West to determine geographic patterns of adaptive traits and their relationships to local climates using a common garden approach. We used remotely sensed climate data in conjunction with growth and reproductive phenology data to identify variation in adaptive traits and correlate them to elevation and climate variation. Here we present the results of our analyses and their implications for defining seed transfer zones for showy milkweed in the context of monarch butterfly conservation.
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