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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2011
- Title: Predicting Ragweed Allergy Hotspots: How Elevated CO2 Affects Different Ecotypes of Ambrosia artemisiifolia
- Author: Jamia L Jennings (Mount Holyoke College)
- Abstract:
The pollen produced by Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) is one of the primary causes of allergy symptoms in the United States. Previous research indicates that an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will increase plant size and pollen production of A. artemisiifolia. Our research focuses on the current phenology and life cycle of A. artemisiifolia in 24 populations located along rural to urban and warm to cool gradients from Boston to the Berkshires in Massachusetts. We collected data on growth rates and flowering for each population. Other data, such as percent cover in each plot (3 to 5 plots per population) and land cover, were collected to evaluate the impact of surrounding vegetation and fine scale land cover on plant phenology. The data demonstrate a trend of taller plants in the cooler, less urbanized sites, which might indicate selection for shorter plants in regions that are mown more frequently. Further, the most important predictor variables found in the presence-absence survey were not significant predictors of plant size and flowering. When modeling future allergy hotspots, different predictor variables will be needed when modeling the presence and absence of ragweed and when modeling the plant size and flowering time of ragweed. The information collected will be used in tandem with a presence-absence survey of A. artemisiifolia in New England and a greenhouse project predicting the growth of A. artemisiifolia in an elevated CO2 environment to model current and future A. artemisiifolia pollen hotspots in New England.
- Research Category: Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
