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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: Laura M Hancock (Christopher Newport University)
- Abstract:
Ambrosia artemisiifolia, better known as common ragweed, is a leading cause of hay fever in humans. Increased atmospheric CO2 has been shown to increase the pollen production of ragweed. Thus, with predicted climate change and increased atmospheric CO2 levels, pollen production of common ragweed is likely to increase, causing adverse health and economic issues. Hoop houses were used to create three treatments of CO2 – 400ppm, 600ppm, and 800ppm – and untreated control environments. Growth, morphology, and reproduction characteristics of 1248 individuals consisting of 24 total populations from New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to show how, and if, these characteristics differed between treatments and between ecotypes from the different states. We found that there were distinct qualities to these three different ecotypes and that they reacted to the CO2 treatments differently. Specifically the Vermont populations, which are from cooler, less urbanized environments, had distinct characteristics when compared to the more similar New York and Massachusetts populations. Combining these results with a presence/absence and a demographic study of common ragweed across New England, an allergy hotspot map can be created that will show how ragweed populations in different regions of New England might change with climate change.
- Research Category: Biodiversity Studies; Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
