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Dionna Bidny

Oakton College
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Pollinator limitation and population genetics of a federally threatened orchid (2015)
Ecology, Genetics, Population Biology, Reproductive Biology
The Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) is a federally threatened orchid that has undergone hand pollination and seed transfer for the past 17 years. Because of habitat fragmentation and climate change, the genetic variety in the populations of this orchid has decreased as inbreeding occurs. This in turn can lead to inbreeding depression, the decrease of fitness of a population due to inbreeding. In addition, the pollinator of this orchid, the hawk moth, requires nearby host plants on which to lay its larvae in order to pollinate the orchid. My study this summer looks to answer the following questions: What are the trends in morphological fitness and genetic diversity across the P. leucophaea range? How do these trends correlate with the presence of pollinator and larval host plants? Answering these questions will be an important step to understanding how P. leucohpaea pollination and seed dispersal techniques are affecting the populations range-wide.
Final Presentation/Poster