Pollinators are critical to our Nation’s economy, food security, and environmental health. But many pollinators are in serious decline. This presentation will provide insight into the National Strategy for Pollinator Health and the current efforts at reducing the continued loss of pollinators.
This presentation will offer an overview of the multi-faceted interactions between two of the most dominant and charismatic terrestrial groups – flowering plants and ants. Ant-plant interactions have evolved across the globe ranging from herbivory to highly sophisticated defensive and dispersal mutualisms. One such remarkable interaction, known as myrmecochory, occurs in the temperate forests of eastern North America and involves a number of familiar spring flowers such as trilliums and violets.
Mycorrhiza is the symbiotic relationship between some soil fungi and plant roots. This association will be described as will the diversity of the mycorrhizal fungi, and the contributions the mycorrhizae make to ecosystem diversity.
The study of interactions between orchids and fungi have led in new and exciting directions. This presentation will offer the results of recent research on orchid-fungus relationships and the effort to conserve the genetic diversity of native orchids using this information.