Maggie Blondeau
Project
Assessing reproductive success through the range of an at-risk perennialMany of our nationally at-risk plants only occur in Canada in the northern most portion of their distribution. However, the specific drivers that define the northern range limits of most of these at-risk plants’ are unknown. Declines in plant population fitness from range core to edge have been shown to impact where we see range limits. Reproductive success in sexual mating systems directly contributes to fitness, therefore assessing the reproductive success of an at-risk plant from range core to edge can help us understand potential range limit drivers and could inform conservation strategies. Here I will assess how reproductive success varies from range core to northern range edge, and which ecological gradients may contribute to observed variation, in the Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis), a nearly extirpated plant that has its northern range edge in southern Ontario.
