Irene McKechnie and Risa Sargent University of Ottawa

Peterson et. al 2006

• External and/or internal structures

• > 80% of all plant species

Polle

n g

rain

s / f

low

er

Flo

wer

num

ber

mycorrhizal

non-mycorrhizal

Philip et al. 2001

Seed s

et

Wolfe et al. 2005

mycorrhizal

non-mycorrhizal

Inflore

scence n

um

ber

Gange and Smith 2005

Vis

its p

er

flow

er

/ m

inute

Gange and Smith 2005

mycorrhizal

non-mycorrhizal

Arr

ivals

/ h

our

Wolfe et al. 2005

Peterson et al. 2006

mycorrhizal colonization

pollen nectar flower number

pollen limitation fruit set fruit weight seed set

?

?

?

Paired stems

• Flower number • Pollen limitation • Fruit set • Fresh berry

weight • Dry berry

weight • Seed numbers

Bagged stem • Nectar volume • Pollen counts • Root samples

Peterson et al. 2006 Present study

Species System Mean colonization (%)

Study

V. angustifolium commercial 9.6 present

V. angustifolium lowbush blueberry

commercial 3.6-25.9 Jeliazkova and Percival 2003

native 25.4 Stevens et al. 1996

V. corymbosum highbush blueberry

commercial 6.6-7.7 Goulart et al. 1995

commercial 10.6 Yang et al. 1998

commercial 4.5-6.1 Stevens et al. 1996

native 15.4 Stevens et al. 1996

flow

er

num

ber

mycorrhizal colonization (%)

polle

n g

rain

s / f

low

er

mycorrhizal colonization (%)

fruit s

et (#

fru

it / #

flo

wers

)

mycorrhizal colonization (%) seeds / b

err

y

mycorrhizal colonization (%)

pollen count nectar

volume

mycorrhizal colonization

reproductive measures

flower number

• Structural equation modelling & other analyses

• Impacts of foliar fungicides on mycorrhizal colonization

• Impacts of fertilizers on mycorrhizal colonization

• Species identification of fungal partners

Field/Lab helpers: • Sarah Hirschfeld • Kayley Fowler • Sylvia Wilson • Braydon Hall • Nicole Darling • Rebecca Rabinovich • Jake Russell-Mercier

Field owners: • Bernard Savoie • Benoit Savoie • Calixte Comeau • Patrice Doucet • Olivier Breau • Wanitta St-Coeur • Denis St-Coeur

Collaborators: • Melissa Fulton • Linley Jesson • Kyle Bobiwash • Daniel Schoen

Thesis committee: • Jeremy Kerr • Lenore Fahrig

Helpful feedback: • Sargent Lab • Rundle Lab • Kassen Lab • Forrest Lab

mycorrhizal colonization

pollen nectar flower number

pollen limitation fruit set fruit weight seed set

?

?

?