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Photos

Field and greenhouse experiments

Miguel Sierra and Vince Durham sitting in Open Top Chambers
Open top chambers are an inexpensive and effective way to increase temperatures in the field. Miguel and Vince are testing how warm the insides feel relative to ambient temperatures.
Liam setting up an Open Top Chamber
Liam is trying his best to instal temperature loggers in the open top chambers.
Liam spraying water on to Brassica Rapa plants.
Liam is making sure that our plants stay hydrated! He thinks that all we do at work is 'spray the plants'. The light here looks purple because we use special fixtures that emit the wavelengths of light that plants like best (blue and red, which makes purple).
A pollinator-exclusion experiment on Chamaecrista fasciculata.
Are those ghosts? Nope, they're whole-plant pollinator exclusion bags! Chamaecrista fasciculata has indeterminate growth and produces flowers along all of its branches, so covering the entire plant was the only option for excluding pollinators. I purchased all of the bridal tulle and hula hoops I could find within 20 miles to construct these.
A pollinator-exclusion experiment on Chamaecrista fasciculata.
Excluding pollinators from plants to allowed me examine flowering schedules in the absence of reproductive resource investment.
Artificial climate warming arrays covered in bird-exclusion netting.
I simulated future thermal regimes in the field using the Experimental climate warming arrays at the Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill. The blue netting keeps the birds from eating the Chamaecrista fruit!
Rainout shelters for manipulating precipitation.
To see if rainfall drives pulse flowering in Chamaecrista fasciculata, I manipulated precipitation regimes using rain-out shelters.
An early snow removal experiment.
To examine the impact of climate change on natural plant populations, we are simulating climate change with early snow-removal treatments.
An early snow removal experiment.
Early-snow removal treatments reduce snowpack, advance snowmelt, limit soil moisture availability, and expose plants to frost events.
Seed grids for tracking individual seeds in the field.
To keep track of individual seeds in the field, we carefully plant them in to these grids. Each cell has a unique coordinate and each grid is assigned a unique identifier.
Embryos that stained pink as a sign of viability.
Is seed dormancy affected by climate change? I'm exploring that question now by excavating seeds buried in a snow-manipulation experiment. To differentiate between a dormant and non-viable seed that didn't germinate, I dissect them and submerge them in a stain that will turn respiring tissue pink. This is what dormant embryos look like after they have been stained!
Rocky Mountain Biological Station
This is (part of) the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, or RMBL. The work that we do on Boechera stricta is based out of this field station.
Gothic Mountain in Colorado
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory is nestled at the foot of Gothic Mountain in western Colorado.

Study species

Chamaecrista fasciculata
Chamaecrista fasciculata flowers are unique and interesting - they are enantiostylous, the large petal acts as a landing pad for bumble bees, and the curved petal is rigid and ensures that bees access the flower from the side where the style is located.
Chamaecrista fasciculata seedlings
Chamaecrista fasciculata is touch sensitive; its leaves will close in a few seconds after you touch or water it.
Chamaecrista fasciculata fruit and seeds
Chamaecrista fasciculata disperses seeds through explosive pod dehiscence! If you're not careful, you can bump in to your plant and feel and hear yourself losing data...
Chamaecrista fasciculata individuals from diverse populations
Individuals of Chamaecrista fasciculata from populations across two latitudinal gradients. From left (north) to right (south): Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina (2 plants). This photo makes the cline in branchiness and plant height very apparent.
Boechera stricta germinant
A Bochera stricta seedling planted in a grid in the field. For reference, the white square around it is 1 cm x 1 cm!
Boechera stricta rosettes
We plant Boechera stricta in to the field as both juvenile rosettes and seedlings.
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  • Welcome
  • People
  • Research
  • Lab expectations
  • Publications
  • Photos