As human activity increasingly impacts the natural world, informed decisions must be made about how to manage and restore natural systems. Recent and widespread declines in milkweed plant populations are causing alarm, in large part because milkweeds are a critical food source for vulnerable populations of the iconic monarch butterfly. Milkweed restoration efforts have been initiated; however, the influence of seed source on subsequent plant growth and survival is unknown. For example, if milkweeds are locally adapted to specific climates or soil types, then moving them from one region to another could be problematic. This project will engage educators and their students from across the range of common milkweed in investigations to document patterns of local adaptation and to identify the environmental factors influencing the evolution of the species. The data gathered through this project should improve recommendations for how to select seeds for milkweed restoration projects. At the same time, researchers will document the impact of participation in this project on student learning and motivation in science. The collaboration between researchers, educators, and students will allow scientists to sample more populations than they could otherwise study while engaging students in authentic research experiences.
In this project, researchers will use a variety of methods to investigate biotic and abiotic factors that affect the patterns of local adaptation in common milkweed. First, they will support educators and students at about 30 different institutions to study patterns of adaptation in experimental gardens planted at each site, and they will work to expand this network to engage more educators and students in relevant observational data collection. Educators will meet to improve and share lesson plans and to integrate new protocols into the curriculum. Second, they will plant three large experimental gardens at sites in Minnesota, Ohio, and Virginia to identify which milkweed traits most affect fitness in each environment at different life stages. At these three sites, they will not only study soil and climate related factors, but they will also observe pollinators and manipulate access to plants by herbivores to better understand the relative importance of these different factors on the evolution of milkweed traits across populations. Third, they will gather genetic data for plants from each population to compare the patterns of natural selection on traits to the patterns of genetic diversity. In addition to integrating these approaches for studying local adaptation, researchers will assess the impact of engaging educators and students in the research process, including evaluating student learning of important scientific skills and concepts and measuring student motivation to study science.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
