IRES: Understanding pollinator-mediated diversification in Neotropical plants

Floral scents play a critical role in the attraction of specific insect pollinators, especially in tropical forests, where many plant species often coexist and flower simultaneously. However, comprehensive studies of floral scents across many tropical plant species and their insect pollinators are scarce. This IRES program provides U.S. undergraduates and graduate students an opportunity to engage in collaborative international research in Colombia while addressing key questions in tropical pollination biology and evolutionary ecology.

Students receive mentorship and training from researchers at four Colombian universities, the Missouri Botanical Garden and Case Western Reserve University. This program increases access to international research experiences for U.S. students, inspires students’ interest in pursuing science careers and trains the next generation of global scientists.

Findings from student research projects contribute to our understanding of how floral scent preferences of insect pollinators influence tropical plants coexistence and diversification.

Insect pollinators exhibit preferences for distinct floral scents, often specializing on a subset of available flowers. In tropical forests, where many species coexist and flower simultaneously, even subtle differences in floral scents can enhance pollinator constancy and contribute to the formation of reproductive barriers. This project investigates how pollinator specialization, through floral scent preferences, influences ecological interactions among coexisting species and shapes diversification patterns in tropical plants, using the genus Anthurium as a study system.

This IRES program provides a high-quality international collaborative research experience to cohorts of six U.S. students each year. Each student participates in three program elements, a virtual pre-departure program focused on preparations for international travel and research, an eight-week international research experience in Colombia where students take part in training bootcamps and perform data collection in field sites, and a virtual post-travel program focused on career development, data analysis, and research dissemination.

Students receive mentorship and training from researchers at four Colombian universities and U.S.-based researchers at the Missouri Botanical Garden and Case Western Reserve University. Each Colombian researcher supervises and mentors one to two students per year. Results from student projects help in understanding the role of floral scents in attracting, maintaining fidelity, and ensuring specificity of insect pollinators, as well as demonstrate how ecological interactions between tropical plants and their pollinators can translate into distinctive patterns of diversification.

These results advance our understanding of fundamental questions in tropical plant pollination biology and evolutionary ecology, with potential practical applications for the Anthurium horticultural industry. This program aims to expand access to international research experiences for students with limited research opportunities, increase student interest in pursuing science careers by promoting academic and professional preparedness, and train the next generation of global scientists.

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.