Date of Award:

5-2013

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

James P. Pitts

Committee

James P. Pitts

Committee

James H. Cane

Committee

Eugene W. Schupp

Abstract

Oil and gas development has increased profoundly over the last 20 years in the United States. A large underground deposit of natural gas has been found in the Piceance Basin, which is located in the northwestern part of the state of Colorado. This deposit occurs in an area inhabited by two rare mustard species commonly named the Dudley Bluffs bladderpod and the Dudley Bluffs twinpod. These two plant species are also listed as threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Concerns about gas development effects on these rare plants have motivated research that quantifies these potential impacts. Through funding given by the Colorado Natural Areas Program, BLM, and US Fish and Wildlife Service, experiments were done by Utah State University looking at energy development effects on rare plant reproduction and success. Pollinators were an important part of this research; the majority of flowering plants require bees to reproduce, and these rare plant species were no exception.

Through the research no detectable effects on plant reproduction or pollinator community around developed sites were identified. This lack of detection may be attributed to a small number of pollinators collected through this study. We may not have gathered a large enough sample to detect impacts that are occurring. This research also found that there are only a few bee species that pollinate these rare plants efficiently, so they must be conserved in order to maintain rare plant reproduction.

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