Pollen study in Castanea dentata and C. mollissima

The purpose of this research was to see if Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkhausen and C. mollissima Blume are anemophilous or entomophilous and to investigate the direction and distance of C. dentata pollen dispersal. The study of C. dentata pollen dispersal patterns was set up at an isolated orchard in Cleveland, Tennessee. Pollen collectors were placed at 13 locations in an array 15.2, 30.4, 46 and 61 meters north, northeast and east from the northeast corner of the orchard with one collector in the orchard itself. Pollen counts averaged significantly higher at the orchard than at sites 15.2, 30.4, 46 and 61 meters away. Sixty percent of collected pollen was gathered at the orchard location. There were no significant differences among the number of pollen grains collected at 15.2, 30.4, 46, and 61 meters and no significant differences between the numbers of pollen grains collected east, north and northeast of the orchard. Over the ten day study period, there was a significant difference of the number of pollen grains collected among the days; there appeared to be a peak of pollen release on 20-21 June 2001. Findings from the insect pollination experiment indicate that C. dentata and C. mol/issima can be wind pollinated; however, the possibility of insect pollination could not be ruled out.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Bock, Christine Johnson

Contributors dc:contributor

• Craddock, J. Hill
• Benz, George W.; Schorr, Mark S.; Van Horn, Gene S.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• American chestnut
• Chinese chestnut
• Pollen--Dispersal

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Identifier

LB2369.2 .B624 2004

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2069