Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Major

Environmental Science

First Advisor

Prof. Nikisha Patel

Second Advisor

Prof. Christoph Geiss

Third Advisor

Prof. Jonathan Gourley

Abstract

With the progressive nature of climate change conditions globally over the past century, there has been increasing focus on conservation of all species, but particularly those already endangered. Over 12,000 species of ferns live on Earth, and they do not produce seeds, so an investigation into their spores and how they reach maturity will allow us to preserve more genetic material in the future for these species. As a result, we investigated ex situ conservation and survivability of in vitro cultured gametophytes of within the genus Dryopteridaceae through herbarium sample germination rates across samples representing a wide age range (Polystichum acrostichoides) and a meta-analysis of methods for fern spore cultivation under laboratory conditions. Additionally, we observed the impacts of climate change conditions more broadly within fern families (Dryopteridaceae, Aspleniaceae, Cystoperidaceae) in the simulation of climate change conditions through a three-hour desiccation experiment on lab-grown gametophytes.

In testing the ability of herbaria to provide viable germplasm for gametophyte production, there was little evidence of specimens older than two years being reproductively viable. The metanalysis determined that ½ Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Dyers media produced the quickest germination rates (F= 8.7, p = 0.000488), and that the usage of hormone stimulants to accelerate germination was largely ineffective (F = 2.34, p = .008). In the desiccation experiment, all three species observed (P. acrostichoides, Asplenium platyneuron, Cystopteris fragilis) had significantly different tolerances to the conditions of desiccation (F= 26.27, p = <.001). C. fragilis was overwhelmingly intolerant of desiccation, whereas P. acrostichoides was tolerant and A. platyneuron was very tolerant. We conclude that there should be more research done concerning common methods for both herbarium storage of fern spores and in vitro culturing of spore to help determine best first practices for future conservation. Additionally, native habitat is a relatively reliable indicator of pteridophyte response to climate change conditions, indicating that many more sensitive species’ gametophytes may not be reproductively viable in heightened climate change conditions of heatwaves and drought.

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