Example of a frost-killed ovary (on left) and a normally developing fruit (on right) of Erythonium grandiflorum, the glacier lily. The two plants were selected to show the difference, and weren't growing next to each other.

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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A Mormon fritillary butterfly (Speyeria mormonia) visiting flowers of the fleabane daisy (Erigeron speciosus), an important and preferred nectar resource. Flower buds of E. speciosus are frost-sensitive. Egg production of female S. mormonia butterflies is limited by the amount of nectar they can collect (which is unusual for butterflies). Therefore, spring frosts that kill E. speciosus flowers...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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The number of flowers produced by the aspen sunflower (Helianthella quinquenervis) in a particular year is affected by the date of the start of the growing season, which is in turn influenced by the date that the winter snowpack melts. Years with low winter snowfall and warm springs have more rapid snowmelt and an earlier start to the growing season than years with a heavy snowpack or a cool...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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A graph (modified from Boggs and Inouye 2012, Ecology Letters) demonstrating that Speyeria mormonia (Mormon fritillary) butterfly visits are proportionally greater when their food plant, Erigeron (fleabane), produces many flowers. Frost damage reduces the number of available flowers. When flowers are abundant, they produce more nectar and attract more butterflies. In turn, the greater...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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The ratio of flowers/butterfly (Erigeron speciosus to Speyeria mormonia) in year t is a good predictor of the change in the size of the Mormon fritillary butterfly population from year t to the next year (measured here by number of males). Years having few flowers per butterfly result in a population decline the following year. In contrast, population growth is higher when many flowers are...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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