NYC Flowering Plants Adaptations
Members: Anuja Deodat and Shan Shan Chen Yan
We may be living in New York but how many of us are truly aware of what lives amongst us? In fact, NYC flowers that we may see every day are often not recognized for their specific traits or their unique features. We want to present the five NYC flowers that were most commonly found by our fellow Macaulay peers and show how and why these five flowers thrived in NYC. This is also a great take away as we can apply what was learned through these flowers to imagine the future flowers of NYC.
OBJECTIVE
What evolutionary adaptations allow NYC flowering plants to thrive in this urban environment?
METHODS
1. Identify NYC’s 5 most common flowers according to the iNaturalist Macaulay BioBlitz Data.
2. Establish profiles for those flowers, including physical description, common habitats, and reproductive characteristics.
3. Identify common traits that provide a competitive advantage over other common flowers.
CONCLUSION
Which strategies were popular, indicating greater effectiveness?
– Bright colors to attract pollinators
– Poisonous parts to limit the pool of candidates capable of interaction
– Automatic short-distance dispersal of seeds
– Reseeding
– Cross-pollination options while automatically self-pollinating
How will NYC look in the future?
– Green spaces will be more attractive/brightly colored, but also have a greater potential to be dangerous.
– The spread of plants to new areas will not look like new sporadic growth, but instead as if green spaces are slowly expanding to encompass new areas.
– Due to climate change, the reproductive season and life-spans of flowering plants will increase, thereby increasing the number of plants in the city.
