Paleoecology

 

Flower form and pollinator diversity in the Middle Eocene of B.C. and Washington.  M.Sc. thesis. University of Alberta, 1991.

The principles of pollination biology are based on a long history of observation and research by botanists, entomologists, and ecologists. One of the tools for looking at broad trends in plant-pollinator relationships is the the classification of plant reproductive structures into “pollination syndromes”. Flower form, including shape, dimension, number of parts, symmetry and colour patterns, can be generally associated with pollinators.

 

Insect fossils in middle Eocene deposits from British Columbia and Washington State: faunal diversity and geological range extensions. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74(6):1140-1157.

I examined fossil insects from 4 orders containing anthophilous taxa found at sites in British Columbia and Republic, Washington State. Here we describe the taxonomic diversity of the insects at the family level, reviewing the important taxonomic characters for classifying fossil specimens. We summarize the stratigraphic history of the taxa reported and compare the insect assemblages of British Columbia – Washington State with those of other Paleogene localities in North America.