Dissertation Research: Critical Tests of Invasive Species Effects: Impacts of the Exotic Honey Bee on Native Plant-Pollinator Interactions

9902269Doak外来入侵物种的生态学是应用生态学家和理论生态学家共同关注的重要课题。然而，很少有研究使用可靠的实验设计来研究这个问题。本研究将探讨入侵的欧洲蜜蜂（意大利蜜蜂）对本地传粉者和植物群落在沿海加州的影响。这项工作将调查和定量联系的影响，欧洲蜜蜂的觅食行为和殖民地繁殖成功的一个重要群体的本地传粉者，熊蜂（熊蜂属）。这是建议要做的组合大规模操纵蜜蜂密度，测量资源的可用性和枯竭，监测熊蜂群体的性能和定量建模的竞争效果。除了提供有关入侵物种对本地社区的影响的信息外，这项工作还将深入了解入侵物种如何以及为什么会引起社区一级的影响，并将有助于更好地了解行为灵活的殖民生物之间的竞争性相互作用。

9902269DoakThe ecology of invasive exotic species is a very important topic and concern among both applied and theoretical ecologists. However, very few studies have examine this problem using a solid experimental design. This study will examine the impacts of the invasive European honeybee (Apies mellifera) on native pollinator and plant communities in coastal California. This work will investigate and quantitatively link the impacts of European bee on foraging behavior and colony reproductive success for an important group of native pollinators, the bumblebees (Bombus spp). This is proposed to be done by combinations of large-scale manipulations of bee densities, measurement of resource availability and depletion, monitoring of bumblebee colony performance and quantitative modeling of competitive effects. In addition to providing information on the impact of invasive species on native communities, this work will provide insight into how and why invasive species cause community-level effects and it will contribute to a greater understanding of competitive interactions among behaviorally flexible colonial organisms.