SGER: Bee Biodiversity and Population Dynamics in Desert Ecosystems: the Role of Seasonality

该项目旨在检验如下假设：由于群居蜜蜂物种被高度季节性的开花排除在外，独居的蜜蜂物种在沙漠中辐射，地面筑巢的蜜蜂在沙漠中的筑巢机会增加，季节性增加了花卉多样性，或为蜜蜂的寄主植物同步性和花粉专化创造了强有力的选择。这项实地工作将是一项国际合作，利用奇瓦瓦沙漠中一项不同寻常的景观实验。美国和墨西哥土地上不同的土地利用提供了机会，利用邻近的沙漠和河岸地区来评估花卉和筑巢环境如何影响蜜蜂的多样性和丰度。该地区位于世界蜜蜂物种多样性高峰的入口处，非常适合区分由于生态因素引起的蜜蜂多样性变化与未受干扰地区蜜蜂的自然动态。基线数据至关重要，土地所有权的突然变化已经开始影响该地区的生态。该项目将立即开始调查，以收集分布和生态数据，这可能是生态和环境变化的延伸轨迹的开始。该项目在探索性研究小额补助金(NSF 00-2：II.D.12.a)的指导下得到支持。

This project is designed to examine the hypotheses that solitary bee species have radiated in deserts because social bee species are excluded by highly seasonal bloom, that nesting opportunities for ground-nesting bees are enhanced in deserts, and that seasonality increases floral diversity or creates strong selection for host-plant synchrony and pollen specialization by bees. The field work will be an international collaboration that takes advantage of an unusual landscape experiment in the Chihuahuan Desert. Differing land use on US and Mexican lands provides opportunities to use adjacent desert and riparian areas to evaluate how floral and nesting environments influence bee diversity and abundance. This area, located in the enter of peak bee species diversity in the world, is well-suited to distinguish variation in bee diversity due to ecological factors from the natural dynamics of bees in undisturbed areas. Baseline data is critical, and an abrupt change in land ownership has already begun to affect the ecology of the region. The project will begin surveys immediately to gather distribution and ecological data at the beginning of what will likely be a extended trajectory of ecological and environmental change. This project is supported under the guidelines of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research (NSF 00-2: II.D.12.a).