DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Reproductive Outcomes for Both Partners in a Plant-Pollinator Mutualism: Population and Community Perspectives

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Every organism is likely involved in one or many mutualistic partnerships (vital cooperative interactions between species). For example, most flowering plants require animal pollination for successful reproduction and bee pollinators rely on pollen and nectar from flowers for their sole food source. Thus, each species has the potential to influence the health of its partner's population, which could subsequently influence their own population. However, coupled benefits may depend on the quality or quantity of partners and with additional species in the community. The goal of this research is to test how plant and pollinator traits, population densities, and other interacting species (such as seed predators) mediate the benefits for both partners. By experimentally manipulating and measuring responses in both species, this study will provide novel insights into the role of mutualisms in coupled ecological and evolutionary processes. The widespread ecological, evolutionary, and economic contributions of pollination by bees, combined with their apparent global declines, amplify the importance of understanding their interactions with native plants. The focal pollinator, a bumblebee, also belongs to a group of the most valuable native pollinators for crop species. The natural toxins in the focal plant, tall larkspur, threaten cattle ranching economies in the Rocky Mountains and the plant is also a potential indicator for global climate change. Finally, this project will provide research opportunities for undergraduates who would otherwise not have the opportunity to take part in off-campus field research.