RAPID: Comparing Historic and Contemporary Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks to Investigate the Effects of Climate Change and Invasive Species

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Pollination services, important both ecologically and economically, are responsible for much of the food that we eat. Pollination of many plant species is currently threatened by anthropogenic forces, including climate change and invasive species. Climate change may be disrupting the timing of plant flowering and the activity of pollinators such that they no longer overlap. Invasive plants may be stealing pollinators away from the native plants that they usually visit. Testing how pollination is being disrupted by climate change and invasive species is difficult because historical information on plant-pollinator interactions is not available in most cases. However, a very detailed dataset of all of the plant-pollinator interactions that were present in Carlinville, IL in the late 1880's provides an important and rare opportunity to compare historic and contemporary patterns. By re-sampling the same areas, these researchers will better understand how climate warming and invasive species are affecting pollination. The urgency of the project stems from the rapid suburban development in this area; the study sites will likely be converted to housing subdivisions in the near future. This research will highlight insect species that have maintained important roles as pollinators through time, despite large changes in the environment, and will show which species are most vulnerable to climate or invasive species related extinctions. These results will have important implications for agricultural plant species that rely on insect pollination as well. The broader impacts of this research include research and training opportunities for students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels as well as a research technician and a post-doctoral associate.