NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Local adaptation of wild bees to human-dominated landscapes

该行动为2020财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。世界经历了人类驱动的剧烈景观变化，其中包括大规模将自然栖息地转变为农业。这些变化是全球生物多样性丧失和生态系统功能改变的主要驱动因素。在热带地区，森林砍伐主要是土地转为放牧和放牧牧场的产物。这种景观水平的简化对野生动物栖息地的数量和质量都有影响。然而，并非所有物种都同样容易受到人类干扰和景观简化的影响。考虑到生物对压力源的反应差异，可以提高管理和保护计划的有效性。该项目研究了牧场与自然区域对无刺蜜蜂的影响，无刺蜜蜂是新热带地区重要的传粉者，它们对目前在环境中广泛存在的杀虫剂的反应。这项研究的一个基本组成部分是对美国和哥伦比亚代表性不足的学生进行能力建设和培训，重点是未来的拉丁裔研究人员和领导者。本研究将评估无刺蜜蜂Tetragonisca angustula是否在当地适应不同的景观环境，以及这是否会影响其对急性应激源的反应。为了解决这些问题，该研究员将在哥伦比亚从以牧场为主的简化景观和以自然区域为主要特征的复杂景观中对野生捕获的蜂群进行全因子双向移植。在部署之前，蜂群将被分成两组，其中一半试验性地暴露在田间实际浓度的杀虫剂中，而另一半则接受无杀虫剂的控制溶液。每个蚁群的觅食模式都将被监控，包括它们所访问的植物，它们收集的花粉的质量，以及它们在田间遇到的额外杀虫剂的浓度。此外，该研究员将评估景观环境是否会影响蜜蜂的行为和授粉服务，包括起源和目的地。这些发现将为政策制定者提供有关景观简化对蜜蜂健康和授粉服务的影响的信息，并确定根据具体情况制定管理计划的必要性。此外，该研究员将培训未被充分代表的少数族裔本科生研究人员进行实验设计和执行，并举办一系列为期一天的研讨会，旨在打破经常阻碍未被充分代表的少数族裔学生攻读科学研究生的神话和误解。讲习班的录像将制作成西班牙语和英语的公开短片，以进一步扩大对科学的参与。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2020, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The world has experienced drastic human-driven changes to the landscape, which include mass conversion of natural habitats to agriculture. These changes are a primary driver of global biodiversity loss and altered ecosystem function. In the tropics, deforestation is largely a product of land conversion to pasture for cattle grazing and ranching. This landscape-level simplification has implications for the quantity and quality of the habitat available for wildlife. However, not all species are equally vulnerable to human disturbance and landscape simplification. Accounting for differences in how organisms respond to stressors enhances the effectiveness of management and conservation plans. This project asks how pasturelands versus natural areas affect how stingless bees, a key pollinator group of the Neo-tropics, respond to pesticides that are currently widespread in the environment. A foundational component of this research is capacity building and training for under-represented students both in the US and Colombia, with a focus on future Latinx researchers and leaders. This research will evaluate whether the stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula is locally adapted to different landscape contexts and whether this influences its response to an acute stressor. To address these questions, the fellow will conduct a fully factorial reciprocal-transplant of wild-caught bee colonies in Colombia from simplified landscapes, dominated by pastureland, and complex landscapes, characterized primarily by natural areas. Before deployment, bee colonies will be divided, with half experimentally exposed to pesticides at field-realistic concentrations, while the other half receive a pesticide-free control solution. The foraging patterns of each colony will be monitored in terms of what plants are being visited, the quality of the pollen they collect, and the concentration of additional pesticides they encounter in the field. Additionally, the fellow will evaluate whether the landscape context, both in terms of origin and destination, influences bee behavior and pollination services. These findings will inform policy makers about the impact of landscape simplification on bee health and pollination services, and determine the need for context-dependent management plans. Furthermore, the fellow will train underrepresented minority undergraduate researchers on experimental design and execution, as well as conduct a series of one-day workshops aimed at breaking down myths and misconceptions that frequently dissuade underrepresented minority students from pursuing graduate school in the sciences. Video footage from the workshops will be developed into a short publicly available video both in Spanish and English to further broaden participation in the sciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.