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

这项行动资助了2020财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。世界经历了人类驱动的景观急剧变化，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力。在热带地区，森林砍伐主要是由于将土地改为牧场放牧和经营牧场。这种生态层面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。考虑到生物体对压力源的反应差异，可以提高管理和保护计划的有效性。该项目询问牧场与自然区域如何影响无刺蜜蜂（新热带地区的一个关键授粉群体）对目前环境中广泛使用的杀虫剂的反应。这项研究的一个基本组成部分是能力建设和培训代表性不足的学生在美国和哥伦比亚，重点是未来的拉丁美洲研究人员和领导人。本研究将评估无刺蜂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主要以自然区域为特征的复杂景观中对野生蜂群进行完全因子的相互移植。在部署之前，蜂群将被分开，一半实验性地暴露于现场实际浓度的农药，而另一半则接受不含农药的对照溶液。每个殖民地的觅食模式将根据正在访问的植物，它们收集的花粉的质量以及它们在田间遇到的其他杀虫剂的浓度进行监测。此外，研究员将评估景观环境，无论是在起源和目的地，影响蜜蜂的行为和授粉服务。这些研究结果将告知政策制定者景观简化对蜜蜂健康和授粉服务的影响，并确定是否需要根据具体情况制定管理计划。此外，该研究员将培训代表性不足的少数民族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讲习班，旨在打破神话和误解，这些神话和误解经常阻止代表性不足的少数民族学生攻读科学研究生院。研讨会的视频片段将被制作成西班牙语和英语的公开短片，以进一步扩大科学参与。该奖项反映了NSF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.