LTREB: Phenological responsiveness of plants and bees: consequences for species, interactions, community composition and biomass

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Plants and animals depend on the correct timing of seasonal events for survival and reproduction. For example, flowers need to bloom when frosts won’t kill them and bees will visit them, and bees need to begin flying when flowers are available. It is well known that climate (temperature, rain or snow) can change the timing (or “phenology”) of these important events, and that different species change their timing by different amounts. Little is known about how these differences in responses to climate will influence the ability of species to thrive. When the snow melts earlier, do plant species with greater shifts in flowering time become more common than plants that change less? Could the timing of bee activity and plant flowering change so much for that they miss interacting? Answers to these kinds of questions are important for predicting how plants and animals in natural areas will change in the future, and for managing the crop plants we depend on for food. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Phenology Project maintains the world’s longest detailed record of the timing of plant and insect activity. These records, together with new measurements of plant growth, will be used to understand how changes in the timing of flowering and bee activity with climate affect plant and bee success. The project also trains elementary and high school science teachers and college students in research, and provides science talks for children and adults.The project has detailed measurements of climate (daily) and the timing of flowering (three times per week) for all plant species in 36 permanent plots in high mountain meadows in Colorado for up to 46 years, and the abundance of all bee species (every other week) in nearby meadows for 11 years. Going forward, this project will measure the relative abundance of all plant species and productivity of the plant community. With these new data, the project will address three questions: (1) Does the phenological responsiveness of plant or bee species explain differences in species' abundances, annual variation in abundance, or resilience after extreme weather events? (2) How does the phenological responsiveness of the plants used by each bee guild influence bee communities? (3) Are the traits of plants in a local community related to community-level responses to climate such as changes in species richness, or ecosystem responses such as productivity? The project will also continue to provide its long-term datasets, which are used by research groups across the US and abroad, to the scientific community.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.