Collaborative Research: From cooperation to exploitation: context-dependent effects of nectar microbes on pollination mutualisms

合作在整个生态系统中无处不在;然而，即使面对欺骗，它如何继续存在仍然是一个谜。该项目将探索微生物是否以及如何影响合作，使用植物和驻留在花蜜中的微生物作为模型系统。在不同的系统中，互惠物种被观察到窃取花卉资源，而不提供授粉服务作为回报。该项目使用了野外实验的组合，在落基山脉的野花，花卉游客和相关微生物的社区。主要目标是表征（1）花蜜微生物群落结构的驱动因素;（2）花蜜微生物如何影响访花者的行为;以及（3）微生物和访花者行为如何影响植物繁殖。更广泛的影响包括学生培训，公众宣传，以及提高对主要生态系统服务的理解：授粉。该项目将培养本科生、研究生和博士后研究员。通过与非营利博物馆的合作，以及与中学和暑期科学夏令营的合作，计划进行公众宣传。植物，传粉者和花蜜掠夺者之间的相互作用长期以来一直是探索合作与冲突状态之间生态变化的重要模型系统。然而，尽管对它们进行了广泛的研究，但这些状态之间的转换机制以及内部的恒定性仍然令人惊讶地不清楚。花蜜微生物代表研究不足，但潜在的重要的相互作用，可能会塑造觅食条件下，花游客可能会决定合作或欺骗。该项目将（1）采用依赖于文化和独立于文化的方法来表征合法与花蜜强盗花卉访问后五种山地野花的花蜜微生物组;（2）评估花蜜微生物如何影响花香，花蜜化学和游客行为;（3）测量微生物和花卉游客社区对植物繁殖成分的反馈。通过研究花蜜微生物，它们对花的表型的影响，以及它们是否加强或促进授粉的破坏，我们将更广泛地了解塑造植物繁殖和授粉互惠关系的因素。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。

Cooperation is ubiquitous across ecological systems; yet how it continues to persist, even in the face of cheating, remains an enigma. This project will explore if and how microbes affect cooperation using plants and the microbes that reside in floral nectar as a model system. Across different systems, mutualistic species have been observed to steal floral resources without providing pollination services in return. This project uses a combination of field experiments across a community of wildflowers, floral visitors, and associated microbes in the Rocky Mountains. The main goals are to characterize (1) drivers of nectar microbial community structure; (2) how nectar microbes influence behaviors displayed by floral visitors; and (3) how microbes and the visitor behaviors affect plant reproduction. Broader impacts include student training, public outreach, and improved understanding of a major ecosystem service: pollination. The project will train undergraduate students, a graduate student, and a postdoctoral researcher. Public outreach is planned through a partnership with a non-profit museum, as well as through work with middle schools and summer science camps.Interactions among plants, pollinators, and nectar robbers have long served as an important model system for exploring ecological shifts between states of cooperation and conflict. Yet, despite their extensive study, the mechanisms that underlie shifts between these states, and constancy within, remain surprisingly unclear. Nectar microbes represent understudied but potentially significant interactors that may shape the foraging conditions under which floral visitors may decide to cooperate or cheat. This project will (1) employ the use of culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches to characterize the nectar microbiome of five montane wildflowers after legitimate vs. nectar robber floral visits; (2) assess how nectar microbes influence floral odor, nectar chemistry, and visitor behaviors; and (3) measure feedbacks of the microbes and floral visitor community on components of plant reproduction. By studying nectar microbes, their impact on floral phenotype, and whether they reinforce or facilitate the breakdown of pollination, we will gain a broader understanding of the factors that shape plant reproduction and pollination mutualisms.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.