NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Pollinator Thermal Performance and Limitation in an Early-Blooming Crop

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，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研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。美国中西部的苹果产量因缺乏传粉媒介而受到限制。苹果可能特别容易受到传粉者的限制，因为它们在早春开花，而春天有时可能太冷，蜜蜂无法飞行。在气候变化的影响下，早春的天气条件可能会变得越来越不稳定，这可能会加剧传粉者的限制问题。该项目旨在确定传粉者的热性能与传粉者限制的联系程度。它将决定哪些参与苹果授粉的群体（蜜蜂、大黄蜂、独居蜜蜂等）在不稳定的天气条件下表现最好。这项研究将有助于在气候变化的情况下确保中西部苹果作物的安全，并将能够指导诸如增加蜜蜂饲养密度或保护野生蜜蜂等缓解策略。该研究员将向美国中西部的养蜂人和种植者传播这项工作，并将开展旨在增加神经分化个体参与和保留生物学研究的活动。研究员将首先确定果园的小气候和开花时间是否会影响传粉者的访问，并预测具有温暖小气候和晚开花品种的苹果园将经历更多的传粉者访问。接下来，研究员将通过实验诱导传粉者限制，使花只在选定的温度下授粉，预测在较高温度下可用的花将较少受传粉者限制。该研究员还将直接研究传粉者的热生理，将蜜蜂在实验室中的表现与它们在田间活动时的温度进行匹配。总的来说，研究员将试图确定传粉者在这种早花作物中的限制程度可以用传粉者的热性能来解释。除了这些研究活动，研究员还将通过在高级本科生物学课程中开发和教授可持续粮食系统模块来为学术生涯做准备。该研究员还将开发旨在支持生物学神经多样性的项目，包括研究生和博士后研究人员的指导网络。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 2023, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Apple production in the Midwestern US is limited by a lack of pollinators. Apples may be particularly susceptible to pollinator limitation because they bloom in the early spring, when it may sometimes be too cold for bees to fly. Under climate change, weather conditions are likely to become increasingly unstable during the early spring, possibly exacerbating the problem of pollinator limitation. This project aims to determine the extent to which pollinator thermal performance is linked to pollinator limitation. It will determine which of the groups involved in apple pollination (honey bees, bumble bees, solitary bees, etc.) is the best at performing under unstable weather conditions. This research will help to ensure the security of the Midwestern apple crop in the face of a changing climate, and will be able to direct mitigation strategies such as increasing honey bee stocking densities or conserving wild bees. The Fellow will disseminate this work to beekeepers and growers around the Midwestern US, and will also undertake activities aimed at increasing the participation and retention of neurodivergent individuals in biological research. The Fellow will first determine whether orchard microclimate and timing of bloom influence pollinator visitation, predicting that apple orchards with warmer microclimates and later-blooming varieties will experience more pollinator visitation. Next, the Fellow will experimentally induce pollinator limitation by making flowers available for pollination only at select temperatures, predicting that the flowers available at higher temperatures will be less pollinator-limited. The Fellow will also look directly at pollinator thermal physiology, matching bee performance in a lab-based assay with the temperatures at which they are active in the field. Overall, the Fellow will seek to determine the extent to which pollinator limitation in this early-blooming crop can be explained by pollinator thermal performance. In addition to these research activities, the Fellow will prepare for an academic career by developing and teaching a module on sustainable food systems in an upper-level undergraduate biology course. The Fellow will also develop programs aimed at supporting neurodiversity in biology, including a mentorship network for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.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.