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

该行动资助 2023 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持该研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学领域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授粉媒介限制的影响，因为它们在早春开花，有时可能太冷而蜜蜂无法飞行。在气候变化的情况下，早春的天气条件可能会变得越来越不稳定，这可能会加剧传粉媒介限制的问题。该项目旨在确定传粉媒介热性能与传粉媒介限制之间的关联程度。它将确定参与苹果授粉的群体（蜜蜂、熊蜂、独居蜂等）在不稳定的天气条件下表现最好。这项研究将有助于确保中西部苹果作物在气候变化的情况下的安全，并将能够指导缓解策略，例如增加蜜蜂饲养密度或保护野生蜜蜂。该研究员将向美国中西部各地的养蜂人和种植者传播这项工作，还将开展旨在增加神经分歧个体在生物学研究中的参与和保留的活动。该研究员将首先确定果园小气候和开花时间是否影响授粉昆虫的造访，并预测小气候温暖和开花较晚的品种的苹果园将经历更多的授粉昆虫造访。接下来，该研究员将实验性地通过使花朵仅在选定的温度下可用于授粉来诱导授粉媒介限制，并预测在较高温度下可用的花朵将较少受到授粉媒介的限制。该研究员还将直接研究传粉媒介的热生理学，将实验室测定中蜜蜂的表现与它们在田间活跃的温度进行匹配。总体而言，该研究员将寻求确定这种早期开花作物的传粉媒介限制在多大程度上可以通过传粉媒介的热性能来解释。除了这些研究活动之外，该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食品系统模块来为学术生涯做好准备。该研究员还将制定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导师网络。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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.