Factors governing pollination success

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Variation in the quality of pollination plants receive from flower-visiting animals is critical in agriculture, in conservation, and in understanding how flowers function and evolve. Of numerous factors affecting that variation, the current work focuses on (1) differences in the quality of pollination delivered by different species of animals and (2) the relationship between behavioural choices made by individual animals and the way they move pollen from plant to plant. Pollination potential is measured by tracking the fates of pollen grains being moved by different animals in nature. Behavioural foraging responses are studied by observing animals (principally bumble bees) in the field and in experimental arenas with controlled artificial feeders and automated data recording. Particular attention is paid to how bees choose where to forage and what plant species to visit. Pollination quality interacts with climate to influence plant reproductive success. Long-term studies of a wild, perennial lily show how much year-to-year variation in weather affects fruit set directly, through killing frosts, and indirectly, by influencing the amount of pollination deficit. Pollination deficits have been assessed by comparing hand-pollinated plants to open-pollinated plants in the field. Since 1993, there is a significant trend of deteriorating pollination. Further work will attempt to determine whether this is due to declining pollinator populations or climate-driven mismatches between emergence times of bees and flowers. Lifelong monitoring of lily life histories shows how fruit failure or success at one time affects prospects for plant survival, growth, and future flowering.