Winners and losers: investigating differential success of native pollinators subject to multiple environmental stressors

我的研究计划旨在调查行为生态学、种群动态和物种间相互作用的各个方面，以了解为什么一些物种仍然很常见，而共存的物种被认为面临灭绝的危险。尽管政府、非政府组织和公众对北美本土蜜蜂的保护给予了高度关注，但为了有效地保护濒临灭绝的物种，仍有一些非常基本的生态学研究问题需要回答。这些问题包括传播能力、觅食范围、巢密度、营养要求、疾病易感性等。*在接下来的五年里，我的研究计划旨在使用田野调查、实验室实验、历史数据和正在进行的公民科学数据捕获来调查加拿大大黄蜂物种之间的生态相关差异。这些项目建立在我过去十年来的研究基础上，这些研究评估了野生环境的状况，并确定了对我们本土大黄蜂物种的威胁。使用野外的大黄蜂箱和野外实验室饲养的蜂群，我将使用各种方法来量化常见物种和衰落物种的巢密度、觅食范围和传播距离。了解受管制区域内物种之间觅食距离的差异将表明一个或多个物种是否具有相对于其他共生物种的竞争优势，并向管理问题提供信息，如所需保护区的大小、所需距离污染和/或疾病的点源。*使用实验室饲养的菌落，我将调查寄生虫、杀虫剂、营养质量的影响，并考虑组合以确定协同效应。影响将使用来自普通物种和衰落物种的无女王工蚁的微蜂群进行量化。将测量卵巢发育、喂养和寿命。行为实验也将被用来观察觅食效率和亚致命效应的累积影响。这些研究建立在我之前的实验室研究基础上，这些研究着眼于寄生虫对觅食行为的影响，以及在微蜂群上进行的喂养实验。*这项研究计划将增加我们对本地大黄蜂物种的生态要求、种群动态和栖息地利用的基本理解，同时也对理解共存物种对应激源的不同反应具有意义。养护管理需要更好地了解这些物种间在脆弱性、生态需求和行为方面的差异。因此，这些研究项目和更广泛的研究计划的结果将对未来的本土物种保护规划至关重要，特别是在气候变化、疾病爆发增加和人口增长的情况下。

My research program aims to investigate various aspects of behavioural ecology, population dynamics and inter-species interactions to understand why some species remain common while co-occurring species are deemed at-risk of extinction. Despite intensive government, NGO and public focus on the conservation of native bees in North America, there are still very basic ecological research questions to answer to effectively conserve declining species. These include questions about dispersal ability, foraging ranges, nest densities, nutritional requirements, disease susceptibility, among others. ******Over the next five years, my research program aims to use field work, laboratory experiments, historical data and ongoing citizen science data-capture to investigate ecologically-relevant differences among Canadian bumblebee species. These projects build on my previous research over the past decade which assessed status in the wild and identified threats to our native bumblebee species. Using bumblebee boxes in the wild and lab-reared colonies in the field, I will use a variety of methods to quantify nest density, foraging ranges and dispersal distances for both common and declining species. Understanding differences in foraging distances between species in a controlled area will indicate whether one or more have a competitive advantage over other co-occurring species as well as inform management questions such as required size of protected areas, distance required from point sources of pollution and/or disease. ******Using lab-reared colonies, I will investigate effects of parasites, pesticides, nutritional quality and consider combinations to identify synergistic effects. Effects will be quantified using micro-colonies of queenless workers from common and declining species. Ovary development, feeding and life span will be measured. Behavioural experiments will also be used to look at foraging efficiency and cumulative impacts of sub-lethal effects. These studies build on my previous laboratory-based research looking at the effects of parasites on foraging behaviour and feeding experiments performed on micro-colonies.******This research program will add to our basic understanding of ecological requirements, population dynamics and habitat use for native bumble bee species but also have implications in understanding differential responses to stressors by co-occurring species. Conservation management requires a much better understanding of these inter-specific differences with respect to vulnerability, ecological needs and behaviour. Thus, results from these research projects and broader research program will be critical for future conservation planning for native species, especially under scenarios of climate change, increased disease outbreaks and human population growth.