SGER: Bee Biodiversity and Population Dynamics in Desert Ecosystems: the Role of Seasonality

该项目旨在检验以下假设：独居蜜蜂物种在沙漠中辐射是因为群居蜜蜂物种被高度季节性的开花所排斥；在沙漠中筑巢的地面筑巢蜜蜂的筑巢机会增加；季节性增加了花卉多样性或为蜜蜂的寄主-植物同步和花粉专一性创造了强烈的选择。野外工作将是一个国际合作，利用奇瓦瓦沙漠的一个不寻常的景观实验。美国和墨西哥土地上不同的土地利用为利用邻近的沙漠和河岸地区来评估花卉和筑巢环境如何影响蜜蜂的多样性和丰度提供了机会。该地区位于世界蜜蜂物种多样性高峰的中心，非常适合区分因生态因素引起的蜜蜂多样性变化与未受干扰地区蜜蜂的自然动态。基线数据至关重要，土地所有权的突然变化已经开始影响该地区的生态。该项目将立即开始调查，以收集分布和生态数据，这可能是生态和环境变化的延伸轨迹。本项目由探索性研究小额赠款（NSF 00-2: II.D.12.a）指导方针资助。

This project is designed to examine the hypotheses that solitary bee species have radiated in deserts because social bee species are excluded by highly seasonal bloom, that nesting opportunities for ground-nesting bees are enhanced in deserts, and that seasonality increases floral diversity or creates strong selection for host-plant synchrony and pollen specialization by bees. The field work will be an international collaboration that takes advantage of an unusual landscape experiment in the Chihuahuan Desert. Differing land use on US and Mexican lands provides opportunities to use adjacent desert and riparian areas to evaluate how floral and nesting environments influence bee diversity and abundance. This area, located in the enter of peak bee species diversity in the world, is well-suited to distinguish variation in bee diversity due to ecological factors from the natural dynamics of bees in undisturbed areas. Baseline data is critical, and an abrupt change in land ownership has already begun to affect the ecology of the region. The project will begin surveys immediately to gather distribution and ecological data at the beginning of what will likely be a extended trajectory of ecological and environmental change. This project is supported under the guidelines of the Small Grants for Exploratory Research (NSF 00-2: II.D.12.a).