The Roles of Cheaters and Abiotic Stress in the Disruption of a Pollination Mutualism

互惠互利是一种生态关系，在这种关系中，参与其中的两个物种都受益。这些有益的相互作用在生物之间是普遍存在的，影响着生态系统功能和群落完整性。在这个项目中，研究者通过在实地进行三个实验来解决导致授粉共生崩溃的生态条件。在第一个实验中，将偷花蜜的蚂蚁引入植物中，以确定授粉互惠关系的稳定性是否取决于花拮抗物的丰度。在第二个实验中，研究人员将操纵访问寄主植物的传粉者的多样性，以测试替代传粉者物种是否可以缓冲寄主植物免受花拮抗剂破坏稳定的影响。第三个实验将通过实验来控制干旱压力，以测试在恶劣的环境条件下，植物与传粉者的关系是否更容易受到破坏。拟议的研究评估了在存在和不存在欺骗者的情况下，非生物胁迫如何影响植物与其动物传粉者关系的净收益。

Mutualisms are ecological relationships in which both participating species benefit. These beneficial interactions are universal among organisms, impacting ecosystem function and community integrity. In this project the investigator addresses the ecological conditions leading to the collapse of a pollination mutualism by conducting three experiments in the field. In the first experiment, nectar-thieving ants will be introduced to plants to determine whether the stability of the pollination mutualism depends on the abundance of floral antagonists. In the second experiment the diversity of pollinators visiting the host plant will be manipulated to test whether alternative pollinator species can buffer a host plant from the destabilizing effect of floral antagonists. The third experiment will manipulate drought stress experimentally to test whether plant-pollinator relationships are more vulnerable to disruption under harsh environmental conditions. The proposed research evaluates how abiotic stress affects the net benefits derived from aplant's relationship with its animal pollinators in the presence and absence of cheaters.