DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Reproductive Outcomes for Both Partners in a Plant-Pollinator Mutualism: Population and Community Perspectives

每个生物都可能参与一个或多个互惠的伙伴关系（物种之间至关重要的合作关系）。例如，大多数开花植物需要动物授粉才能成功繁殖，蜜蜂传粉者依靠花朵的花粉和花蜜作为唯一的食物来源。因此，每个物种都有可能影响其伴侣种群的健康，进而影响其自身种群的健康。然而，偶联效益可能取决于伴侣的质量或数量，并与群落中的其他物种有关。这项研究的目的是测试植物和传粉者的特征、种群密度和其他相互作用的物种（如种子捕食者）如何调节双方的利益。通过实验操作和测量这两个物种的反应，本研究将为共生关系在耦合的生态和进化过程中的作用提供新的见解。蜜蜂传粉对生态、进化和经济的广泛贡献，加上它们在全球范围内的明显减少，放大了理解它们与本地植物相互作用的重要性。焦点传粉者，一个大黄蜂，也属于一组最有价值的作物物种的本地传粉者。焦点植物高雀花中的天然毒素威胁着落基山脉的畜牧业经济，该植物也是全球气候变化的潜在指标。最后，这个项目将为本科生提供研究机会，否则他们将没有机会参加校外实地研究。

Every organism is likely involved in one or many mutualistic partnerships (vital cooperative interactions between species). For example, most flowering plants require animal pollination for successful reproduction and bee pollinators rely on pollen and nectar from flowers for their sole food source. Thus, each species has the potential to influence the health of its partner's population, which could subsequently influence their own population. However, coupled benefits may depend on the quality or quantity of partners and with additional species in the community. The goal of this research is to test how plant and pollinator traits, population densities, and other interacting species (such as seed predators) mediate the benefits for both partners. By experimentally manipulating and measuring responses in both species, this study will provide novel insights into the role of mutualisms in coupled ecological and evolutionary processes. The widespread ecological, evolutionary, and economic contributions of pollination by bees, combined with their apparent global declines, amplify the importance of understanding their interactions with native plants. The focal pollinator, a bumblebee, also belongs to a group of the most valuable native pollinators for crop species. The natural toxins in the focal plant, tall larkspur, threaten cattle ranching economies in the Rocky Mountains and the plant is also a potential indicator for global climate change. Finally, this project will provide research opportunities for undergraduates who would otherwise not have the opportunity to take part in off-campus field research.