Dissertation Research: The effect of cognitive disturbance on functionally-relevant plastic behavioral responses

生态系统为人类提供了一系列无价的服务，包括清洁空气和水、循环养分、防止洪水和为作物授粉。生态学最近的一项发现是，在动植物种类较多的地区，提供的这些“生态系统服务”要多于动植物种类较少的地区；生物多样性有实际的好处。对物种多样性和生态系统服务之间关系的研究主要集中在物种之间的物理差异如何在决定一个群落（生活在同一地区的一组物种）提供的服务方面发挥重要作用。然而，最近的研究表明，动物行为的变化也可以促进生态系统服务。因此，了解包括化学污染物在内的环境变化如何影响行为是很重要的。这项研究将研究杀虫剂如何影响蜜蜂对植物授粉的重要行为，包括依赖于群落中物种数量的行为。如果农药破坏生物多样性和授粉服务之间的关系，它们可能对本地植物繁殖和农业系统的生产力产生负面影响。本研究将研究亚致死新烟碱类农药暴露对单种和多种蜜蜂授粉相关觅食行为的影响。在实验室实验中，使用计算机控制的花蜜补充的人造花将比较杀虫剂处理和对照蜜蜂的行为。蜜蜂的觅食行为将使用射频识别技术进行测量，该技术可以精确跟踪蜜蜂的运动。研究人员将测量与授粉相关的行为，包括访花率、花的保真度（对特定花类型的暂时专门化）和访花均匀度（所有花物种接受授粉服务的程度）。假设农药暴露会对蜜蜂物种产生不同的影响，改变竞争结果并调节行为介导的生物多样性-生态系统功能关系。

Ecosystems provide an invaluable suite of services to people, including cleaning air and water, cycling nutrients, preventing floods, and pollinating crops. A recent finding from the science of ecology is that more of these "ecosystem services" are provided in areas that contain many species of plants and animals than in areas that contain fewer; biodiversity has practical benefits. Studies of this relationship between species diversity and ecosystem services have focused on how physical differences between species are important in determining the services provided by a community (a group of species living in the same area). Recent studies, however, suggest that changes in animal behavior can also promote ecosystem services. Thus, it is important to understand how behaviors will be affected by environmental change, including chemical pollutants. This study will examine how pesticides affect bee behaviors important for plant pollination, including behaviors that depend on the number of species in a community. If pesticides disrupt the relationship between biodiversity and pollination services, they could have negative consequences for both native plant reproduction and the productivity of agricultural systems. This study will examine the effect of sub-lethal neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on pollination-relevant bee foraging behaviors in both single and multiple species contexts. The behavior of pesticide-treated and control bees will be compared in laboratory experiments that use artificial flowers with computer-controlled nectar replenishment. Bee foraging behavior will be measured using RFID technology, which allows for exact tracking of bee movements. The researchers will measure pollination-relevant behaviors, including visitation rates, floral fidelity (temporary specialization on a particular flower type), and flower visitation evenness (the degree to which all flower species receive pollination services). It is hypothesized that pesticide exposure will affect bee species differently, altering competitive outcomes and modulating behaviorally-mediated biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships.