LTREB: Phenological responsiveness of plants and bees: consequences for species, interactions, community composition and productivity

众所周知，气候（温度、雨雪）可以改变动植物繁殖的时间（或“物候学”），不同的物种改变时间的程度也各不相同。对于这些对气候反应的差异将如何影响物种繁衍的能力，我们知之甚少。当天气变暖，或者雪融化得更早时，开花时间提前的植物物种是否比开花时间变化少的植物更常见？蜜蜂和花朵是否有可能以不同的方式改变它们的繁殖时间而错过相互作用？这些问题的答案对于预测自然区域的植物和动物未来将如何变化，以及管理我们赖以为生的作物植物非常重要。该项目还对中小学科学教师和大学生进行研究培训，并为儿童和成人提供科学讲座。落基山生物实验室物候项目保存了世界上最长的植物和昆虫活动时间的详细记录。这些记录，连同对植物生长的新测量，将用于了解开花时间和蜜蜂活动随气候的变化如何影响植物和蜜蜂的成功。该项目在长达45年的时间里，对科罗拉多州高山草地上36个永久地块上所有植物物种的气候（每天）和开花时间（每周三次）进行了详细的测量，并对附近草地上所有蜜蜂物种的丰度（每隔一周）进行了10年的测量。未来，该项目将测量所有植物物种的相对丰度和植物群落的生产力。有了这些新数据，该项目将解决三个问题：(1)植物或蜜蜂物种的物候反应是否解释了物种丰度的差异、丰度的年变化或极端天气事件后的恢复力？(2)各蜜蜂协会使用的植物物候响应性如何影响蜜蜂群落？(3)当地群落的植物性状是否与群落对气候的响应（如物种丰富度变化）或生态系统的响应（如生产力变化）有关？该项目还将继续向科学界提供其长期数据集（已经被美国和国外的研究小组使用）。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

It is well known that climate (temperature, rain or snow) can change the timing (or "phenology") of plant and animal reproduction, and that different species vary in how much they shift their timing. Little is known about how these differences in responses to climate will influence the ability of species to thrive. When the weather becomes warmer, or snow melts earlier, do plant species that shift their flowering time earlier become more common than plants that change less? Is it possible for bees and flowers to shift their timing of reproduction differently and miss interacting? Answers to these kinds of questions are important for predicting how plants and animals in natural areas will change in the future, and for managing the crop plants we depend on for food. The project also trains elementary and high school science teachers and college students in research, and provides science talks for children and adults.The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Phenology Project maintains the world's longest detailed record of the timing of plant and insect activity. These records, together with new measurements of plant growth, will be used to understand how changes in the timing of flowering and bee activity with climate affect plant and bee success. The project has detailed measurements of climate (daily) and the timing of flowering (three times per week) for all plant species in 36 permanent plots in high mountain meadows in Colorado for up to 45 years, and the abundance of all bee species (every other week) in nearby meadows for ten years. Going forward, this project will measure the relative abundance of all plant species and productivity of the plant community. With these new data, the project will address three questions: (1) Does the phenological responsiveness of plant or bee species explain differences in species' abundances, annual variation in abundance, or resilience after extreme weather events? (2) How does the phenological responsiveness of the plants used by each bee guild influence bee communities? (3) Are the traits of plants in a local community related to community-level responses to climate such as changes in species richness, or ecosystem responses such as productivity? The project will also continue to provide its long-term datasets (already used by research groups across the US and abroad) to the scientific community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.