Landscape connectivity for insect pollinators under conditions of environmental change

有证据表明，昆虫传粉者正在减少，气候变化等因素被认为起到了作用。大黄蜂是广泛的自然和农业生态系统中重要的传粉者。然而，最近的一项发现表明，随着气候变暖，大黄蜂物种并未在新的可用环境中定居，这表明这些传粉者可能会进一步减少。未能在新环境中定居可能意味着合适的筑巢栖息地太少，或者超出了分散的大黄蜂女王的能力范围。我的研究项目调查了最近缺乏可达栖息地等条件如何影响熊蜂的扩散，并测试了一种称为景观连通性的机制，该机制可能会影响未来大黄蜂对气候变化的反应。*我的学生和我将通过收集三种大黄蜂(Bombus biarius nearcticus、B.cervicola和B.ruafinctus)的遗传数据来评估景观连通性。在山区景观中，可以近距离检查一些可能影响连通性的因素(例如海拔、水分可用性和森林覆盖率)。我们将利用这些遗传数据来确定影响大黄蜂蜂王扩散和成功筑巢的生态条件，并有可能减缓大黄蜂向新环境的扩张。我们还将建立计算机模型来支持这项研究，在这些模型中，模拟的大黄蜂被编程为规则，控制它们的交配行为和它们对景观特征的反应。这些基于智能体的模型将被用来预测气候变化对扩散和基因流动的影响，并提高我们对大黄蜂等高流动性生物中这些过程的理解。这项研究计划的活动将为三名硕士和两名博士生提供景观生态学、分子生态学、生态建模和传粉者保护领域的培训机会。

Evidence suggests that insect pollinators are in decline and climate change, among other factors, is thought to play a role. Bumble bees are important pollinators in a broad range of natural and agricultural ecosystems. However, a recent finding, that bumble bee species have not colonized newly-available environments as the climate has warmed, suggests that these pollinators may be poised for further declines. A failure to colonize new environments could mean that patches of suitable nesting habitat are too few, or are beyond the reach of dispersing bumble bee queens. My research program investigates how conditions such as the absence of reachable habitat have influenced bumble bee dispersal in the recent past, and tests a mechanism-called landscape connectivity-that could affect bumble bee responses to climate change in the future.***My students and I will assess landscape connectivity by collecting genetic data for three species of bumble bee (Bombus bifarius nearcticus, B. sylvicola, and B. rufocinctus) sampled in mountain landscapes where a number of factors that may influence connectivity can be examined in proximity (e.g. elevation, moisture availability and forest cover). We will use these genetic data to identify ecological conditions that impact the dispersal and successful nest establishment of bumble bee queens and have the potential to slow bumble bee expansion into new environments. We will also build computer models to support this investigation in which simulated bumble bees are programmed with rules governing their mating behaviour and their response to landscape features. These agent-based models will be used to predict the implications of climate change for dispersal and gene flow, and to improve our understanding of these processes in highly-mobile organisms, like bumble bees. Activities in this research program will provide training opportunities for three Master's and two PhD students in the fields of landscape ecology, molecular ecology, ecological modelling, and pollinator conservation.**