Asking the pikas politely…
Future warming conditions in the Colorado Rocky mountains has the potential to impact the density and composition of wildflowers, with indirect effects on the bees that pollinate them and rely on them for food. As part of a larger project testing for possible effects of warm and cold conditions on body size of solitary bees collected from RMBL over several years, in the field I will test how body size variation within bee species affects their ability to pollinate wildflowers. To do this, I will bag flowers of the target plant species pre-opening, capture females of the target bee species with a net and chill to immobilise so I can measure it's body width under the microscope and confirm species identity. I will then allow the bee to warm up once placed in a field cage with the bagged flower and 2-3 other flowers of the same species. I will allow the bee to visit 3 flowers before removing the bag from the target flower. Once the bee has visited it, I will take the stigma to count deposited pollen grains. I will compare pollen counts to body size of each test bee.