Counting marmots…
The effects of anthropogenic change on pollination in plant-pollinator communities by Loy Xingwen Pollinators facilitate reproduction in ~80% of global plant species, making them integral to many agricultural and natural ecosystems. For over 200 years, western scientists have been fascinated by the intimate partnerships between pairs of plant and pollinator species. However, current pollinator declines and biodiversity loss have brought to attention the ecology of multi-species plant-pollinator communities. Now more than ever, we need to understand how diverse communities of plants and pollinators sustain one another, and how human activities threaten them. To this end, we must first have clarity on how pollinator diversity benefits plant pollination. Numerous studies have shown that increasing pollinator diversity improves pollination function. Yet this positive relationship is not always detectable, and even when it is, we are often unable to definitively explain why it manifests. In Chapter 2, I synthesized current empirical evidence of pollinator diversity-function relationships, highlighting problems, pitfalls and possibilities for advancing enquiry. Following this in-depth analysis of the value of pollinator diversity, I then examined two ways in which humans can impact natural pollination: i) through changes in pollinator diversity, and ii) through changes in plant- pollinator interactions. Chapter 3 examines how changes to land-use in the southeastern United States may affect the diversity of bees, a globally important insect pollinator. The U.S. government aims to convert the country’s southeastern pine plantations from producing timber to bioenergy feedstock. I showed how changing the management of pine plantations from to bioenergy feedstock could have drastic effects on local bee communities. Nevertheless, results suggest that some
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