MSB-ECA: Local and Migratory Spatial Foraging Affects Plant-Pollinator-Pathogen Networks

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

Pollination is a key ecosystem service vital for the survival and stability of the biosphere. Pollinators are major players in both wild and agricultural systems, as over 87% of flowering plants require pollinators in order to reproduce. Flowers are sites of interaction between plants and their pollinators, wherein pollinators receive nectar or pollen in exchange for pollination. Each flower receives multiple visits from not only multiple individuals but often multiple types of pollinators. Because many individuals feed from the same floral resource, flowers can also be sites for passing pathogens from pollinator to pollinator. Studying bees and hummingbirds, this project examines these interactions?how pollinator visits to the flower underlie regional and continental patterns of interactions among plants, pollinators, and their pathogens. This project investigates an emerging area of biology and evaluates the potential for inter-specific pathogen transmission. Furthermore, the research contributes to our understanding of how large-scale processes (biological invasion, climate change and pollinator migration) affect interactions among plants, their pollinators and their pathogens. With such information, we can make predictions and devise strategies to maintain and protect the pollination services necessary for a healthy and stable environment. In addition to promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math undergraduates by providing meaningful research opportunities, the researchers are developing educational materials that feature local species, habitats, and guided journaling activities for K-6 students to explore their relationship with the natural world and pollinators in particular. The project examines interactions at the floral interface?how local foraging of pollinators at the flower scale up to drive regional and continental patterns of plant-pollinator-pathogen networks. Floral resources are utilized by a broad range of species, including both hummingbirds and bees. Each floral visit presents the opportunity for a pollinator to both obtain and transfer pathogens. This project integrates pollination biology, behavioral ecology, migration behavior, and disease ecology. Quantitative network models will be developed by combining phenology, plant diversity and abundance data with experimental, spatially replicated data on species interactions generated from direct observations and next-generation sequencing. In a novel approach, researchers will then incorporate plant-pollinator and pollinator-pathogen interactions to create plant-pollinator-pathogen networks. This permits detailed study of how pollinator foraging patterns influence pathogen transmission at the regional and continental scales and how pathogen transmission is affected by invasive floral visitors and migration. The resulting networks will be documented across a large geographic area comprising a global biodiversity hotspot, the California Floristic Province, which also experiences annual continental-scale migrations. The main project objectives are to examine how fluctuations in floral visitation due to various anthropogenic causes affect pathways of pollinator pathogen transmission. In particular, the effects of species introductions, migration, and climate change will be examined. Such a synthesis will provide insights and new understanding into the pathways of florally-transmitted pathogens and disease.