ANIMAL POLLINATORS PLAY INDISPENSABLE ROLES BY FERTILIZING THE GREAT MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S WILD FLOWERING PLANTS AND A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS. DESPITE THEIR IMPORTANCE, MANY POLLINATORS HAVE EXPERIENCED SHARP DECLINES, THREATENING GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY AND THE INTEGRITY OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS. THIS HAS LED TO HEIGHTENED INTEREST IN UNDERTAKING RESEARCH TO ASSESS HOW LAND MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES POLLINATOR POPULATIONS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED POLLINATION SERVICES. MANAGED FORESTS ARE VITAL TO THE WORLD'S ECONOMY BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE WOOD FIBER THAT SUPPLIES INCREASING DEMANDS OF A GROWING GLOBAL POPULATION. FORESTS MANAGED FOR TIMBER PRODUCTION, ESPECIALLY THOSE IN TEMPERATE REGIONS, CAN PROVIDE HABITAT FOR POLLINATORS DUE TO THEIR THERMAL PROPERTIES, FLORAL RESOURCES, AND NESTING SUBSTRATES. DESPITE THIS, THESE HABITATS ARE VIRTUALLY UNSTUDIED WITH RESPECT TO (1) EVALUATING HOW INTENSIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES HEALTH PARAMETERS OF POLLINATOR POPULATIONS, (2)ASSESSING HOW SUCH PRACTICES IMPACT POLLINATION SERVICES I, AND (3) TESTING WHETHER FORESTS SUPPORT CROP POLLINATION SERVICES AT THE LANDSCAPE SCALE. RESOURCE MANAGERS THEREFORE HAVE INADEQUATE INFORMATION FOR ADJUSTING FOREST MANAGEMENT IN WAYS THAT CAN PROMOTE POLLINATOR POPULATIONS AND THE SERVICES THEY PROVIDE IN MANAGED FORESTS AND ADJACENT AGRICULTURAL CROPS.IN THIS STUDY WE ASSESS HOW INTENSIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES THE BROADER FOREST POLLINATOR COMMUNITY ACROSS A CONTINUUM OF FOREST AGE CLASSES, FROM IMMEDIATE POST-HARVEST THROUGH ROTATION AGE. IN DOING SO, WE UNDERTAKE A BROAD ASSESSMENT OF POLLINATOR HEALTH, CONSIDERING INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL FACTORS THAT UNDERLIE POPULATION PROCESSES, THE VITAL RATES THAT STRUCTURE AND MAINTAIN POPULATIONS, AND THE PROCESSES THAT SCALE UP FROM POLLINATOR POPULATIONS TO STRUCTURE COMMUNITIES. IN ADDITION, WE UNDERTAKE MANIPULATIVE EXPERIMENTS TO ASSESS HOW MANAGEMENT-MEDIATED CHANGES TO FOREST POLLINATOR COMMUNITIES ALTER THE DELIVERY OF POLLINATION SERVICES, AND EXAMINE HOW MANAGED FORESTS SUPPORT POLLINATOR POPULATIONS AND CROP SERVICES WITHIN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES.GIVEN ITS SCOPE, THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE THE FIRST QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MANAGEMENT INTENSITY, FOREST AGE AND POLLINATOR BIODIVERSITY THAT ALLOW FOR POLLINATOR YIELD CURVES THAT CAN BE USED BY MANAGERS INTERESTED IN MAINTAINING AND PROMOTING POLLINATOR POPULATIONS WITHIN PRODUCTION FORESTS. IN ADDITION, IT WILL PROVIDE SOME OF THE FIRST INFORMATION ON THE ROLE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT IN MEDIATING THE POLLINATION SERVICES PROVIDED BY POLLINATORS TO NATIVE PLANT BIODIVERSITY, INCLUDING MANY NATIVE PLANTS THAT ARE ALSO OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE TO OTHER SPECIES OF WILDLIFE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. FINALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL DELIVER INFORMATION ON THE SPATIAL SCALE OF RELEVANCE TO LANDSCAPE-SCALE MANAGEMENT FOR POLLINATOR POPULATIONS AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES THAT ENABLES INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL-FOREST LANDSCAPES TO OPTIMIZE TIMBER YIELD FOR FOREST MANAGERS AND POLLINATION SERVICES FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS.
$1,000,000FY2018National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
Oregon State University, Corvallis OR