OBSERVED DECLINING TRENDS IN THE DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF POLLINATORS (ESPECIALLY INSECTS) SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR THREATS TO GLOBAL ECONOMIES AND FUTURE RISKS IN MEETING INCREASING GLOBAL FOOD DEMANDS. MOST AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT CROPS DEPEND ON ANIMAL-MEDIATED POLLINATORS AND OUTCROSSING (POLLEN TRANSFER BETWEEN DIFFERENT PLANTS) TO PRODUCE FRUITS. IN THE US ALONE THE VALUE OF THIS 'POLLINATION SERVICE' TO AGRICULTURE HAS BEEN ESTIMATED AT $43B. WHILE MANAGED POLLINATORS LIKE HONEY BEES ARE MAIN CONTRIBUTORS OF WORLDWIDE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, WILD POLLINATORS ARE ALSO IMPORTANT AND THEY CAN INCREASE AGRICULTURAL YIELD AND QUALITY OF FRUIT CROPS. VIDEO RECORDINGS HAVE COME A LONG WAY AT EXPANDING THE CAPACITY TO DOCUMENT INSECT POLLINATORS, BUT THE AMOUNT OF TIME NEEDED TO VIEW AND TRANSCRIBE VIDEO RECORDINGS OF INSECTS LIMITS THE TURNOVER RATE FOR DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSES.THIS PROJECT'S GOAL IS TO ENABLE THE AUTOMATED VIDEO ANALYSIS OF INSECT POLLINATORS THAT WILL EXPAND SIGNIFICANTLY THE SCALE AT WHICH WE CAN MONITOR THEIR POPULATION AND BEHAVIOR IN THE FIELD. TO ACHIEVE THIS, THE PROJECT WILL DEVELOP NEW COMPUTER VISION METHODS FOR INSECT POLLINATOR DETECTION, IDENTIFICATION, AND BEHAVIOR CLASSIFICATION. THE DEVELOPED MODELS WILL LEVERAGE THE LATEST ADVANCES IN MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO SOLVE THE CHALLENGE OF MEASURING THE BEHAVIOR OF SUCH SMALL INSECTS WHEN THEY VISIT FLOWERS. THESE METHODS WILL BE INTEGRATED INTO COMPUTER INTERFACES THAT FACILITATE THE AUTOMATED ANALYSIS OF THE COLLECTED VIDEOS AND TESTED FOR REAL-TIME DATA COLLECTION.THE NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL BE EVALUATED ON TWO DIFFERENT SETTINGS THAT ARE RELEVANT FOR AGRICULTURE: (A) FLOWER PATCH ASSAYS THAT CHARACTERIZE FORAGING STRATEGIES OF HONEY BEES, AND THEIR POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP BREEDING PROGRAMS BASED ON FORAGING BEHAVIOR, AND (B) STUDY OF POLLINATION EFFECTIVENESS OF WILD POLLINATOR COMMUNITIES IN MANGO TREE VARIETIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON PLANT YIELD. WEEXPECT THESE ADVANCES WILL EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY AND LOWER RISK IN THE PRODUCTION OF CROPS THAT RELY ON INSECT POLLINATION BY ENABLING THE SELECTION OF HONEYBEES WITH DESIRABLE FORAGING BEHAVIOR AND A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF WILD POLLINATORS IN AGRICULTURE.