I have been monitoring the abundance and floral resource use of wild bumble bee populations across their entire active season near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory over 2015-2023 (9 years). With ongoing monitoring we hope to better understand how wild bumble bee populations are affected by variation in their floral food resources and climate conditions across their entire life cycle. I am collaborating with my mate, Paul CaraDonna, on this project.
Climate effects on flowers & pollinators.
The climate is changing quickly and dramatically in mountain ecosystems. I have been examining how climate change is affecting the timing and abundance of wildflowers and the floral resources available for pollinators. I hope to address the potential long-term implications of climate change on flowering plants and pollinators.
Pollinator effects on plants.
I have examined how characteristic pollinator responses to plant communities (or the floral resource landscape) can affect plant pollination success in novel but important ways. I have found that individual pollinator foraging behaviour can affect plant pollination over broader spatial and temporal scales than researchers typically examine.