Flying by night: Comparing crepuscular pollinator networks across two sites in Western North America

Abstract

Recently, declines among both honeybees and native pollinators have raised concerns about the impacts of habitat loss and climate change on pollinators; likewise, studies have revealed that non-honeybee pollinators, including various Lepidoptera, are more important than previously thought for both agriculture and the maintenance of biodiversity within native ecosystems. Such research generally focuses on diurnal pollinator networks, while crepuscular pollinator networks remain largely understudied. However, what is known about crepuscular pollinator networks is that moths account for many of the plant-pollinator interactions and thus occupy a crucial place in these networks. There is still a deficit of information on crepuscular pollinator networks -- many of the existing studies are focused on a specific moth-plant interaction, or are geographically restricted to specific sites. This study aimed to contribute to the growing body of literature documenting crepuscular pollinator networks. Over three weeks in summer 2020 (July-August), moths were collected and sampled for pollen at sites in California and Colorado. Plant-pollinator networks were then constructed for the two sites, and compared for various network indices. The study revealed that overall these moths do not appear to be efficient or large-scale pollinators for these networks, but that they are generalists which may be visiting a wide range of flower species over larger ranges. Additionally, significant differences in the structure of these two networks suggest that crepuscular plant-pollinator networks may vary widely between different locations.

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