Organisms inhabiting seasonal environments must fit their life cycle into a limited time window while also synchronizing periods of resource consumption with timing of resource availability. Introduced non-native species, which often differ in phenology from natives, can alter and expand the seasona

Food underpins fitness and ecological interactions, yet how nutrient availability shapes species interactions in natural communities remains poorly understood. Most nutritional ecology research focuses on laboratory or single-species systems, limiting insight into how nutrient use and nutrient niche

Schenker 1 Intraspecific trait variation – the variation among individuals within the same species – is seen within all natural populations and strongly affects the dynamics of and interactions between populations, communities, and ecosystems. Individual trait variation fluctuates across space and t

Global warming, and exacerbated warming temperatures with humane activity, could impose novel conditions on the lives of many organisms. Of those, the behaviors and diets of solitary bees face adaptive stress as their optimal foraging conditions and preferred floral resources fluctuate. Trap nests m

Flowering plants are in an evolutionary battle for the attention of pollinators to increase their fitness. However, microbes are increasingly recognized as key players in mediating interactions between plants and pollinators. Most studies of floral microbes have focused on the role of obligate necta

Abstract Climate change can modify the population dynamics of insects. In this instance, “climate” encompasses temperature and precipitation patterns, including dry season or snow cover duration and timing. Also included are changes in both climate means and variances. Insect declines in response to

AbstractHow bees shift the timing of their seasonal activity (phenology) to track favorable conditions influences the degree to which bee foraging and flowering plant reproduction overlap. While bee phenology is known to shift due to interannual climatic variation and experimental temperature manipu

Plants produce an array of chemical and mechanical defences that provide protection against many herbivores and pathogens. Putatively defensive compounds and structures can even occur in floral rewards: for example, the pollen of some plant taxa contains toxic compounds or possesses conspicuous spin

Abstract Assisted migration consists of the introduction of a species to previously inhabited areas or to new suitable regions. Such introductions have been touted as a viable tool for conserving the earth's biodiversity. However, both the likely success of assisted migrations and the impacts on loc

Primary nectar-robbers feed through holes they make in flowers, often bypassing the plant's reproductive organs in the process. In many robbed plants, multiple holes are made in a single flower. Why a flower should be robbed repeatedly is difficult to understand: a hole signals that a nectar forager

Climate and land use change are two of the largest drivers of worldwide biodiversity loss, but detecting drivers of insect decline is more complex. Online data sources can elucidate such responses while identifying systematic data gaps. Using a systematic review, we found 119 studies that document b

To understand bumblebee thermal limitations a controlled experient was built and tested in different environmental conditions to determine the most stable form of conducting upper and lower thermal trials in the field. The study was conducted at field sites located at the Rocky Mountain Biological L

The decomposition of animal carrion, particularly small animals that are used as a breeding resource for carrion insects, is little studied but is likely to be a major component of nutrient cycling in many ecosystems. This project focuses on how carrion insects affect small vertebrate carrion decomp

The study of plant-insect interactions and pollination has just begun to scratch the surface of the microbes that inhabit many of the surfaces involved in these interactions. While most microbial studies have focused on the roles of obligate nectar yeasts in mediating pollinator behavior and fitness

Spring Environmental Symposium — Western State College, April 22, 2003 Topic - What is a healthy forest economy? : peer(te Thank you for this opportunity and thanky you George for the motivation to pull pa Break some thoughts together. George’s assignments are always challenging. I was — asked to ta