Plant-fungal symbioses affect the growth and fitness of most plants on earth. Moreover, they can structure plant community composition and feedback to affect ecosystem-level properties such as carbon storage. As climate change drives species distribution shifts in plants, the fungi may or may not co

Parasites have the potential to alter population dynamics by decreasing fitness and increasing mortality of their hosts. Changes in ecosystems may also create scenarios that are more conducive to higher infection or parasitism. This survey examined parasitism of Bombus by Crithidia bombi, Nosema bom

With the current climate changes occurring globally, it is important to learn about how species distributions will react in the future. Questions have arisen as to whether species, including conifers, exist in a single or multiple climate envelopes which are described by their current distributions.

There is still much unknown about how microbes within flower nectars, specifically bacteria, impact pollinators. Hummingbirds use gustatory and visual cues to determine which flowers are most rewarding. The diversity in colonization of nectar-inhabiting microbes, such as bacteria, can alter the scen

Climate change is predicted to impact pollinators through both direct and indirect mechanisms: by altering physiological stress through warming temperatures and by changing species interactions through the altered phenology and abundance of food sources and competitors. While research has been done

Conflict and cooperation can drive how unrelated individuals interact, while illustrating whether the interests of two individuals converge or diverge. The subsocial, biparental beetle Nicrophorus investigator provides an excellent model to study these two interactions because researchers can manipu

Animal personality is becoming increasingly relevant behavioral ecology because of its potential impact on reproductive success. Measuring personality however can be difficult because many factors, such as microhabitat variation and habituation, affect how an animal responds to a given test. Using n

Both antagonistic and mutualistic types of interactions between species occur in most ecosystems, and these different types of interactions can contribute to indirect effects between species, such as trophic cascades. These interactions can be altered by humans, and one major way this is occurring i

Nitrogen is a critical element in biological systems, with its cycling increasingly influenced by human activities, particularly in agriculture. In Colorado, where 50% of land is used for agriculture, cattle grazing may impact the ecosystems of montane and subalpine ponds inhabited by Ambystoma mavo