Student Poster Display
Plant-Insect Ecosystems
Student
Student Competition
Caleb B. Bryan
PhD Candidate
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Sean M. Prager, Ph.D., FRES
Associate Professor
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Global climate change is expected to increase the risk, frequency, and intensity of many abiotic and biotic plant stressors. Here, we show direct evidence of the effects of climate-related plant stress on bumble bee brood development (Bombus impatiens), and simple floral resources from a mass-flowering crop (canola, Brassica napus). Specifically, we demonstrate variable responses in detection and avoidance of stressed host plants by bumble bee foragers. These plant stressors alter both plant morphology and physiology, posing direct risks to plant-pollinator interactions by disrupting the floral cues and resources pollinators rely on. This is particularly important in agroecosystems, as plant health, harvest, and crop rotation rapidly shift floral resources over large homogeneous habitats. Quantitative evidence is needed to understand how landscape-scale environmental shifts, such as climate-related plant stress, affect pollinator communities in these systems. Bumble bees serve as important native pollinators in agroecosystems meeting the needs of a diverse array of plants, and mass-flowering crops, such as canola, have proven essential for bumble bee abundance and colony health in these systems. Here we demonstrate the effects of a variety of climate-related plant stressors on the social bumble bee Bombus impatiens focusing on understanding the role plant stress plays in forager efficiency, colony stability, and plant-pollinator interactions. Providing evidence for how environmental pressures drive community shifts. These insights will help to increase the sustainability of agricultural practices and food security by informing assumptions about the impacts of climate change on native bees and bee communities.