BRC-BIO: Downscaling the effects of network structure on pollinator fitness

About This Grant

To produce seeds and fruits, plants must be pollinated. While some plants can self-pollinate, approximately 90% of flowering plants rely on animals for this essential service. Bees are among the most important pollinators for maintaining healthy ecosystems and agricultural productivity. However, many pollinator populations are declining, posing a threat to food production, plant diversity, and natural habitats. This project aims to understand how the choices individual bees make—such as which flowers they visit and how much time they spend foraging—affect their reproduction and, as a result, their populations’ persistence. By studying a native solitary bee species, this research will reveal how these behaviors influence broader environmental patterns and contribute to sustaining bee populations. The unique approach of this study combines greenhouse experiments with camera technology and plant DNA analysis, offering unprecedented detail for uncovering how foraging behavior directly impacts offspring numbers. The findings will advance scientific understanding of pollination while informing conservation efforts and supporting both agricultural production and natural ecosystems. Finally, through explicit mentorship and experiential learning programs, this project will provide undergraduate students with valuable hands-on experience in both field and laboratory research, fostering the next generation of scientists and strengthening the future of America's workforce. Linking species interactions to individual and population-level fitness remains a significant challenge in ecology and evolution. Individuals and species are intricately connected through networks of interspecific interactions, affecting both individual and population fitness. These interactions occur between individual organisms and influence individual performance and survival. By combining greenhouse experiments, pollen metabarcoding, and an innovative camera system, this project will test the effect of interaction patterns on both individual and population fitness, specifically, (i) how variations in interaction structure affect offspring quantity and ratio of each sexual phenotype (fitness); (ii) whether observed interactions accurately represent the foraging and nest-building requirements for pollinator reproductive success (nectar and pollen); and (iii) how foraging behavior, measured as time spent outside the nest, affects dietary breath and pollinator fitness. Results will integrate individual variation into ecological networks, elucidating how higher levels of organization constrain plasticity in foraging behavior and cascade down to impact reproductive outcomes. Ultimately, this research will clarify how interaction networks scale down to pollinator fitness. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.