Most flowering plants depend on animal pollinators for pollination and reproductive success, including many of our crops. Numerous factors influence pollination success including plant pollination requirements, pollinator populations, and abiotic factors that affect both the plants and pollinators. Our research focuses on better understanding the factors that mediate plant-pollinator interactions, structure pollinator communities, and determine plant pollination success. Projects in our lab include, 1. Enhancing our understanding of pollinator ecology, behavior, and life history with a focus on native, wild bees, 2. Investigating the effects of disturbances and conservation efforts on pollinator communities, 3. Elucidating floral traits that drive pollinator attraction and pollination services, and 4. Determining pollination requirements, degrees of pollen limitation, and dependence on animal pollinators across different crop and wild plant species. Below are some of our ongoing research projects.
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Flowering plant and bee community assembly
Bees are intimately linked to their food source, flowering plants. We study how floral resource availability measured at different spatial scales, from patches to landscapes, structures bee communities. Our work in this area also identifies the best plants for bees and other pollinators with the goal of informing conservation efforts. Currently, we are conducting research on how abiotic, biotic, and socio-economic factors mediate the conservation value of pollinator gardens (funded by USDA NIFA). We are examining how plant origin and irrigation interact to determine the resource value of plants for pollinators, and how landscape context mediates the conservation value of pollinator gardens. With our collaborators in the social sciences, we are also examining barriers to implementing pollinator-friendly gardening practices.
Effects of disturbances and conservation efforts on pollinator communitiesResearch projects in this field explore pollinator community responses to disturbances and conservation efforts at the behavioral, population, and community level. We also investigate how responses vary with pollinator life-history traits, disturbance intensity, or landscape context. Current projects in this area include examining how the timing of prescribed burns affects plant and pollinator phenology with consequences for plant pollination success, and investigating how the frequency of fire affects ground-nesting pollinator populations.
Floral traits and plant-pollinator interactionsPollinators make foraging decisions that are influenced by floral traits and rewards. Our work in this area focuses on elucidating the factors that mediate plant-pollinator interactions including the quantity and quality of floral rewards, flower morphology, and visual and olfactory cues. Currently, we are examining variation in floral traits and rewards across southern highbush blueberries and how this variation affects pollinator recruitment (funded by USDA SCRI). We are also investigating how florivores, in particular flower thrips, alter floral traits and rewards in both strawberries and blueberries to impact pollinator recruitment and pollination success (funded by USDA NIFA).
Pollination ecology of rare plants Florida is home to many rare and endangered plants that depend on insect pollinators for optimal reproductive success. Our research in this area focuses on assessing degrees of pollen limitation in rare and endangered plants, identifying effective insect pollinators, and examining management and conservation practices that impact pollination success. We have worked with the federally endangered false rosemary Conradina etonia and state and federally endangered Rhododendron species. Crop pollination ecologyMany crops including fruits, nuts, and vegetables, depend on insect pollination for optimal yields. We identify plant pollination requirements, effective pollinator species, and management practices that enhance crop pollination. Currently, we are examining management decisions that impact pollination of blueberry and watermelon crops in Florida including pest management practices, the diversity and density of managed bees, and the diversity and arrangement of cultivars with subsequent effects on cross-pollination rates (funded by USDA SCRI, USDA NIFA, SARE Graduate Student Grant, Southern IPM Foundation, and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services).
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