To control or not to control: response of pollinator communities to invasive plant management Active
If invasive plants are producing pollen and nectar used by native pollinators, what happens when a manager decides to control the invasive plant? Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is addressing this question and has found that pollinators are adept at changing their resource acquisition strategies as abundantly flowering invasive species decline. In addition, it appears that the invasive species in some cases may be drawing in additional pollinators, which then visit native plants as the invasive senesces. From the pollinators’ perspective, the key consideration is that alternative resources are available, and from the manager’s perspective, those resources should be the desired plant community. When considering pollination services, it is important to recognize the range of insects that provide those services; pollen transport networks developed from these studies have illustrated the importance of diverse taxa, including bees, beetles, flies and wasps, that are important pollen vectors.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Conserving all the pollinators: Variation in probability of pollen transport among insect taxa
Exotic plant infestation is associated with decreased modularity and increased numbers of connectors in mixed-grass prairie pollination networks
- Overview
If invasive plants are producing pollen and nectar used by native pollinators, what happens when a manager decides to control the invasive plant? Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is addressing this question and has found that pollinators are adept at changing their resource acquisition strategies as abundantly flowering invasive species decline. In addition, it appears that the invasive species in some cases may be drawing in additional pollinators, which then visit native plants as the invasive senesces. From the pollinators’ perspective, the key consideration is that alternative resources are available, and from the manager’s perspective, those resources should be the desired plant community. When considering pollination services, it is important to recognize the range of insects that provide those services; pollen transport networks developed from these studies have illustrated the importance of diverse taxa, including bees, beetles, flies and wasps, that are important pollen vectors.
- Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Conserving all the pollinators: Variation in probability of pollen transport among insect taxa
As concern about declining pollinator populations mounts, it is important to understand the range of insect taxa that provide pollination services. We use pollen transport information acquired over three years in two habitats at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA, to compare probabilities of pollen transport among insect taxa and between sexes of bees. Sampling was conducted on 1-ha plots,AuthorsDiane L. Larson, Jennifer L. Larson, Deborah A. BuhlExotic plant infestation is associated with decreased modularity and increased numbers of connectors in mixed-grass prairie pollination networks
The majority of pollinating insects are generalists whose lifetimes overlap flowering periods of many potentially suitable plant species. Such generality is instrumental in allowing exotic plant species to invade pollination networks. The particulars of how existing networks change in response to an invasive plant over the course of its phenology are not well characterized, but may shed light on tAuthorsDiane L. Larson, Paul A. Rabie, Sam Droege, Jennifer L. Larson, Milton Haar