John M Mola, Ph.D.
John Mola is an ecologist and Mendenhall Fellow at the Fort Collins Science Center. His research focuses on pollinator and pollination ecology.
Biography
John Mola is a Mendenhall Fellow at the Fort Collins Science Center. John received his PhD in Ecology from University of California Davis in 2019. His research focuses on pollinator and pollination ecology, using tools from landscape ecology and conservation genetics. His work at USGS is concerned with the conservation of the federally-listed Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis). John is also interested in fire ecology, movement ecology, and plant-insect interactions, generally.
Science and Products
Long‐term surveys support declines in early‐season forest plants used by bumblebees
Populations of bumble bees and other pollinators have declined over the past several decades due to numerous threats, including habitat loss and degradation. However, we can rarely investigate the role of resource loss due to a lack of detailed long‐term records of forage plants and habitats.We use 22‐year repeated surveys of more than 262 sites...
Mola, John Michael; Richardson, Leif L; Spyreas, Greg; Zaya, David N.; Pearse, Ian Impact of "non-lethal" tarsal clipping on bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii) may depend on queen stage and worker size
Recent bumble bee declines have prompted the development of novel population monitoring tools, including the use of putatively non-lethal tarsal clipping to obtain genetic material. However, the potential side effects of tarsal clipping have only been tested in the worker caste of a single domesticated species, prompting the need to more broadly...
Mola, John Michael; Stuligross, Clara; Page, Maureen L.; Rutkowski, Danielle; Williams, Neal M. Wildfire reveals transient changes to individual traits and population responses of a native bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii)
1. Fire-induced changes in the abundance and distribution of organisms, especially plants, can alter resource landscapes for mobile consumers driving bottom-up effects on their population sizes, morphologies, and reproductive potential. We expect these impacts to be most striking for obligate visitors of plants, like bees and other pollinators,...
Mola, John Michael; Miller, Michael R.; O'Rourke, Sean M.; Williams, Neal M. Forests do not limit bumble bee foraging movements in a montane meadow complex
1. Understanding the roles of habitat fragmentation and resource availability in shaping animal movement are integral for promoting species persistence and conservation. For insects like bumble bees, their movement patterns affect the survival and reproductive potential of their colonies as well as the pollen flow of plant species. However, our...
Mola, John Michael; Miller, Michael R.; O'Rourke, Sean M.; Williams, Neal M.
Field Research for the Benefit of Bees
USGS scientists take on the task of surveying native bee populations to understand what may put native bees at risk, and how to help them.