Nutritional Ecology of Solitary and Social Bee Species
Open Access
- Author:
- Crone, Makaylee
- Graduate Program:
- Ecology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 16, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Christina Grozinger, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Fang Zhu, Major Field Member
Sarah Goslee, Outside Unit & Field Member
David Biddinger, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Jared Ali, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Natalie Boyle, Outside Field Member - Keywords:
- Bee nutrition
nutrition
wild bees
honey bees
pesticides - Abstract:
- Bees provide pollination services that are essential for plant reproduction in natural ecosystems and human food production. However, managed and wild bee species are in decline, threatening global food security and ecosystem stability. Anthropogenic stressors are leading causes of bee decline, including pesticides, pathogens, poor nutrition, and climate change. Most bee species consume pollen and nectar produced by flowering plants, which vary considerably in their macro- and micronutrient concentrations, to meet their nutritional needs. Bees’ nutritional needs vary by physiological condition (e.g., developmental stage, disease state, etc.) and across species. The Nutritional Geometric Framework theory predicts that bees will forage across plants with different nutrient ratios to meet their nutritional requirements. Thus far, studies of the nutritional needs of bees and nutritional properties of plants have been limited to only a small number of taxa. To design plant communities and habitats to best support bees, we must improve our understanding of bee nutrition across species and physiological states, as well as how we can meet these needs with different plant taxa. Here, I increase our understanding of bee nutritional ecology by (1) evaluating how physiological state (exposure to pesticides) influences nutritional needs of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.), (2) characterizing, for the first time, the nutritional needs of mason bees (Osmia cornifrons Radoszkowski) during development and describing foraging preferences and behaviors of egg-laying females as they provision their brood cells, and (3) determining how urban landscape area influences the foraging preferences, nutritional preferences, and brood cell production of the large-headed resin bee (Heriades truncorum L.). Finally, I summarize current and emerging approaches and techniques used for studying wild bee nutrition and provide a framework for designing studies to develop a more holistic understanding of wild bee health. My research has moved the field of pollinator nutritional ecology forward by integrating multiple stressors with nutritional needs, examining nutritional needs across physiological, organismal, and landscape scales, and providing a framework to design impactful future studies.