Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The majority of food crops require pollinators to maximize yield, and crop yields can therefore be reduced if too few pollinators visit crop flowers. Thus, understanding how best to increase pollinator visitation to crops is key for increasing crop production. In the northeastern U.S., the most important pollinators of spring-blooming crops--such as apples--are wild bees that depend on forest habitat. As a result, orchards near forests tend to receive more pollination.However, no guidelines are currently available for managingforests to supportcrop pollination because it is unknown what forest characteristics best support the wild bees that pollinate crops. For example, it is unclear whether younger and older forests support crop-pollinating bees equally well.Forest age is particularly important toconsiderbecause the age at which forests are harvested for timber is a central factor in forest management plans. If these knowledge gaps are addressed, management of forests adjacent to orchards could be tailored to conserve pollinators and support crop production.In order to provide evidence-based guidelines for managing forests to support crop production, I plan to evaluate pollinators and yields in apple orchards that vary in the age of adjacent forests. In each orchard, I will collect data on the abundance, biodiversity, and visitation rate of wild bees on apple flowers. I will then collect data on apple yield in each orchard. Using these data, I will determine whether the age of adjacent forest affects bee communities and crop yields in apple orchards. This research will provide an importantstep towards integrating forest management, pollinator management, and crop production.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
80%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of the project is to understand how forest age--which is likely to influence bee abundance and community composition within forests--affects (1) bee visitation to crop flowers and (2) crop yield in orchards. The research will accomplish this goal by sampling bees and measuring yield in apple orchards that vary in the age of adjacent forest. The results will be communicated to crop growers and forest managers with the goal of informing how forest management can support crop production.Thus, the key objectives of the project are:Determine how the age of forest adjacent to apple orchards affects the abundance, diversity, and identity of bees visiting apple flowers.Determine howthe effects of forest age on the bee community in orchards translate to effects on apple yield.Communicate the research results to a broad audience, includingpollinator scientists, foresters, and crop growers.
Project Methods
Efforts:I will select apple orchards that vary in the age of surrounding forest, at which I will collect data to answer the research questions.To characterize the bee community visiting apple flowers, I will conduct standardized netting surveys at each study site, nettingall bees I see on apple flowers. In addition to netting, I will conduct observations to estimate flower visitation rates--an important predictor of pollination success.To quantify apple yield at each site,I will collect data on fruit set, fruit weight, and number of seeds per fruit.To answer the research questions, I will use Bayesian modeling techniques to analyze (1) the effects of forest age on theabundance, diversity, and identity of bees in orchards and (2) the resulting effects on yield.Evaluation:Progress and success of these efforts will be evaluated by selection of appropriate study sites, collection of several thousand bee specimens across sites, and collection of fruit set data in all study orchards. Key milestones for success will be the expected outcomes of one scientific publication andseveral conference presentations.