eCommons

 

STRIKING A BALANCE: THE ROLE OF PLANT ANTAGONISTS AND SOIL IN STRUCTURING PLANT-POLLINATOR RELATIONSHIPS

Access Restricted

Access to this document is restricted. Some items have been embargoed at the request of the author, but will be made publicly available after the "No Access Until" date.

During the embargo period, you may request access to the item by clicking the link to the restricted file(s) and completing the request form. If we have contact information for a Cornell author, we will contact the author and request permission to provide access. If we do not have contact information for a Cornell author, or the author denies or does not respond to our inquiry, we will not be able to provide access. For more information, review our policies for restricted content.

No Access Until

2025-09-05
Permanent Link(s)

Other Titles

Abstract

Plant responses to antagonists can have ecological consequences when they influence plant interactions with mutualists such as pollinators. Antagonists, including herbivores and plant pathogens, are believed to jeopardize plant-pollinator interactions by changing plant metabolism, and consequently, floral display and floral rewards. However, it is poorly understood whether herbivore-driven changes to floral traits have distinct consequences for different pollinator taxa, due to variation in pollinator traits, such as foraging habit or dietary preferences. Additionally, agricultural soil management practices may shift the costs and benefits of plants’ strategies for managing their mutualists and antagonists. Here I assessed how variation in the pollinator community and soil legacy structure the outcome of plant-antagonist-pollinator interactions. In Chapter 1, I explore the relationship between herbivory damage, floral traits, and plant attractiveness to pollinators. I find herbivore-induced plant responses affect floral traits, and that the effect of herbivory on pollinator behavior varies across pollinator taxa. In Chapter 2, I investigate whether the pollination consequences of herbivory vary depending on the pollinating taxon. I found that the effect of herbivory on fruit production can be either positive or negative, depending on the pollinating taxon. In Chapter 3, I examined the effects of agricultural soil management legacy on plant resistance to herbivores and pathogens, plant interactions with pollinators, pollinator diet quality, and pollinator survival. I found that organic soil management legacy promotes crop resistance to a common pathogen. Furthermore, soil and sometimes pathogen infection impacted the nutritional quality of pollen and nectar, and survival of adult bees feeding on said pollen. This work refines theory on the ecological consequences of plant antagonists on pollination, showing that these effects are dependent on the pollinator community and the soil environment. Furthermore, the new information we provide on bee taxon-specific ecosystem services and the impacts of soil management on bees could help inform land management plans focused on protecting agriculturally-important pollinators.

Journal / Series

Volume & Issue

Description

122 pages

Sponsorship

Date Issued

2023-08

Publisher

Keywords

aboveground-belowground interactions; chemical ecology; floral resources; plant resistance; plant-pollinator interactions; soil management

Location

Effective Date

Expiration Date

Sector

Employer

Union

Union Local

NAICS

Number of Workers

Committee Chair

Thaler, Jennifer

Committee Co-Chair

Committee Member

Poveda, Katja
Raguso, Robert
Kessler, Andre

Degree Discipline

Entomology

Degree Name

Ph. D., Entomology

Degree Level

Doctor of Philosophy

Related Version

Related DOI

Related To

Related Part

Based on Related Item

Has Other Format(s)

Part of Related Item

Related To

Related Publication(s)

Link(s) to Related Publication(s)

References

Link(s) to Reference(s)

Previously Published As

Government Document

ISBN

ISMN

ISSN

Other Identifiers

Rights

Rights URI

Types

dissertation or thesis

Accessibility Feature

Accessibility Hazard

Accessibility Summary

Link(s) to Catalog Record