STRIKING A BALANCE: THE ROLE OF PLANT ANTAGONISTS AND SOIL IN STRUCTURING PLANT-POLLINATOR RELATIONSHIPS
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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.
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Raguso, Robert
Kessler, Andre