Date of Award:

5-2023

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Nancy Huntly

Committee

Nancy Huntly

Committee

William D. Pearse

Committee

Noelle G. Beckman

Committee

Jessica R. K. Forrest

Committee

Terry L. Griswold

Committee

Robert N. Schaeffer

Abstract

The date on which plants flower and on which bees begin to pollinate varies year-to-year depending on differences in weather. This seasonal timing is known as phenology, and it is already clear that climate change has pushed the spring phenology of many species earlier by increasing temperatures. This is particularly clear in flowering plants, but studying how and why the phenology of pollinators is shifting is more difficult. Most flowering plants rely on pollinators such as bees for their reproduction, and most bees rely on flowers for their sustenance, so bee and flower phenology has to overlap for the crucial interaction of pollination to happen, and understanding the phenology of both is important to predicting how climate change will affect pollination in the future.

Using new and existing data on bee and flower phenology from the Colorado Rocky Mountains, I examined what drives phenology and developed a mathematical model to relate bee phenology to basic demographic rates. Taking a global view, I also tested whether the phenology of plants, insects, and birds is becoming less predictable due to rising temperatures. In general, this dissertation shows that while the drivers of phenology are complex and interrelated, we can predict their outcomes as climate change progresses.

Checksum

5f9b98633ada08aece9e9f6fc5c0202d

Download

Share

COinS

Copyright for this work is retained by the student. If you have any questions regarding the inclusion of this work in the Digital Commons, please email us at .