Abstract:

Re-establishing native forbs for pollinators is currently highly resource-intensive, and limited by the lack of commercially available seed for most species. Therefore, it would be useful to know which native flower species are most effective at supporting whole communities of pollinators, to ensure that pollinator restoration efforts provide the maximum benefit to the most pollinator species. In the scientific literature, calculating various “preference metrics” from plant-pollinator interaction data has become a popular way to assess pollinator community flower preference. In applied settings, selecting flower species using flower lists for pollinators produced by conservation or extension organizations is common. We field tested predictions from preference metrics and flower lists about which flower species pollinators would visit the most in Alberta grasslands, controlling flower relative abundance. Although all flower visiting insects can act as pollinators, some also perform the useful function of being natural enemies (predators or parasitoids) of economically important crop pests. We also analyzed flower preference by natural enemy assemblages in Alberta’s Dry Mixedgrass region and how these preferences changed seasonally. Finally, in restoration of native forbs for pollinators, controlling non-native weed establishment requires significant resource investment. We investigated how pollinator flower visitation to native forbs changed as percent cover of non-native flowers increased at the patch level.

Bio:

Dr. Carol Frost is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta. She is an arthropod community ecologist with a focus on biodiversity conservation. She studies how arthropod biodiversity and species interactions at the community level produce ecosystem states and functions, and how anthropogenic change drivers affect biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystem functions. She seeks to discover low-cost ways in which human industrial and urban activities could be modified to generate large improvements in biodiversity conservation.