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Temporal Dynamics of Seeded, Native Adventive, and Non-Native Vegetation in Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks on Reclaimed Mines

Lybbert, Andrew H
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5408-9985
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595512084426782

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology.
Plant-pollinator interactions represent a crucial ecosystem function threatened by anthropogenic landscape alterations. Pollinator declines have been recorded in various regions around the world. Habitat alterations often result in reductions of plant biodiversity and pollinator declines have been linked to the loss of floral communities. Establishing wildflower habitat to benefit pollinators is a major conservation objective. However, most seeding projects occur over just a few years, so the persistence of longer-term wildflower seeding is largely unknown. Disturbances also facilitate non-native plant invasions. Many non-native flowers are visited by pollinators in degraded landscapes and may play a pivotal role in supporting pollinators when native plants are not available. If non-native flowers fill gaps in floral availability their eradication could have negative consequences on pollinator conservation. However, we do not understand how pollinators use non-native plants over changing seasons. Understanding temporal dynamics of seeded and non-native wildflowers in plant-pollinator networks is essential to pollinator conservation in highly degraded habitats, such as reclaimed surface-mined landscapes. To evaluate long-term patterns of prairie vegetation seeded to support pollinators on reclaimed surface-mined landscapes, I quantified floral diversity and abundance in minimally managed (no fire or mowing) plots established using three seed mix combinations from 2009 to 2019. Diversity of seeded plants peaked the second summer following planting but declined over the subsequent decade. Higher wildflower diversity seed mixes produced more diverse communities than a low diversity mix, but their benefits only lasted approximately four years. Several plant species that are attractive to pollinators persisted but took approximately three years to reach peak abundances and primarily flowered late in the summer, so they will not fully support all pollinators. To compare seasonal variation of pollinator use of native and non-native plant species, I constructed monthly plant-pollinator networks from May to September on reclaimed surface-mined habitat. I documented 12,811 interactions between 108 insect and 94 flowering plant taxa. Native and non-native plants did not vary in species-level metrics characterizing pollinator use of plant species. However, pollinator use of plants varied across months of the blooming season, being visited most during the late spring. On disturbed landscapes non-native plants supported pollinators mostly early in the bloom season when native plant resource availability is limited. To determine what factors describe non-native plant integration into plant-pollinator networks, I combined plant-pollinator network data with information relating to plant species floral abundance, morphology, and phylogenetic distance (a proxy for trait similarity) and tested their effects on plant species centrality using model selection. Pollinator visitation was driven by floral abundance, plant height, and phylogenetic distance rather than traits known to influence pollinator visitation (e.g., flower color, symmetry, shape). Less abundant, more distantly related and shorter plant species were less central within plant-pollinator networks. Non-native plants were not more dissimilar from co-flowering native species. Trait similarity between native and non-native flowers can increase plant-plant competition and facilitation for pollinators, but more testing is necessary to determine how non-native plants affect native flower visitation on reclaimed surface-mine landscapes.
Karen Goodell (Advisor)
174 p.
Biology; Botany; Ecology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lybbert, A. H. (2020). Temporal Dynamics of Seeded, Native Adventive, and Non-Native Vegetation in Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks on Reclaimed Mines [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595512084426782

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lybbert, Andrew. Temporal Dynamics of Seeded, Native Adventive, and Non-Native Vegetation in Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks on Reclaimed Mines. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595512084426782.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lybbert, Andrew. "Temporal Dynamics of Seeded, Native Adventive, and Non-Native Vegetation in Plant-Pollinator Interaction Networks on Reclaimed Mines." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1595512084426782

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1595512084426782
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.