Environmental problems are growing at a pace and scale that traditional research methods alone can no longer tackle. Innovative research models that utilize contributory, participatory and crowdsourcing methods are rapidly emerging to fill this gap. For these participatory efforts to be effective and sustainable, however, closer attention must be paid to key components that can promote coordinated action and sustainability. Through the lens of public participation in plant-pollinator conservation, I have, with rigorous social-ecological inquiry, offered three foundational assessment areas that can provide scientific support to this nascent field: accuracy, ecological significance and scalability. In the first study (Chapter 2), I explored a common concern about citizen science: that a lack of foundational knowledge, or familiarity with following scientific protocols could lead to inaccurate data collection. I evaluated the accuracy of plant phenology observations collected by citizen scientist volunteers following protocols designed by the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN). Phenology observations made by volunteers receiving several hours of formal training were compared to those collected independently by a professional ecologist. Approximately 11,000 observations were recorded by 28 volunteers over the course of one field season. Volunteers consistently identified phenophases correctly (91% overall and 70% during transitions) for the 19 species observed. Accuracy varied significantly by phenophase and species (p<0.0001). Volunteers who submitted fewer observations over the period of study did not exhibit a higher error rate than those who submitted more total observations, suggesting that volunteers with limited training and experience can provide reliable observations when following explicit, standardized protocols. Overall, these findings demonstrate the ii legitimacy of phenology observations collected by volunteers, an important finding for the increasing number of analysts relying on data collected by citizen scientists. In Chapter 3, I explored a common concern that restoration efforts implemented by the public may not have adequate ecological value. I addressed key ecological variables to determine how small-scale patches attracted pollinators and explored which of these variables might be best to prioritize for restoration efforts suited to public initiatives. This study demonstrated that in small-scale plant restoration sites, plant diversity and resource (nectar) availability significantly affects the abundance and diversity of pollinating insects. Specifically, the treatments which contained high-resource (nectar-rich) plant species increased pollinator abundance and diversity the most. Plant diversity increased pollinator diversity and abundance only in the absence of high-resource plants. Pollination facilitation was observed in high resource treatments, but varied among species. Competition for pollinators was observed in high diversity treatments but did not affect seed set for high-resource plants in any of the treatments. Together, these results suggest that managers or landowners who are restoring patches of native plants as habitat for pollinators should prioritize including species with high nectar production, and secondarily, a diverse mix of species if space and resources allow. In Chapter 4, I explored an emergent approach to public participation in regional community science initiatives (and networks) through an exploratory case study of the New York Phenology Project. I demonstrated that local organizations have the opportunity to utilize existing data aggregation platforms to activate regional collaborative alliances to achieve what is often challenging for large-scale contributory projects. I describe our hands-on experience of conceiving and launching a regional network and outline a model that could serve as a guide for catalyzing networks. Drawing on direct experience and interviews with network partners, I developed a description of key categories related to network node success, and a linked assessment tool that could be used to evaluate network node capacity and project outcomes. The assessment tool will be used to test preliminary findings in a more formal quantitative and qualitative exploration in future studies. In Chapter 5, I explored an exceptional long-term, community-level phenology data set that spans New York State, USA (1802-2017), and found interesting and significant patterns of phenological change over time. The data set provides statewide phenology and temperature data that extend further back in time than any previously known data set for the region, extending to years prior to or at the beginning of recent human-caused global warming. I found that most species are flowering and leafing earlier in recent years (2009-2017) than they did in the early 19th century (1802-1861). Plants are flowering 11 days earlier and leafing 18.8 days earlier, with some species flowering up to 27 days earlier and leafing up to 31 days earlier over that time period. Most of this change was driven by warming mean spring temperatures (MST) over that time; mean spring temperatures warmed by 1.0°C statewide (2.5°C in New York City) on average between the historical and contemporary periods. Seasonality, Life Form, and the interaction between Seasonality and Life Form explained variation in phenology among species. The large number of geographically distinct sites in this dataset permitted novel investigation into differential changes in phenology between urban and rural areas (urban areas have more advanced phenology than their rural counterparts) and between insect and wind pollinated trees by seasonal category (insect pollinated trees are showing more advanced phenology than wind pollinated trees in both early and late spring). This analysis has brought the efforts of a historical network into a modern context and has illustrated how organized long-term monitoring efforts can be valuable for ecological discovery. This combined work provides a diverse contribution to the field of public participation in monitoring and conservation efforts. While thorough and disciplined ecological theories drive the design of the research, I simultaneously strove to help meet the ongoing demand for useable, purposeful insights into how to support public efforts to restore plant-pollinator habitats, monitor key ecological dynamics such as phenology, and scale networks capable of collecting data that address issues of global change.

Abstract of Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1970.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Dewey M. Caron, Dept. of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology. Includes bibliographical references.

Pollination data is provided for a third of the Plectranthus species in southern Africa. In the largest genus of Lamiaceae in the region (53 species), 18 were studied, plus two species of allied genera (Pycnostachys urticifolia and Aeollanthus parvifolius). Study of these 20 species aimed to describe the groups of pollinators that have driven pollinator specialisation. Case histories are provided upon which future studies of Lamiaceae pollination, breeding systems and speciation may be based. Bees (Apidae) and flies (Nemestrinidae, Acroceridae and Tabanidae) are the main pollinating insect groups. Seven straight-tubed Plectranthus species show a match between corolla tube- and proboscis length of nectar-feeding pollinators. Long-proboscid nemestrinid flies are specialised on long-tubed Plectranthus species (P. ambiguus, P. hilliardiae, P. reflexus and P. saccatus), while shorter-proboscid flies of all three families are important pollinators of straight-tubed species with medium- and short corolla tubes. Seven species with sigmoid corolla tubes are bee-pollinated, with fly-pollination prevalent in some. Bent corolla tubes, coupled with length, act as barriers to illegitimate nectarfeeders and ensures alignment of pollinators for effective pollen placement and carryover. It is suggested that straight-tubed species may have evolved from sigmoid-tubed species. Long-tubed species with straight corollas in other Lamiaceae may show convergent pollination by long-proboscid flies, with the guild being dependent on habitat and distribution of plants and flies. Formal establishment of the Stenobasipteron wiedemanni pollination guild extends the study from Plectranthus to selected Acanthaceae, Orchidaceae, Balsaminaceae, Gesneriaceae and Iridaceae, occurring in forested habitat along the Eastern seaboard. Micro-distillation of essential oils confirmed parentage of a putative natural hybrid; once established, hybrid data allows studies of the importance of natural hybridisation events in explaining pollinator fidelity. Nectar sugar studies in Plectranthus mostly showed sucrose dominance; cases of hexose dominance are noted and discussed. Nectar volume and concentration proved variable and do not fit any trends. Pollination by medium-proboscid acrocerid flies has importance for ‘medium-tubed’ plants, since six of the Plectranthus species are solely or partially reliant on Acroceridae for pollination. An appendix with consolidated data describes the 20 study species i.t.o. morphology, habitat, study sites, field work, pollinator observations and insect vouchers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Insect pollinators provide indispensible ecosystem services for agricultural, natural and urban ecosystems, and have been declining drastically around the globe. These declines are largely due to fragmentation and loss of habitat resulting from urbanization and intensification of agriculture, and raise concerns over global food security. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of urbanization on abundance, species richness and diversity of insect pollinators, and whether urban environments have potential as sites for conservation. Cities are highly heterogeneous environments with ample foraging and nesting opportunities and can house an abundance and diversity of pollinators. Urban environments can serve as refuges for many pollinator species. Effective city planning and mixed conservation strategies can help to promote healthy populations of insect pollinators in urban environments, which can help to stabilize populations in rural settings, thereby ensuring pollination services for agriculture and terrestrial ecosystems. / Pollinerande insekter (pollinatörer) bidrar med oumbärliga ekosystemtjänster till jordbruk och naturliga och urbana ekosystem, och de har minskat drastiskt i antal runt hela jorden. Dessa nedgångar orsakas till största del av habitatförstöring och -fragmentering, och väcker oro över den globala matsäkerheten. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka hur urbanisering påverkar abundans, artrikedom och biodiversitet hos pollinatörer, samt om urbana miljöer har potential som platser för bevarande av pollinatörer. Städer är mycket heterogena områden med gott om matresurser och boplatser, och kan husera en mångfald av pollinatörer. Urbana miljöer lämpar sig bra som platser för bevarande av pollinatörer. Med effektiv stadsplanering och en blandning av olika bevarandestrategier kan städer uppehålla hälsosamma populationer av pollinatörer. Detta kan hjälpa till att stabilisera populationer på landsbygden och därmed säkerställa pollinationstjänster till såväl jordbruk som naturliga terrestra ekosystem.

Cette thèse aborde l’écologie et l’évolution des relations qu’entretiennent les orchidées du genre Ophrys avec leurs pollinisateurs. L’approche comparative et la combinaison (i)<p>d’analyses chimiques de phéromones sexuelles et de parfums floraux, (ii) d’analyses génétiques avec des outils moléculaires, et (ii) de tests de comportement réalisés sur les insectes in situ nous ont permis d’éclairer certains aspects méconnus de ces interactions inter-spécifiques. La pollinisation des orchidées du genre Ophrys est assurée par des mâles d'abeilles ou de guêpes solitaires qui opèrent une tentative d’accouplement (pseudocopulation) sur le labelle des fleurs. L'attraction des pollinisateurs est généralement hautement spécifique, régie par un mimétisme des signaux (chimiques, visuels, tactiles) des femelles des espèces d'insectes concernés. Malgré cette spécificité, des hybrides se forment occasionnellement en conditions naturelles, témoignant de la perméabilité partielle des barrières d'isolement reproductif entre espèces. Au cours de<p>ce programme de recherche, nous avons entrepris l’étude des interactions Ophryspollinisateurs en mettant l’accent sur trois aspects spécifiques, à savoir (i) la sélection des caractères floraux par les pollinisateurs, (ii) l'isolement reproductif entre espèces d'Ophrys sympatriques, et enfin (iii) l'évolution des caractères floraux au sein d'un complexe d'espèces-soeurs d'Ophrys associées à différents pollinisateurs. Les principaux<p>résultats de ce travail sont repris ci-dessous, ponctués de références aux articles qui rassemblent l’intégralité des études réalisées. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished