Compounding evidence suggests a current or impending sixth mass extinction event and pollinator crisis. While several factors contribute to pollinator declines, the most notable driver is habitat loss and degradation. Agricultural grasslands provide crucial habitat for wild and domesticated fauna, regulate water and nutrient cycles, store carbon, and maintain soil stabilization. However, conventional tall fescue pastures, which dominate the southeastern United States, limit pollinator habitat, reduce ecosystem services, and diminish cattle productivity if infected with toxic endophytes. Establishing wildflowers (WFs) and native warm season grasses (NWSGs) into tall fescue pastures has the potential to boost both pollinator ecosystem services and cattle productivity. This study monitored the differences in honey bee colony health, productivity, and pollen foraging behavior between diversified and conventional grazing pastures in south west Virginia. Chapter 1 sought to evaluate the health and productivity of hives within NWSGW+ diversified and conventional grazing systems. Chapter 2 sought to 1) determine whether honey bees used sown wildflower species in diversified pastures as significant sources of pollen, 2) compare species composition and nutritive value of pollen collected from hives within diversified and conventional pasture systems, and 3) evaluate temporal trends in pollen collection. Floral surveys revealed diversified pastures had almost 4x greater mean bloom density than conventional pastures, with over half of all blooms recorded in diversified pastures belonging to unsown species. Results from this study suggest that colonies in diversified pasture systems may have a slight advantage in population resource acquisition, population growth, and winter survival following the first year of establishment, though further research is needed. Pollen DNA metabarcoding revealed that honey bees in both diversified and conventional pasture systems have similar diets, and that sown species were foraged upon primarily in the fall. Samples collected from diversified pasture systems yielded greater pollen weight, species richness, and protein content. In conjunction with previous research, these results indicate that diversified pastures could ultimately provide a more complex nutritional support system for pollinators in grazing agroecosystems. However, individual pasture renovation may not be large enough to yield statistically significant differences in honey bee colony success. / Master of Science / Many studies have suggested that we are currently experiencing or entering a sixth mass extinction event and pollinator crisis. While several factors contribute to pollinator declines, the most notable driver is habitat loss and degradation. Agricultural grasslands provide crucial habitat, regulate water and nutrient cycles, store carbon, and maintain soil stabilization. However, conventional tall fescue pastures, which dominate the southeastern United States, limit pollinator habitat, reduce ecosystem services, and can diminish cattle productivity. Establishing wildflowers (WFs) and native warm season grasses (NWSGs) into tall fescue pastures has the potential to boost both pollinator and cattle health and productivity. This study monitored the differences in honey bee colony health, productivity, and pollen foraging behavior between pastures diversified with WFs and NWSGs and conventional grazing pastures in south west Virginia. Chapter 1 evaluated the health and productivity of hives within diversified and conventional grazing systems. Chapter 2 sought to 1) determine whether honey bees used sown wildflower species in diversified pastures as significant sources of pollen, 2) compare species types and value of pollen collected from hives within diversified and conventional pasture systems, and 3) evaluate temporal trends in pollen collection. Floral surveys revealed diversified pastures had almost 4x greater mean bloom density than conventional pastures, with over half of all blooms recorded in diversified pastures belonging to species we didn't purposefully plant. Results from this study suggest that honey bee colonies in diversified pasture systems may have a slight advantage in resource acquisition, population growth, and winter survival following the first year of establishment, though further research is needed. A Pollen DNA analysis revealed that honey bees in both diversified and conventional pasture systems have similar diets, and that they collected pollen and nectar from the flowers we planted primarily in the fall. Honey bee colonies in diversified pastures collected more protein-rich pollen from a wider variety of flowers. These results indicate that diversified pastures could ultimately provide a more complex nutritional support system for pollinators in grazing agroecosystems. However, individual pasture renovation may not be large enough to yield large differences in honey bee colony success.

Declines in pollinators around the globe, notably the loss of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to Colony Collapse Disorder, coupled with a dearth of quantitative data on non-Apis bee pollinators, led to this dissertation research, which documents the role of non-Apis bees in crop pollination in southwest Virginia. Major findings of this first study of its kind in the region were that non-Apis bees provided the majority of pollination—measured by visitation—for several economically important entomophilous crops (apple, blueberry, caneberry, and cucurbits); diverse bee populations may be helping to stabilize pollination service (105 species on crop flowers); landscape factors were better predictors of non-Apis crop pollination service than farm management factors or overall bee diversity; and non-Apis bees in the genera Andrena, Bombus, and Osmia were as constant as honey bees when foraging on apple. Non-Apis, primarily native, bees made up between 68% (in caneberries) and 83% (in cucurbits) of bees observed visiting crop flowers. While 37–59 species visited crop flowers, there was low correspondence between bee communities across or within crop systems ("within crop" Jaccard similarity indices for richness ranged from 0.12–0.28). Bee community diversity on crop flowers may help stabilize pollination service if one or more species declines temporally or spatially. A few species were especially important in each crop: Andrena barbara in apple; Andrena carlini and A. vicina in blueberry; Lasioglossum leucozonium in caneberry; and Peponapis pruinosa and Bombus impatiens in cucurbits. Eight species collected were Virginia state records. In models testing effects of farm management and landscape on non-Apis crop pollination service, percent deciduous forest was positively correlated in apple, blueberry, and squash, but at different scales. For apple and blueberry, pollination service declined with an increase in utilized alternative forage but was positively related to habitat heterogeneity. For squash, percent native plants also related positively, possibly due to increased presence of bumble bees in late summer. Species collected from both bowl traps and flowers was as low as 22% and overall site bee diversity had no effect on crop pollination service, highlighting the value in pollination research of monitoring bees on flowers. / Ph. D.

Agriculture is an important industry in Virginia, with an array of crops grown and animals produced. Virginia's crop, livestock, and poultry sectors sold agricultural products worth $1.4 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, in 2012. One of the products, grain, serves as an important input for raising livestock and poultry. Virginia needs to import grain from other states (Eastern Corn Belt states) to meet current livestock feed requirements, an expense that raises the cost of production over locally sourced grains . Further, such movements of grain from producing-areas to demand-areas rely on the efficient and timely interaction of grain storage and transportation. Describing the details of the grain supply chain provides insights into the interplay and relationships among production, storage, transportation, and end users of grains and oilseeds in Virginia. Results of a state-wide survey of Virginia grain producers shed light on the following topics: current cropping practices; current grain storage practices; available farm-level storage and its use, age, and expected life; and future storage plans and constraints. Overall findings include, grain production in Virginia has generally increased over the last decade, yet storage capacity remains constant and continues to age; livestock and poultry populations are declining leading to less demand for feed grains and oilseeds; grain farmers report satisfaction with their current storage situation and higher returns to stored grain may encourage "non-storers" to build storage; and the majority the grain leaving the farm is hauled by truck over short distances (25 miles or less). Overall, the results provide a foundation for understanding the grain supply chain in Virginia and offer useful information to Virginia's agricultural stakeholders. / Master of Science