Urbanization is among the greatest threats to biodiversity on the planet, and is projected to increase in magnitude in coming years. This growing threat makes it important to better understand how urbanization may impact vital ecosystem services, such as pollination. Studies on the impact of urbanization on pollination vary wildly in their findings. This study analyzed multiple aspects of pollination success in common milkweed populations varying in urbanization level, including insect community composition, pollen removal/deposition, and fruit/seed production. By analyzing multiple pollination aspects we can determine the overall mechanism in which urbanization instills on the entire pollination process. Overall, urbanization increased insect visitation rate, and altered insect composition, with small bees and bugs/beetles having a larger presence in urbanized areas. Pollen removal also increased with urbanization, while other factors of pollination success were unaltered. These results suggest that increased urbanization can differentially impact components of the pollination process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-5752 |
| Date | 01 August 2023 |
| Creators | Rockow, David |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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