[PCA] ARTICLE: Elevated Temperature May Affect Nectar Microbes, Nectar Sugars, and Bumble Bee Foraging Preference (Open Access)

Park, Margaret E margaret_park at fws.gov
Tue Nov 23 10:25:53 CST 2021


Kaleigh A. Russell & Quinn S. McFrederick, Microbial Ecology, October 1, 2021

Abstract:
Floral nectar, an important resource for pollinators, is inhabited by microbes such as yeasts and bacteria, which have been shown to influence pollinator preference. Dynamic and complex plant-pollinator-microbe interactions are likely to be affected by a rapidly changing climate, as each player has their own optimal growth temperatures and phenological responses to environmental triggers, such as temperature. To understand how warming due to climate change is influencing nectar microbial communities, we incubated a natural nectar microbial community at different temperatures and assessed the subsequent nectar chemistry and preference of the common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens. The microbial community in floral nectar is often species-poor, and the cultured Brassica rapa nectar community was dominated by the bacterium Fructobacillus. Temperature increased the abundance of bacteria in the warmer treatment. Bumble bees preferred nectar inoculated with microbes, but only at the lower, ambient temperature. Warming therefore induced an increase in bacterial abundance which altered nectar sugars and led to significant differences in pollinator preference.

Link to article summary:
https://phys.org/news/2021-11-temperatures-overcook-bumblebees-brunch.html?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Weekend+Reader%3A&utm_campaign=Weekend+Reader+Email

Link to full article (Open Access):
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00248-021-01881-x
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