Elevated Temperature May Affect Nectar Microbes, Nectar Sugars, and Bumble Bee Foraging Preference.

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 comm

SUBMITTER: Russell KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9436853 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature