Skip to main content
Entomology 2021 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
In-Person
In-Person
Livestream
Livestream
On-Demand
On-Demand
Student Competition
Student Competition
Video Chat
Video Chat
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event
Poster Icons
Student Competition
Student Competition
In-Person
In-Person
Poster
Poster
On-Demand
On-Demand
Q&A ViewAttendees 1

Plant-Insect Ecosystems

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad P-IE: Conservation and Invasive Species

Long-term soil management affects floral reward nutritional quality, bee foraging behavior and bee fitness

Monday, November 1, 2021
10:54 AM – 11:06 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
In-Person Student Competition
Soil management practices used in conventional and organic farming systems can affect plant interactions with pests and pathogens, but effects of soil management on pollinators are little understood. Short-term studies show that nutrient amount and source can influence pollen and nectar quality, suggesting that long-term management practices may also alter diet quality. Additionally, because pests can alter plant interactions with pollinators, soil-mediated changes to pest pressures could indirectly influence pollination and pollinator diet quality. We tested whether soil management legacy alters pollinator behavior and diet quality; and whether these effects are direct or due to altered interactions with herbivores or pathogens. We collected soils from conventional and organic fields. Within organic fields, we selected soils with a legacy of high versus low fertility applications, and within conventional fields we collected soils with a legacy of synthetic fertilizer versus green manures. We used path analysis to test direct and indirect mechanisms driving attractiveness to pollinators. A legacy of organic management indirectly increased pollen nutritional quality and attractiveness to pollinators by reducing powdery mildew. Within organic management, a legacy of high fertility inputs indirectly increased diet quality and squash attractiveness to pollinators by reducing powdery mildew infection. W\ithin conventional management, we found no direct or indirect effects of fertility legacy on pathogens, herbivores or pollinators. This is the first example to integrate pollination and bee diet quality into a study examining the legacy effects of soil in an agroecosystem; and suggests a novel way by which local management could affect bee health.