ArcticBuzz: Understanding the mechanisms determining plant-pollinator population and network responses to climate change

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The effect of climate change on ecosystem processes is a key research priority, and understanding how species and communities respond to such change is crucial if we are to predict and mitigate potential harmful effects.

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This project conducts annual fieldwork in an Arctic location (an area experiencing some of the highest degrees of temperature change) to gain long-term data. The approach being taken is to understand how populations and their associated behavioural, phenological, and morphological traits are being influenced by seasonal (year-on-year) changes in weather (& environmental conditions). Using this data we are looking to develop a mechanistic framework to predict how the structure of plant-pollinator interaction networks will respond to climate change. 

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The work has involved:

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1) Understanding how turnover of bee and plant species and functional traits contribute to plant interaction robustness

2) How are species and traits thermally sensitive, and how does this mediate interaction probabilities

3) Can we use multidimensional trait analyses to predict plant-pollinator interactions, and how is climate shaping the trait space of species

4) Has the community composition of bees and plants altered with climate change, and is there evidence of phenological mismatches

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