Pollinators
Many native ecosystems of have been lost and degraded over the last couple centuries as the human population has increased. As human impacts continue and as the climate changes, restoring and maintaining resiliency within natural habitats is increasingly important. The loss of species and the reduction in population sizes of native species are likely to result in reduced ecosystem functioning. If a degraded or compromised habitat loses resiliency, future changes will have increasingly detrimental impacts compared to a fully-functional, resilient community.
Pollinators of Endangered Plants The endangered Otay tarplant (Deinandra conjugens) is limited to only several locations in southern San Diego County. I am assessing how habitat quality and landscape configuration influences the pollinator communities across the county as well as the interannual variation of the potential pollinators. Pollinator Monitoring Plan To assess the health of a preserve system, a pollinator monitoring plan will be developed to better understand how habitat degredation alters pollinator assemblages. Long-term monitoring will also provide important information to inform management and conservation actions. Research Tasks 1. Describe how pollinator communities differ in habitats of varying quality and landscape composition. 2. Analyze pollination rates in relation to habitat quality and landscape configuration. 3. Develop a pollinator monitoring plan for the coastal San Diego County preserve system. |