Abstract

Over the last few centuries, anthropogenic activity has reduced the extent of prairie habitats in the United States by 99%, restricting prairie plants to isolated remnants. These plants rely primarily on pollinators for reproduction and genetic diversity. Unfortunately, fragmentation has disrupted this interaction, and many plants experience reproductive failure due to pollination limitation. Fire used to be common in this habitat and fire-suppression has been found to be detrimental. Therefore, prescribed burning has been introduced as a management tool to increase plant reproduction in prairie remnants. This study evaluates the effect of prescribed burn events on the pollinator fidelity to Echinacea angustifolia. I caught bee pollinators, Augochlorella aurata (n = 14), Agapostemon virescens (n = 12), small dark bees (sdb) (n = 59) which included bees in the Halictus and Lasioglossum genera (Halictidae) and bees in the Ceratina genus (Apidae), as they foraged on Echinacea angustifolia in burned (n = 5) and unburned (n = 5) remnants. I then collected pollen from the bees to estimate pollinator fidelity via the proportion of Echinacea pollen. I found that pollinators carried proportionally less Echinacea pollen if they were collected in sites that had been burned in the spring of 2024 than in unburned sites. The results suggest that burning may negatively affect the proportion of conspecific pollen deposition. These results provide a new and more comprehensive examination of the impacts of prescribed burns on plant-pollinator interactions within prairie communities.

Advisor

Ison, Jennifer

Department

Biology

Keywords

Fragmentation, Prairie, Echinacea, Pollination, Prescribed Burns

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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Available for download on Monday, July 22, 2030

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© Copyright 2025 William Maximillian Likins