Investigating Invertebrate Biodiversity in Managed Forests

• We are investigating pollinator floral resource usage and plant-pollination networks in restored montane longleaf pine forests. We seek to understand how stand-level restoration treatments and landscape-level patch distribution influences plant-pollinator networks and understory plant diversity.

• We are investigating the response of pollinator communities to silvicultural treatments in upland oak forest fragments on privately owned farms, to determine the impact of farm-scale management on conservation of pollinating insects.

• We are contributing to a comprehensive analysis of plant and pollinator richness, diversity, community structure and plant-pollinator associations in powerline rights of way on the Cumberland Plateau.

• We are developing research to quantify the benefit
  of urban forests relative to pollinators and beneficial insect diversity in urban environments, and to investigate variables which may influence nest establishment and reproductive success of solitary wild bees and other beneficial insect groups in urban and semi-urban environments, including forage patch connectivity, competitive stress, pesticides, and microclimate conditions.