The Hidden Benefits of Pollinator Diversity for the Rangelands of the Great Plains: Western Prairie Fringed Orchids as a Case Study

Nocturnal vs. Diurnal Pollination of Self-Fertile Peaches and Muscadine Grapes

“…Few studies, however, consider the contribution of nocturnal species to crop production, and even fewer studies focus specifically on nocturnal pollination in agroecosystems, generating a bias in understanding. There is an abundance of literature on the importance of nocturnal moths as pollinators in a wide range of ecosystems (Bawa 1985;Arizaga et al 2000;Clinebell et al 2004;Alarcón et al 2008;Kato et al 2008;Travers et al 2011;LeCroy et al 2013;Banza et al 2015;Rhodes et al 2017). In fact, growing evidence suggests nocturnal moths are more important as pollinators of crops than previously believed (Luo et al 2011;Cutler et al 2012;MacGregor et al 2019).…”

Timing is Everything: An Overview of Phenological Changes to Plants and Their Pollinators

“…However, plant-pollinator relationships are also critical to the health and sustainability of natural areas. Besides the genetic and reproductive benefits plants receive from pollination (Kearns et al 1998;Harmon et al 2011), animal pollinators play less obvious, though often imperative, roles in maintaining plant diversity and conservation (e.g., Travers et al 2011) and as critical parts of the food webs that sustain insects, fish, and wildlife (Black et al 2011;Gilgert and Vaughan 2011). While harder to quantify, these ecological services are also incredibly valuable (Losey and Vaughan 2006;Gilgert and Vaughan 2011).…”

Reinventory of the vascular plants of Mormon Island Crane Meadows after forty years of restoration, invasion, and climate change

“…Though WPFO appears to tolerate a range of hydrological conditions and management practices, it may require a narrow set of circumstances to flower en masse ( Currier 1984 ; Sheviak and Bowles 1986 ; Bjugstad-Porter 1993 ; Bleho, 2015 ). Moreover, recent detections of known WPFO pollinators within the CPRV suggests that pollinator decline was not likely a key reason for the WPFO's apparent disappearance from Mormon Island ( Cuthrell 1994 ; Westwood and Borkowsky 2004 ; Travers et al., 2011 ; Lotts et al., 2021 ). The population could have been negatively impacted by inbreeding depression associated with geographic isolation or potentially by herbicide drift related to exotic-invasive species control efforts in the area ( Kraemer and Alsum 2006 ; Ross and Travers 2016 ).…”