Pollinator visitation in Moving Uphill plots for 2019

Climate change impacts the interactions of many species, including those between plants and pollinators. Plant-pollinator interactions, crucial for the persistence of most plant and many insect species, are threatened by climate change-driven spatial shifts. Upward elevational shifts by plants can alter spatial overlap of plant and pollinator species. These spatial mismatches could decrease plant fecundity, influence pollinator nutrition, and impact the strength and resilience of pollinator networks, especially in less diverse systems such as the alpine. Past work at Niwot Ridge Research Station in the Colorado Rockies has examined differences in plant and microbe species across a large elevational gradient. Here, we strive to examine how elevation affects pollination. Initial findings indicate that plants experience higher visitation rates by insects at higher elevations. Analysis of the diversity of these insects is ongoing.