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Flowering Plant Composition Shapes Pathogen Infection Intensity And Reproduction In Bumble Bee Colonies., Lynn S. Adler, Nicholas A. Barber, Olivia M. Biller, Rebecca E. Irwin

Department of Occupational Therapy Faculty Papers

Pathogens pose significant threats to pollinator health and food security. Pollinators can transmit diseases during foraging, but the consequences of plant species composition for infection is unknown. In agroecosystems, flowering strips or hedgerows are often used to augment pollinator habitat. We used canola as a focal crop in tents and manipulated flowering strip composition using plant species we had previously shown to result in higher or lower bee infection in short-term trials. We also manipulated initial colony infection to assess impacts on foraging behavior. Flowering strips using high-infection plant species nearly doubled bumble bee colony infection intensity compared to low-infection …