Managed honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies are important pollinators of many cultivated crops. Honey bee colony declines averaging 30% annually in the United States for the past 7 years have caused significant concern and hence have been a topic of intensive investigation. These declines are reportedly due to multiple...
This thesis studies connections between disorder type in tree polymers and the branching random walk and presents an application to swarm site-selection. Chapter two extends results on tree polymers in the infinite volume limit to critical strong disorder. Almost sure (a.s.) convergence in the infinite volume limit is obtained for...
Up to 99.9% of native North American grasslands have been degraded since European settlement, primarily due to agricultural conversion. Today, grasslands are a top priority for restoration as they provide essential habitat for many rare and endangered species; however, the majority of studies in grasslands have focused on vegetation or...
The importance of pollinators in native and managed landscapes is well known, and recent interest is directed towards investigating the role of native bees as providers of pollination ecosystem services. Uncertainty about bee populations at global and local scales has prompted research and general interest in conservation of bee diversity....
Native bees play an important role as pollinators of natural vegetation and agricultural
crops. Yet many pollinators, including some native bees, are declining in numbers.
Some of the potential causes of these declines are habitat destruction and degradation
by various human land uses, including urban development and sprawl, construction of...
This work combines both applied and basic research regarding previously undescribed relationships between two ecologically and economically important insect groups in coniferous forests, bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) and wild bee (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) communities in Western North America. Across the continent, native bark beetle outbreaks are key drivers of structural...
Bees provide critical pollination services to diverse agricultural crops, native plants and trees. Globally, there are reports of bee declines which have been attributed to diseases, exposure to pesticides and changes in land use that are believed to have led to a reduction in foraging resources and nesting habitats for...