Land Management and Plant Species Pattern Effects on Grassland Pollinator Services
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University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2020 Land Management And Plant Species Pattern Effects On Grassland Pollinator Services Leslie Blaine Yellow Hammer Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Yellow Hammer, Leslie Blaine, "Land Management And Plant Species Pattern Effects On Grassland Pollinator Services" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 3308. https://commons.und.edu/theses/3308 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LAND MANAGEMENT AND PLANT SPECIES PATTERN EFFECTS ON GRASSLAND POLLINATOR SERVICES by Leslie Blaine Yellow Hammer Bachelor of Science, University of North Dakota, 2015 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfilment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Science Grand Forks, North Dakota August 2020 This thesis, submitted by Leslie B. Yellow Hammer in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. This thesis is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved. ii PERMISSION Title Land Management and Plant Species Pattern Effects on Grassland Pollinator Services Department Biology Degree Master of Science In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis work or, in her (or his) absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this thesis or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Leslie B. Yellow Hammer August 2020 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................viii ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER I. BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................1 II. LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON GRASSLAND POLLINATORS IN GRAND FORKS COUNTY, ND ................................10 Abstract ..........................................................................................................10 Introduction ....................................................................................................10 Methods..........................................................................................................13 Results ............................................................................................................15 Discussion ......................................................................................................17 Acknowledgments..........................................................................................19 III. EFFECTS OF FINE-SCALE PLANT COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ON POLLINATOR SERVICES PROVIDED TO RATIBIDA COLUMNIFERA ............................................................................................31 Abstract ..........................................................................................................31 Introduction ....................................................................................................32 Methods..........................................................................................................36 Results ............................................................................................................39 iv Discussion ......................................................................................................40 Acknowledgments..........................................................................................44 LITERATURE CITED ....................................................................................................51 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Chapter 2 conceptual diagram ..................................................................................7 1.2 Illustration of site sample point layout and survey quadrats ....................................8 1.3 Chapter 3 conceptual diagram ..................................................................................9 2.1 Map of sampling locations in Grand Forks County, ND .........................................25 2.2 Illustration of site sample point layout and survey quadrats ....................................26 2.3 Mean (+SE) invertebrate response to grassland type and year ................................27 2.4 Mean (+SE) vegetation response to grassland type and year ...................................28 2.5 Visualization of the 2016 invertebrate morphospecies PCA ....................................29 2.6 Visualization of the 2017 invertebrate morphospecies PCA ....................................30 3.1 Predicted effect of (a) plot-scale plant diversity on the number of invertebrates captured and (b) RC plant density (g/m2) on captured invertebrate diversity ...........48 3.2 Predicted effect of RC aggregation and RC density (g/m2) on the average RC seed mass (g) per inflorescence ............................................................49 3.3. Predicted effect of plant diversity and percentage soil surface photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) on the number of Dipt.036 individuals ...............................50 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 Sample site information ............................................................................................20 2.2 F-values from MANOVA analysis testing site type and year effects on invertebrate and plant responses ...............................................................................21 2.3 Positively identified plant species that were encountered across 22 sample points ........................................................................................................22 2.4 Most frequently captured morphospecies .................................................................23 2.5 Loadings of the most frequently captured morphospecies on the first two PCA axes .........................................................................................24 3.1 Top explanatory models for invertebrate and seed set response variables ...............45 3.2 Model averaged coefficients ± SE across the top models for invertebrate count, diversity, and seed mass ................................................................................46 3.3. Model averaged coefficients ± SE across the top models for frequently captured morphospecies ...........................................................................................47 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I started off my career journey as a first generation student clueless at how to pursue a career in science. As an undergraduate freshmen, I met my advisor, Kathryn Yurkonis. With her as living inspiration and outstanding mentorship, I was able to flourish despite the challenges I faced. So to Kathryn, thank you. I thank my committee members, Brett Goodwin and Mia Park. With their support, I met the learning curve. It truly takes a team to conduct research. To all the past and present members of the Grassland Ecology lab, thank you for the hard work. I utilized many resources including the UND biology department, McNair program, and the US Masters. Thank you to the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. I appreciation my family. Their support and encouragement is immeasurable and priceless. Wopila. viii ABSTRACT Invertebrate pollinator populations are widely recognized as declining because of anthropogenic activities that include changes in the amount and quality of available habitat, competition with introduced species, increased agricultural chemical use, and climate change. Because habitat and resource availability affect pollinator populations, land management may affect pollinator presence. My first aim was to determine if pollinator communities and habitat characteristics (available bare ground and floral resources) differed between grazed and idle grasslands within the Grand Forks County Grasslands of northeastern North Dakota, USA. Although available bare ground and plant species richness differed between grassland types, floral resources and pollinator communities did not differ between grassland types. My second aim was to determine