Tracking plant phenology and pollinator diversity across Alaskan National Parks: A pilot study
Rykken JJ. 2021. Tracking plant phenology and pollinator diversity across Alaskan National Parks: A pilot study. Natural Resource Report. NPS/AKRO/NRR—2021/2291. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2287170
Climate change is a prevailing anthropogenic threat to pollinator communities in Alaska, with potential consequences including phenological mismatches in plant-pollinator interactions. Evidence for phenological mismatch takes many years of consistent sampling to collect, but we can learn more immediate details about variability in the phenology of plants and their pollinators across climatic gradients by sampling across a wide geographic range. Our regional approach in eight Alaskan national parks, spanning more than 11 degrees of latitude, focused on seven common and widespread plants in Alaska. Our objectives were to: (1) track phenology of host plant development across the growing season in 2–3 plant species within each park; (2) collect and compare pollinators from these same plant species; (3) compare phenology and pollinator diversity for each plant across parks; (4) develop and refine user-friendly, effective protocols for use by non-experts. During 2019 and 2020, a total of 599 plant phenology observations were made across nine sites in eight parks. The timing of first flowers and the duration between flowering and production of ripe fruits varied between plant species; common dandelion showed the most variation across parks. A total of 4,856 arthropods were collected from flowers across all plant species. Sampling efforts varied among plant species, but fairly consistent patterns of proportional abundance among major arthropod taxa were found on each plant species across parks. Flies comprised most of the catch for four plants (Rhododendron groenlandicum, Rosa acicularis, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Taraxacum officinale), bees were the dominant group on Chamerion angustifolium, and hemipterans were most diverse and abundant on Achillea millefolium. At least 34 families of flies were collected overall, by far the most diverse pollinator group. The protocols we tested and baseline data we collected in this pilot project will lay the groundwork for future phenological research in Alaskan national parks.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rykken, Jessica
- Date of Issue
- 2021-08
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/nrr-2287170
- Units
- AKR , AKRO , DENA , GAAR , GLBA , KEFJ , KLGO , LACL , NRSS , SITK , WRST
- Keywords
- arthropods, plant phenology, pollinators