Life Histories and Energetics of Bumble Bee (Bombus Impatiens) Colonies and Workers

Life Histories and Energetics of Bumble Bee (Bombus Impatiens) Colonies and Workers PDF Author: Nhi Cao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
Social insect colonies are complex systems with emergent properties that arise from the cooperation and interaction amongst individuals within colonies. By dividing reproduction and physical labor amongst them, individuals contribute to the growth and ecological success of their colonies, a success that is greater than individuals could achieve on their own. A key characteristic of social insects is a division of labor amongst workers that is determined primarily either by age, morphology, or dominance. Social insects are considered one of the most ecologically successful groups of organisms on earth. Colony life cycles include: 1) growth, in which workers are produced, 2) reproduction, in which queens and males with reproductive capabilities are produced, and 3) senescence. In life history theory, phenotypic plasticity (i.e. a change in phenotype in response to an environmental change), allows organisms to adjust and optimize fitness in response the change in environments. Central to life history theory is the idea that traits have costs and benefits. Using an energetics framework that considers the costs and benefits of traits contributes to our understanding as to why organisms exhibit the sets of traits that they have within their ecological environments. Using the annual bumble bee Bombus impatiens, my dissertation investigates the effects of resource availability on worker production and on the relative allocation of energy towards growth and reproduction within colonies. Bumble bees have a morphological division of labor and concomitantly, they show large intra-colony size variation amongst workers. Because body size is an important life history trait, I also examined the costs and benefits of producing various sized workers. Lastly, I examined the association among worker body size, metabolic rate (a measure of maintenance costs), and lifespan.

Life Histories and Energetics of Bumble Bee (Bombus Impatiens) Colonies and Workers

Life Histories and Energetics of Bumble Bee (Bombus Impatiens) Colonies and Workers PDF Author: Nhi Cao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
Social insect colonies are complex systems with emergent properties that arise from the cooperation and interaction amongst individuals within colonies. By dividing reproduction and physical labor amongst them, individuals contribute to the growth and ecological success of their colonies, a success that is greater than individuals could achieve on their own. A key characteristic of social insects is a division of labor amongst workers that is determined primarily either by age, morphology, or dominance. Social insects are considered one of the most ecologically successful groups of organisms on earth. Colony life cycles include: 1) growth, in which workers are produced, 2) reproduction, in which queens and males with reproductive capabilities are produced, and 3) senescence. In life history theory, phenotypic plasticity (i.e. a change in phenotype in response to an environmental change), allows organisms to adjust and optimize fitness in response the change in environments. Central to life history theory is the idea that traits have costs and benefits. Using an energetics framework that considers the costs and benefits of traits contributes to our understanding as to why organisms exhibit the sets of traits that they have within their ecological environments. Using the annual bumble bee Bombus impatiens, my dissertation investigates the effects of resource availability on worker production and on the relative allocation of energy towards growth and reproduction within colonies. Bumble bees have a morphological division of labor and concomitantly, they show large intra-colony size variation amongst workers. Because body size is an important life history trait, I also examined the costs and benefits of producing various sized workers. Lastly, I examined the association among worker body size, metabolic rate (a measure of maintenance costs), and lifespan.

The Contributions of Life History and Inter-individual Variation to the Study of Energetic Supply and Demand in Bombus Impatiens

The Contributions of Life History and Inter-individual Variation to the Study of Energetic Supply and Demand in Bombus Impatiens PDF Author: Dimitri A. Skandalis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : University of Ottawa theses
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
In insects, flight energetics varies greatly among species but the source of this variation remains unknown. This thesis addresses phenotypic plasticity and matching of cellular and whole-animal metabolism in a bumblebee ('Bombus impatiens'). Bumblebees begin flying prior to full metabolic maturation, suggesting a window of greater metabolic plasticity. Bees were induced to fly before fully maturing, but although flight training resulted in elevated metabolic rates compared to controls, there was no change in biochemical activities of any tested enzymes. Similarly, while statistical models of flight parameters explained the majority of inter-individual variation in measures such as metabolic rate and wing beat frequency, there was no direct link between whole-animal metabolism and cellular energy production pathways. This suggests that muscle energy production and whole-animal metabolic demands are not plastically synchronised, and that inter-specific variation is likely not solely the result of phenotypic plasticity.

Social Development and Conflict in the North America Bumblebee Bombus Impatiens Cresson

Social Development and Conflict in the North America Bumblebee Bombus Impatiens Cresson PDF Author: Ian G. Burns
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description


Managing Alternative Pollinators

Managing Alternative Pollinators PDF Author: Eric Mader
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781933395203
Category : Bee culture
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
"Examines the history of the British fire service from 1800-1980, embracing certain key themes of modern British history: the impact of industrial change on urban development, the effect of disaster on political reform, the growth of the state, and the relationship between masculinity and trade unionism in creating a professional identity"--Provided by publisher.

Bumblebees

Bumblebees PDF Author: Dave Goulson
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199553068
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
This book provides a concise and readable summary of the ecology and behaviour of bumblebees, with a particular focus on practical issues such as conservation strategies, management of bumblebees for crop pollination, and the possible impacts of bumblebees as non-native invasive species.

Biotic and Abiotic Manipulation of Thermoregulatory Capacities in Bombus Impatiens

Biotic and Abiotic Manipulation of Thermoregulatory Capacities in Bombus Impatiens PDF Author: Hannah Leigh Stewart
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Bumble bees are an important ecological and economic pollinator. One important facet of the bumble bee life cycle is its ability to thermoregulate (i.e., maintaining a body temperature independent of ambient temperature). Bumble bees thermoregulate to enable flight and brood incubation. Despite how vital it is to survival, little is known about factors that may affect thermoregulation. Given how energetically costly thermoregulation is, trade-offs are expected with other equally important biological processes such as stress responses. In this dissertation I will first discuss what is known about social bee thermoregulation and its sensitivity to stressors (chapter 1). I then report on experiments wherein immune challenge effects on thermoregulation were explored in commercially reared bumble bee workers (chapter 2) and similar experiments that I performed on other bumble bee castes and wild bumble bee workers (chapter 3). Finally, I report on experiments involving external manipulation of the bumble bee colony temperature to examine if bumble bee workers are task flexible and will switch to foraging when their thermoregulatory needs are reduced (chapter 4). Pathogens and parasites are a causal factor in recorded bumble bee population declines. It is energetically expensive to mount a host immune response, and since organisms are typically energy resource limited, it is expected that trade-offs will manifest with other biological processes. To address if immune challenge impacts thermoregulatory capacity, I examined recovery of bumble bees exposed to cold and heat stress. My results support the hypothesis that immune challenge negatively impacts thermoregulatory strategies. A possible mechanistic explanation for these phenomena was explored by examining a potential trade-off between expression of heat shock protein (HSPs) and antimicrobial peptide (AMPs) genes, but such a trade-off was not well supported. Given that workers were negatively impacted, I expanded to other castes and wild bees to see how generalizable the results were. My results demonstrated that immune challenge has negative impacts on other castes and wild bees as well. As thermoregulation occurs at both the individual and colony level, I was interested also in colony level effects. Two competing hypotheses exists for thermoregulatory behaviors in colonies; 1) bees are task flexible and will switch between behaviors as needed or 2) bees are behavioral specialists and will be "lazy" until a stimulus threshold is met. In this study I developed a method to externally control colony temperature thereby removing their thermoregulatory needs. Foraging and thermoregulatory behaviors were quantified, and my data support the hypothesis that worker bees are behavioral specialists and, in response to a reduced need to incubate the brood, may act as a thermoregulatory reserve. My dissertation research thus provides novel insights into thermoregulatory behaviors in Bombus impatiens. Thermoregulatory strategies can be both disturbed and manipulated, which has implications for the bumble bee life cycle. I also conclude that bumble bee thermoregulation needs to be further studied, as there are still many gaps in our understanding, including that of the mechanistic details of thermoregulatory behaviors, and of how biotic and abiotic factors may impact thermoregulation.

Attracting Native Pollinators

Attracting Native Pollinators PDF Author: The Xerces Society
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1603427473
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
With the recent decline of the European honey bee, it is more important than ever to encourage the activity of other native pollinators to keep your flowers beautiful and your grains and produce plentiful. In Attracting Native Pollinators, you’ll find ideas for building nesting structures and creating a welcoming habitat for an array of diverse pollinators that includes not only bees, but butterflies, moths, and more. Take action and protect North America’s food supply for the future, while at the same time enjoying a happily bustling landscape.

Mechanisms of Life History Evolution

Mechanisms of Life History Evolution PDF Author: Thomas Flatt
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191621021
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analyzing the ecological factors that shape age-specific schedules of growth, reproduction, and survival and by investigating the trade-offs that constrain the evolution of these traits. Although life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among species, it traditionally ignores the underlying proximate mechanisms. This novel book argues that many fundamental problems in life history evolution, including the nature of trade-offs, can only be fully resolved if we begin to integrate information on developmental, physiological, and genetic mechanisms into the classical life history framework. Each chapter is written by an established or up-and-coming leader in their respective field; they not only represent the state of the art but also offer fresh perspectives for future research. The text is divided into 7 sections that cover basic concepts (Part 1), the mechanisms that affect different parts of the life cycle (growth, development, and maturation; reproduction; and aging and somatic maintenance) (Parts 2-4), life history plasticity (Part 5), life history integration and trade-offs (Part 6), and concludes with a synthesis chapter written by a prominent leader in the field and an editorial postscript (Part 7).

Division of Foraging Labor in the Bumble Bee, Bombus Impatiens

Division of Foraging Labor in the Bumble Bee, Bombus Impatiens PDF Author: Jessica Hagbery
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781124720661
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
Foraging specialization plays an important role in the ability of social Hymenoptera to efficiently allocate labor and adapt to environmental changes. However, relatively little is known about whether bumble bees, important social pollinators, can flexibly allocate their foraging. I removed pollen specialists at different stages in the life of a Bombus impatiens colony and recorded the pollen and nectar foraging of every forager on each foraging trip over the lifetimes of five established colonies. Adult bumble bee foragers were defined as pollen specialists (>̲90% of all foraging visits on pollen), nectar specialists (>̲90% of all foraging visits on nectar) or generalists (all other foragers). The removal of pollen specialists at early and late phases in colony life led to increased pollen foraging (36% and 14% increase, respectively) by generalist foragers. After pollen specialists were reintroduced, generalists decreased pollen foraging to prior levels. A uniform, proportional extraction of all forager types had no effect on the foraging of generalists remaining in the colony. Thus, the specific removal of pollen specialists caused the foraging compensation by generalists. This shows the importance of pollen specialists and the colony's ability to reallocate their foraging labor in response to pollen foraging labor shortages.

Ecology of Social Evolution

Ecology of Social Evolution PDF Author: Judith Korb
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540759573
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals to deal with the key questions of sociobiology. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.