Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research on pollinators of northern Arizona throughout semi-arid grasslands that are utilized by bison. This research will be primarily comprised of field-based data collection prior to analyses of quantified biological data. The goal of this research is to examine pollinator communities, resources, and habitat quality in relation to areas of varying bison densities. Previous grazing exclusion experiments in this ecosystem revealed grazing-induced ecological changes that lead to altered grassland structure (i.e., plant species composition) and function (i.e., plant production, nutrient dynamics) (Musto 2023). However, no information has been collected on whether (and how) bison-induced changes to plant communities may affect the pollinator communities that utilize flowing plants as food resources and habitat.