The results show how the presence of an invasive plant and year-to-year variation in plant-pollinator interactions affect the pollination and components of pollinator-mediated selection in native plants.

Plant-pathogen interactions act as a selective pressure on both parties involved. Changes in their environment can cause these relationships to shift in favor of either party. Subalpine ecosystems are experiencing increased drought, early snowmelt, and advancing phenology as a result of climate chan

Biofluorescence, the emission of visible light by organisms following the absorption of shorter wavelengths of light, has been identified recently in various amphibians but remains poorly understood in salamanders. This study investigates the potential relationship between biofluorescence and sexual

Climate change poses a unique problem for sessile species because individuals are unable to move to track their optimal habitat. Instead, population turnover governed by population processes must occur in order for the species distribution to change. Current methods to predict current and future spe

Recent climate change has contributed to large-scale tree mortality across forested regions in Colorado. As forest health declines, concern for associated terrestrial biogeochemical and hydrologic shifts is mounting. These shifts are related to reduced tree canopy cover, cessation of belowground rhi

Individuals respond to predators through an array of anti-predator behaviors that can be influenced by their social environment, specifically through protection from predators or by altering risk-resource trade-offs through competitive exclusion from resources. While social effects like group size a

There is still much unknown about how microbes within flower nectars, specifically bacteria, impact pollinators. Hummingbirds use gustatory and visual cues to determine which flowers are most rewarding. The diversity in colonization of nectar-inhabiting microbes, such as bacteria, can alter the scen

Jill T. Anderson1,2* and Contemporary climate change is proceeding at an unprecedented rate. The question remains Susana M. Wadgymar3 whether populations adapted to historical conditions can persist under rapid environmental 1 change. We tested whether climate change will disrupt local adaptation an

Climate change has brought intense disruptions to the natural patterns of growth and reproduction in sub-alpine ecosystems, generating changes to the food sources that Broad-tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycerus), which breed in the Rocky Mountains, depend on. A hotter, dryer climate results i

Alpine plant communities are particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change, which makes predicting how these communities will respond important for their conservation. This can be better predicted by understanding how the communities assemble, which is highly influenced by species intera

Previous studies on bumblebee foraging behavior found that bumblebees often exhibit optimal foraging behavior when collecting nectar and pollen. A popular theory is that bumblebee foraging can be represented by the marginal value theorem (MVT). This summer, I observed the foraging behavior of Bombus

Human recreation can lead to changes in behavior and distribution patterns of wildlife populations. This project aims to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the Hunt trap, a novel non- invasive technique used to estimate small mammal abundance (2) determine the distance from trails at which we see an

The relationship between environmental variation and fitness has been well established. However, fitness may also be indirectly impacted by environmental variation through the modulation of social behavior. We aim to quantify the effects of environmental variation on sociality, specifically social r