Bees and plants in the climate crisis

Interactions between plants and the bees that pollinate them are dynamic and influenced by the weather. Droughts limit the amount of nectar in flowers and force bees to visit more flowers to harvest the same amount of energy, while high temperatures damage pollen in flowers and increase plant reliance on cross pollination by bees. Our changing climate and increasingly extreme weather will therefore alter interactions between plants and pollinators and have consequences for their fitness.

Bees collect energy and other resources by flying between flowers and harvesting their resources. Flight draws on bee energy reserves, but these are replenished by feeding. The foraging patterns of bees can therefore be modelled in a straightforward way following established principles of behavioural and physiological ecology (e.g. Sibly et al. 2013 doi.org/10.1111/2041-210x.12002). But not all flowers are equal in the resources that they provide to bees. Plants may vary in ability to tolerate high temperature and water shortages, or as a result of growing in damper soils or more shady areas. This means that alongside direct consequences for seed production and survival of plants, extreme weather may change bee preferences for different flowers and/or alter amounts of pollen transferred between plants with potential consequences for reproductive success and evolution of plants (e.g. Bishop et al. 2017 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erw430).

In this PhD project you will develop new mathematical models of bee foraging patterns within patches of flowers using Agent Based Modelling approaches, and adapt existing landscape-scale models of colonial nesting bees (e.g. bumbleBEEHAVE; Becher et al.). To inform your modelling you will conduct a range of experiments on plants and pollinators using state of the art facilities at the University of Reading. Initially, you will use simple experiments to quantify how extreme weather changes floral resources – using this to change floral patch quality within the landscape-scale model. Later, you will develop complex experiments to parameterise your model of bee foraging choices at a small scale.

Working on this inter-disciplinary project with supervisors across the Schools of Agriculture, Policy & Development and Biological Sciences, you will receive training and build your skills in several most-wanted areas in the environment sector.

Application deadline Monday 1st July 2019 at 17:00. Apply directly to Dr Jake Bishop at [Email Address Removed] by sending your CV & covering letter explaining why you are interested in the project and the QMEE CDT, and names and e-mail addresses of two academic referees. At least one referee should have supervised you on a previous research project. Please contact Jake if you would like to discuss the project before applying and see imperial.ac.uk/qmee-cdt for more about QMEE.
Your application should demonstrate adaptability and enthusiasm for inter-disciplinary research, and evidence of quantitative skills e.g. a degree focused on applied maths or computing, or use of advanced quantitative techniques or programming in a biology or ecology degree. You will have, or be about to obtain, a Masters degree and a 2.1 or higher undergraduate degree. Exceptional students at Bachelors level without a Masters will also be considered.
www.reading.ac.uk/apd/staff/j-bishop.aspx