Warming induces short-term phenological shifts in pollinator-plant interactions that enhance larval development in honey bee

by Megan M. Y. Chang, Pei-Shou Hsu, En-Cheng Yang, Syuan-Jyun Sun, Chuan-Kai Ho

Climate warming can precipitate mismatches in plant-pollinator interactions by altering their phenologies of both parties, impacting ecosystem services. While most studies have focused on long-term, seasonal phenological shifts, the effect of warming on short-term phenological match-mismatch in these interactions remains unclear. Here, we investigate how experimental warming affects within-day foraging behavior of the honey bee (Apis mellifera) and plant anthesis, and whether the resulting changes in bee pollen composition, in terms of the relative abundance of pollen from different plant species, influences larval development. Experimental warming advanced both the within-day foraging by bees and anthesis of Bidens pilosa—the predominant pollen source among all plant species represented in the collected pollen. Through experimental manipulation of pollen composition, we demonstrated that an increased proportion of B. pilosa pollen in the diet enhanced bee larval growth efficiency. Overall, our study demonstrates that warming may influence pollinator interactions with the many plant species by affecting pollinator behaviors and plant anthesis on short-term temporal scales, with potential implications for pollinator larval development.