Consequences of choice: Effects of plant health on the colony health of bumblebees (Bombus impatiens)

Climate change and agricultural intensification are altering landscapes around the world, increasing severe weather patterns, and decreasing biodiversity and habitat for native animals and plants. These changes have direct impacts on native plants and crops, by increasing both the intensity and duration of stressors. Beyond the fitness impacts on plants themselves, plant stress alters the floral display and can have cascading impacts on pollinators utilizing them. In North America bumblebees play an important role in delivering pollination services in both native and agricultural landscapes. This makes them particularly susceptible to changes in host plant physiology. We investigated the impact of multiple plant stressors on bumblebee foraging behavior and colony fitness, using two choice and no choice assays, assessing larval development within the colony.