Pollinators are important for the survival of many flowering plants, and the plants provide the pollinators with food.  Bees and a variety of other insects move pollen from plant to plant, ensuring seed set and gene flow between plants and plant populations.  In return, the insects get floral resources (nectar and pollen) that are vital to their own survival.

     There are several reasons why plants may become scarce.  One big reason is the loss of habitat, leaving no appropriate place for the plants to live.  When the habitat is available and plants are still rare, we must look for other explanations.  In some areas certain plants are scarce compared to other flowering plants.  When rare plants are surrounded by abundant and rich flowers, insect pollinators might stay in the area and visit the rare plants; otherwise, in the absence of abundant and rich flowers, insects may bypass the rare plants and fly greater distances looking for more abundant patches of flowers.  On the other hand, rare plants may be overlooked when other more abundant flowers are present.  Although the relationship between plants and their insect pollinators is very important, not much is known about the insects that visit rare flowers in forested ecosystems.  

     We are investigating the pollinator-plant relationships of three federally listed plant species that live in the longleaf pine ecosystem of the Apalachicola National Forest and are protected only on these public lands.  We are examining Harper's beauty (Harperocallis flava; Amaryllidaceae), White birds-in-a-nest (Macbridea alba; Lamiaceae), and Florida skullcap (Scutellaria floridana; Lamiaceae).   All of these species grow and flower better after a fire.  Presumably, fire clears surrounding vegetation and releases nutrients into the soil.

      We are identifying insect pollinators and hope to evaluate the effects of several factors that influence pollinator visitation rates and seed set.  Knowledge of insect pollinators and of the interdependence of insects and these protected plant species is essential for developing management strategies that ensure the survival of both the plants and insects.  This work will also provide the first insights into the potential effects of forest management on plant-pollinator relationships in a fire-maintained system.  Overall, we hope to highlight potential management effects on an ecosystem process that crosses trophic levels, and can be used to illustrate the complexity of maintaining composition and processes in such an ecosystem.