Drought stress influences foraging preference of a solitary bee on two wildflowers.
Annika Rose-PersonLouis S SantiagoNicole E RaffertyPublished in: Annals of botany (2024)
Our findings indicate that bees prefer visiting non-droughted flowers, likely reducing pollination success for drought-stressed plants. Lack of preference for non-droughted P. campanularia flowers in the morning may reflect the higher drought tolerance of this species. This work highlights the potentially intersecting, short-term physiological and pollinator behavioral responses to drought and suggests that such responses may reshape plant-pollinator interactions, ultimately reducing reproductive output for less drought-tolerant wildflowers.