Dr. Jessica Forrest

• In-person event
• 4440Q, Carleton Technology and Training Centre, Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6

• Contact
• Dr. Andrew Simons, andrew.simons@carleton.ca

Solitary bees in a warming world

Jessica Forrest, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa

Ectotherms in temperate regions stand to benefit from globally rising temperatures, which ought to increase development rates and foraging opportunities. However, climate change can also bring declining snowpack, altered phenology, and more variable weather, all of which may negatively affect ectotherms and other organisms. In this seminar, I will explore ways in which solitary bees—an important group of native pollinators—are affected by climate change, particularly in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where I have focused my field work. By tracking reproductive success, rates of development and parasitism, and over-winter survival of individual bees, we are beginning to understand what factors limit population growth in bee species with different life-history strategies. The long-term goal is to be able to forecast bee population and community responses to multiple types of environmental change, including a warming climate.