Fight or Flight: Invasive Honeysuckle and Local Pollinator Communities

Background

The Moore lab has been observing the effect of invasive honeysuckle (Lonicera mackii) on native spring ephemerals in the Western Campus woods for the last 3 years. Light is an important environmental cue for many spring-flowering species. Honeysuckle has leaves that emerge before the upper-story trees and changes the amount of light available to these short-lived species.

Our Emphasis is on Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) and Cut-leaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), the most numerous species at all study sites. Honeysuckle has shown a significant effect on canopy coverage and lowering the temperature of the forest floor.

The data demonstrates a shorter flowing window for our species of interest, shortening the amount of time their pollen is available.

The phenology of honeysuckle changing the conditions on the forest floor may be causing further ripples of change in the ecosystem.

This difference in reproduction raised the question: Is invasive honeysuckle also affecting the pollinators that are dependent on these local spring ephemerals?

We hypothesize that the insect communities will differ based on the presence or absence of honeysuckle. Additionally, we predict that honeysuckle will have a negative impact on the insect communities located under invasive honeysuckle.