EFFECTS OF FOREST AGE ON POLLINATORS AND YIELD IN ADJACENT APPLE ORCHARDS: LINKING FOREST MANAGEMENT AND CROP PRODUCTION

The overarching goal of the project is to understand how forest age--which is likely to influence bee abundance and community composition within forests--affects (1) bee visitation to crop flowers and (2) crop yield in orchards. The research will accomplish this goal by sampling bees and measuring yield in apple orchards that vary in the age of adjacent forest. The results will be communicated to crop growers and forest managers with the goal of informing how forest management can support crop production.Thus, the key objectives of the project are:Determine how the age of forest adjacent to apple orchards affects the abundance, diversity, and identity of bees visiting apple flowers.Determine howthe effects of forest age on the bee community in orchards translate to effects on apple yield.Communicate the research results to a broad audience, includingpollinator scientists, foresters, and crop growers.