Pollinator Associations

Pollinator Associations is a collection of observations that establish associations between nectar and pollen producing plants and the essential wildlife that facilitate floral reproduction.

Observations Fields may be added when adding an observation to the project. These fields are not required, however the addition of the fields advance the community science of the project.

The project tracks floral host with the field "Associated species with name lookup". This is the primary observation field for the project. This is a lookup field in the iNaturalist database. The lookup function returns the accepted Latin Name. Common names in current use may be entered and return the Latin Name.

The second observation field "Nectar Plant" is the primary observation field for several other pollinator projects. See the resources below for a discussion on the pollinator interactions and the functional differences in meaning. It is helpful to the project to enter the floral host. The host identity is not required, but it facilitates the assemblage of the project association data.

Your are encouraged to post an observation of the host plant. This provides a peer reviewed reference of the host. It is helpful to document the observation with the field "Reference URL". This field is the iNaturalist web link at the top of the observation and reads https://www.inaturalist.org/observation/"real-number". The link provides an active lookup of the host.

Other pollinator projects are available to define the biological and ecological nature of pollination services. These are "Pollinators" https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pollinators, "Butterfly & Moth Nectar Plants "https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-moth-nectar-plants, and "Flower Visiting Wasps of the US and Canada" https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flower-visiting-wasps-of-the-us-and-canada . These project are valuable contributions to understanding the ecological nature of pollination services.
"Pollinators" is world wide in scope. This project attempts to identify the species engaged in pollination services and the seasonal timing. Butterfly & Moth Nectar Plants is world wide in scope but is restricted to the Lepidoptera. This project requires the identification of the host nectar plant. "Flower Visiting Wasps of the US and Canada" is restricted to the Thread-waisted Wasps. See https://www.inaturalist.org/project/flower-visiting-wasps-of-the-us-and-canada/terms for the families of wasps being collected in the project.

It is encouraged that any observation that are added to "Pollinator Associations" are also added to the other appropriate projects that have taxonomic and spatial parameters. All pollinator observations should be added to "Pollinators" as it is the most inclusive project.

Data Structure
The Pollinator Associations Project is based on the observations of the pollinator vector as the primary and research grade observation. The ecological relationship is established with the Observation Field "Associated species with name lookup". The project is advanced by this Observation Field. However, any note identifying the host is helpful. This may be in the Description or as a Tag. An additional observation of the floral host is the best documentation of the host vector relationship. The host observation than may be independently vetted as Research Grade. The connection between the two observations then may be established by the Observation Field "Reference URL". This is the web link at the top of the observation page and has the structure of https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/"observation_number". This web link allows for direct access to the nectar or pollen host.

The remaining Observation Fields allow for the analysis of secondary features or functions. They are affirmative statements that require only a yes addition to the project if the feature is present. Day Flying Moth is used to identify moths that are nectaring. Flower part being consumed? is to document feeding on floral part other then nectar or pollen collection. Insect geniculated into the floral tube. is an identification of active nectar collection or pollen gathering. This behavior is recognized from the head being pressed into the floral tube or nectarines. It is meant to express active foraging in the flower. Proboscis Inserted is meant to identify observations that show a mouth part extended into the floral tube. Pollen on insect is meant to record observations that demonstrate pollen attached to the vector. Robbing Nectar is to document occurrences where nectar is being collected through a hole at the base of the floral tube. Both of Pollen on insect and Robbing Nectar are positive affirmative statements. However, they require the active selection of Yes before the field value is added.

The Observation Fields "Name of Associated Plant" and "Nectar Plant" are functional equivalent to "Associated species with names lookup" but are the primary association fields for two separate projects "Flower-Visiting Wasps of the United States and Canada" https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flower-visiting-wasps-of-the-us-and-canada and "Butterfly & Moth Nectar Plants" https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-moth-nectar-plants. These three projects have a common goal of identifying ecological relationships and each is based on a host and vector observations that establish that function.

A fourth project Pollinators https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pollinators is the oldest and largest of the pollinator projects. It is the most inclusive and open to all observations that are of a pollinator. It is recommended that all pollinator observations should also be added to Pollinators. Supporting this project improves the list of the inventory of the taxa involved in pollination.

Resources:

Pollination Syndromes

There are different classes of zoological interactions with the flowering plants that are typical of that class. The general outlines of those interactions is summerized at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination_syndrome.

An excellent introduction to the ecological relationships between the flora and fauna. Thanks to nancyasquith for the link
http://www.foxleas.com/uploads/files/Insects%20Feed%20Sept%202015.pdf an overview of the types of pollinators,

http://www.amateuranthecologist.com/ a look at pollination ecology,

http://www.fritillariaicones.com/info/pollinators.html,

and

https://www.oregonbeeproject.org/bees/ an index of online pollinator topics.

https://washingtonbumblebees.org/ a very interesting resource for Washington State Bumble Bees

Chimney Bees
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/globe_mallow_bee.shtml

Texas Pollinating Beetles
http://texasento.net/TX_Pollinators.html#Meloidae

Beetles
https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/beetles.shtml

Diptera
Syrphidae
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/edanko/archives/2020/05
http://cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca/mylmst_23/mylmst_23.html

Pollinator mediated interactions by herbivores. Research into the ecology of pollination.

Settling on leaves or flowers: herbivore feeding site determines the outcome of indirect interactions between herbivores and pollinators, Quint Rusman, Peter N. Karssemeijer, Dani Lucas‑Barbosa, Erik H. Poelman1; 4 November 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04539-1
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-019-04539-1 less ↑