Dynamics of plant-pollinator communities

researcher in a meadow
bee and fireweed

For over a decade, our lab has been studying plant鈥損ollinator interactions at Elk Meadow, a subalpine meadow at CU鈥檚 Mountain Research Station. Each week, from the first flowers in early summer to the last blooms in the fall, we track which plants are flowering and which pollinators are visiting them. This long-term work has helped us understand which plant-pollinator interactions remain consistent over time, how these interactions 鈥渞ewire鈥 within the network, and how they change as the climate shifts. Our research shows that long-term, consistent observation and natural history are essential for understanding how ecological patterns and processes work鈥攁nd how they are changing.

To learn more about this topic and our work at Elk Meadow, check out the paper below and this article I wrote in The Conversation:

Relevant publications:

  • Zoller L, V谩zquez DP, and听Resasco J (2026) . The American Naturalist. 207(1): 169-181.
  • Manning I, Zoller L, and听Resasco J (2025) . Oecologia.听207: 131.
  • Barthell K and Resasco J (2025) . Oikos 2025: e10650.
  • Peralta G, CaraDonna PJ, Rakosy D, Fr眉nd J, Pascual Tudanca MP, Dormann CF, Burkle LA, Kaiser-Bunbury NC, Knight TM, Resasco J, Winfree R, Bl眉thgen N, Castillo WJ, and V谩zquez DP (2024)听. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 39(5):听494鈥505.
  • Peralta G, Resasco J, Worthy S, Frost CM, Guevara AT, Manning I, Cagnolo L, and Burkle LA. (2024) . Functional Ecology听 38: 875鈥882.
  • Resasco J, Chacoff NP, and V谩zquez DP (2021)听.听Ecology.听102: e03359.
  • CaraDonna PJ, Burkle LA, Schwarz B, Resasco J, Knight T, Benadi G, Bl眉thgen N, Dormann CF, Fang Q, Fr眉nd J, Gauzens B, Kaiser-Bunbury C, Winfree R, and V谩zquez DP (2021) .听Ecology Letters听听24: 149-161.
  • Schwarz B, V谩zquez DP, CaraDonna PJ, Knight TM, Benadi G, Dormann CF, Gauzens B, Motivans E, Resasco J, Bl眉thgen N, Burkle LA, Fang Q, Kaiser-Bunbury CN, Alarc贸n R, Bain JA, Chacoff NP, Huang S-Q, LeBuhn G, MacLeod M, Petanidou T, Rasmussen C, Simanonok MP, Thompson AH, and Fr眉nd J (2020) . 翱颈办辞蝉听129:听1271-1439.
  • Chacoff NP,听Resasco J,听and V谩zquez DP听(2018) .听Ecology听99:听21-28.听
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