Wild pollinator community networks around cranberry bogs in the Centre du Québec region

In Quebec, there is a significant drive to make the cranberry industry as sustainable as possible. As a result, the edges of cranberry bogs are often left untouched to promote local biodiversity, and farmers even go as far as to plant wildflowers along the edges of their fields. Wild pollinators and managed honey bees find refuge and resources in these areas among the wildflowers. However, we do not yet have a clear understanding of which wild pollinators are present and what roles they play.

My research aims to investigate plant-insect pollinator interactions along the edges of cranberry bogs where wildflowers are present in the Centre du Quebec Region. This will involve examining the interactions between both wild pollinators and managed bees and the flowers surrounding conventionally farmed cranberry bogs and organic farms. Specifically, I will address the following questions:

Which insect species are responsible for pollinating flowering plants, and which plant species are they pollinating?

What is the alpha and gamma diversity of both the plant and insect communities?

What are the network dynamics of the community?

By answering these questions, I will be able to assess the roles of both wild pollinators and managed bees along the edges of cranberry bogs, and identify the plant-insect interactions that are most closely associated with wildflowers around cranberry bogs in the Centre du Quebec Region. Altogether, this will help to identify which types of wildflowers promote the health of wild pollinators, and thus provide important economic ecosystem services to the cranberry industry.