Associate Professor University of Delaware Newark, Delaware
Floral rewards used by insects vary widely in nutritional content between plant species, but can also vary within species in response to environmental factors. This study asks whether the soil microbiome alters floral display or floral rewards in ways that impact flower visitor behavior and/or nutrition. While impacts of soil microorganisms on plant growth, flowering, and crop yields have been documented in the literature, the role of the soil from the perspective of insect visitor health and behavior has been little explored. By comparing bloom time, insect visitation, nectar concentration, and pollen nutritional content between plants treated with biofertilizers containing beneficial microorganisms, we show that the attractiveness of flowers to floral reward feeding insects is altered by the soil microbial community.
