Drought stress influences foraging preference of a solitary bee on two wildflowers

Pollinators provide critical ecosystem services, maintaining biodiversity and benefitting global food production. However, plants, pollinators and their mutualistic interactions can be affected by drought, which has increased in severity and frequency under climate change. Using two annual, insect-pollinated wildflowers (Phacelia campanularia and Nemophila menziesii), we asked how drought impacts floral traits and foraging preferences of a solitary bee (Osmia lignaria) and explored potential implications for plant reproduction.

In greenhouses, we subjected plants experimentally to drought to induce water stress, as verified by leaf water potential. To assess the impact of drought on floral traits, we measured flower size, floral display size, nectar volume and nectar sugar concentration. To explore how drought-induced effects on floral traits affected bee foraging preferences, we performed choice trials. Individual female bees were placed into foraging arenas with two conspecific plants, one droughted and one non-droughted, and were allowed to forage freely.

We determined that P. campanularia is more drought tolerant than N. menziesii, based on measures of turgor loss point, and confirmed that droughted plants were more drought stressed than non-droughted plants. For droughted plants of both species, the floral display size was reduced and the flowers were smaller and produced less, more-concentrated nectar. We found that bees preferred non-droughted flowers of N. menziesii. However, bee preference for non-droughted P. campanularia flowers depended on the time of day and was detected only in the afternoon.

Our findings indicate that bees prefer to visit non-droughted flowers, probably reducing pollination success for drought-stressed plants. Lack of preference for non-droughted P. campanularia flowers in the morning might reflect the higher drought tolerance of this species. This work highlights the potentially intersecting, short-term physiological and pollinator behavioural responses to drought and suggests that such responses might reshape plant-pollinator interactions, ultimately reducing reproductive output for less drought-tolerant wildflowers.