susanelliott@pinyon-publishing.com
susanelliott@pinyon-publishing.com
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Education
2008. Ph.D. in Biology. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.
2002. B.S. in Botany and B.A. in French. Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA.
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Research Interests
I study the ecology, evolution, and conservation of plant-pollinator mutualisms. I am particularly interested in how mutualisms influence coupled ecological and evolutionary processes across the landscape.
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Teaching and Outreach
Instructor:
2000-2002, BIOL 180A Supplementary Instruction in Botany, Humboldt State University.
Teaching Assistant:
2008. BIO 29 Biostatistics, Dartmouth College.
2007. BIO 55 Marine Tropical Ecology, Dartmouth College.
2007. BIO 54 Terrestrial Tropical Ecology, Dartmouth College.
2006. ENVS 20 Conservation of Biodiversity, Dartmouth College.
2004-5. BIO 14 Ecology and Evolution, Dartmouth College.
Outreach:
2007. Wild Pollinator Workshop, Dartmouth Organic Farm, Hanover, NH.
2007. Day with a Desert Ecologist, Unity College Desert Ecology, Santa Rita Experimental Range, AZ.
2004-7. Buzzing bees: Investigate the hidden life of bees, Kids Nature Camp, Rocky Mtn. Biol. Lab, CO.
2003-4. Bumble Bee Ecology, Fourth grade classrooms, Winters, CA.
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Publications
Scientific articles:
Elliott, SE. 2009b. Surplus nectar available for subalpine bumble bee colony growth. Environmental Entomology. 38(6):1680-1689. PDF
Elliott, SE. 2009a. Subalpine bumble bee foraging distances and densities in relation to flower Availability. Environmental Entomology. 38(3):748-756. PDF
Elliott, SE, and RE Irwin. 2009. Effects of flowering plant density on pollinator visitation, pollen receipt, and seed production in Delphinium barbeyi (Ranunculaceae). American Journal of Botany 96(5):1-8. PDF
Elliott, SE. 2008. Reciprocal benefits in a plant-pollinator mutualism. Ph.D. dissertation, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA. PDF
Elliott, SE, RE Irwin, LS Adler, and NM Williams. 2008. The nectar alkaloid, gelsemine, does not affect offspring performance of a native solitary bee, Osmia lignaria (Megachilidae). Ecological Entomology 33:298-304. PDF
Elliott, SE and ES Jules. 2005. Small-scale community analysis of alpine ridge vegetation in the central Sierra Nevada. Madrono 52(1): 38-45. PDF
Popular books/articles/interviews:
2008. Ophelia's Ghost. A novel by G.L. Entsminger & S.E. Elliott. Signed Copies & Sample Chapter
2007. Nature Notes. Crested Butte Radio Interview. MP3
2006. The Underground Life of Bees. Crested Butte News Article. PDF
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Presentations
2007. Bees and flies: Synergistic effects on female plant fitness in Delphinium barbeyi (Ranunculaceae). Ecological Society of America Annual National Conference, San Jose, CA.
2007. The challenge of acquiring mates in a flowering plant: Pollinators or pollen donors?, Dartmouth College Graduate Student Poster Session, Hanover, NH.
2006. Relative roles of plant-animal interactions for seedling recruitment in a water-limited environment. Research in Semi-arid Environments Conference, Tucson AZ.
2006. The role of pre-dispersal seed predators in mediating pollination benefits for Delphinium barbeyi. Botanical Society of America Annual National Conference, Chico, CA.
2006. Competing bumblebees: Consequences for a shared floral host. Dartmouth College Graduate Student Poster Session, Hanover, NH.
2005. Reciprocal benefits in a plant-pollinator mutualism. Skidmore College Invited Research Seminar, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2004. Pollination roles in population and community dynamics. Institute of Ecology Graduate Student Symposium, Athens, GA.
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Awards and Funding
External Funding
2007. Sigma-Xi Grants-In-Aid. Bumble bee responses to floral resource supply. S. E. Elliott (P.I.). $1,000.
2006. Colorado Mountain Club Foundation Fellowship. The role of floral traits in mediating pollination and seed predation interactions. S.E. Elliott (P.I.). $800.
2006-2008. National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant. Reproductive outcomes for both partners in a plant-pollinator mutualism: Population and community perspectives. RE Irwin (P.I.) and S.E. Elliott (co-P.I.) $11,976 24 months.
2006. Explorer's Club Exploration Fund. Tracking bumblebees underground: Advances in pollinator population ecology. S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $1200.
2006. Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Snyder Memorial Fund for Graduate Research. Tracking bumblebees underground: Advances in pollinator population ecology. S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $350.
2005. Ecological Society of America Forest Shreve Desert Research Award. Relative roles of multispecies plant-animal interactions in a water-limited environment. S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $1773.
2005. Botanical Society of America Karling Graduate Student Research Award. Distinguishing between pollen-limitation and pollinator-limitation of seed production for the perennial bumblebee-pollinated plant, Delphinium barbeyi (Ranunculaceae). S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $500.
2005. Colorado Mountain Club Foundation Fellowship. Limits to reciprocal benefits in a sub-alpine plant-pollinator mutualism. S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $800.
2002. Explorer's Club Youth Activity Grant. Feeding ecology of lactating lemurs. S.E. Elliott (P.I.) $1,500.
1998. Sierra Club Scholarship. $7000.
Competitive Internal Funding
2006. GAAN Fellowship $27,500.
2005. Dartmouth Alumni Award $750.
2002. Frank Wood World Languages Scholarship. $200.
2000. Telonicher Biological Science Scholarship. $500.
1999. F. Ray Meredith Undergraduate Botany Scholarship. $300.
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Dissertation summary: Reciporcal benefits in a plant-pollinator mutualism
For my dissertation, I studied the interdependence between a long-tongued bumble bee, Bombus appositus, and a perennial wildflower, Delphinium barbeyi (Ranunculaceae), at the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in Gothic, CO. Bombus appositus acquires most of its food from D. barbeyi, and in return, most of D. barbeyi's pollination services come from B. appositus. My research tests how sensitive these species are to changes in the abundance of their mutualist partner.
Plant perspective ~ I tested how seed production varies with natural and experimental levels of pollen receipt and pollinator abundance.
I found that when D. barbeyi flowers have very high pollination, they also experience high seed predation by fly seed predators. As a result, seed predation dampens the benefits of high pollination for seed production. If pollinators are scarce, then flowers can still produce a few seeds autogamously, without pollinators. Therefore, the plants are buffered from responding to both extreme high and extreme low pollinator abundances, and in most years, I find that flowers are saturated with pollinator visits.
Bee perspective ~ I tested how bee reproduction varies with natural and experimental variation in flower abundance (or food supply).
I found that bee reproduction was constant across meadows that vary 10-fold in flower abundance, likely because they spread their colonies out evenly so that flower availability per colony remains constant. Bees may also be unresponsive to flower abundance because they are not always food-limited. In 2006, colonies did very well and reproduction was food-limited (i.e., fed colonies had higher reproduction than control colonies). However, in 2007, colonies did very poorly and never got large enough to exhause their floral resources. As a result, there was a surplus of flowers for bee reproduction and fed colonies did not produce significantly more offspring than control colonies.
Since there was a surplus of flowers for bee reproduction in 2007, this meant that there was shortage of bees to pollinate D. barbeyi flowers. Consequently, in contrast to previous years when flowers were saturated with pollinator visits, in 2007, there was a strong relationship between bee abundance and seed production.
Conclusions ~ The bees and flowers do respond to each other. However, since these responses are separated in time; if one species changes in abundance, it may be 10 years or 10 miles down the road, before we see an effect in the partner population. This work supports the growing evidence that to understand bee-plant interdependence, we need to incorporate a broader geographic and temporal perspectives.
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