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Roulston ,
T'ai H. 		Research Interests

Research Associate Professor and Associate Director, Blandy Experimental Farm. Ph.D., Auburn University, 1999.

Plant-pollinator interactions; evolutionary ecology; habitat fragmentation; invasive species; bee biology.

Blandy Farm
540-837-1758
thr8z@virginia.edu

My primary research area is plant-pollinator interactions, which I study through field, laboratory, and phylogenetic approaches. These include (i) studies of pollen chemistry to characterize the diversity of pollen nutrient rewards; (ii) phylogenetic analyses to associate shifts in pollen nutrient content with evolutionary shifts in pollination syndrome; (iii) observations of pollinator host choices to determine pollinator assessment of pollen nutrition, and (iv) studies of insect development and body size to assess the potential importance of variation in pollen nutrients. Other research areas include endangered species conservation, habitat fragmentation, foraging behavior, and the impact of exotic species on native organisms.


Selected Recent Publications

Roulston, T. H. and J. H. Cane. 2001. The effect of diet breadth and nesting ecology on body size variation in bees. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 73:129-142.

Roulston, T. H. and J. H. Cane. Submitted, Evolutionary Ecology. Pollen protein governs body size in the sweat bee Lasioglossum zephyrum (Hymenoptera: Halictidae).

Roulston, T. H. and J. Silverman. Submitted, Journal of Insect Behavior. Are mass-recruiting ants best at getting clumped foods? A test of foraging theory with the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile.

Roulston, T. H. and J. H. Cane. 2001. The effect of diet breadth and nesting ecology on body size variation in bees. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 73: 129-142.

Roulston, T. H., J. H. Cane, and S. L. Buchmann. 2000. Ecological Monographs. What governs the protein content of pollen grains: pollinator preferences, pollen?pistil interactions, or phylogeny? 70: 617-643.

Roulston, T. H. and J. H. Cane. 2000. Pollen nutritional content and digestibility for animals. Plant Systematics and Evolution 222: 187-209.

Roulston, T. H., and S. L. Buchmann. 2000. A phylogenetic reconsideration of the pollen starch-pollination correlation. Evolutionary Ecology Research 2:627-643.

Minckley, R. L., J. H. Cane, L. Kervin, and T. H. Roulston. 1999. Spatial predictability and resource specialization of bees (Hymenoptera : Apoidea) at a superabundant, widespread resource. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 67:119-147.

Environmental Sciences Department
291 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia
(434) 924-7761
Maintained by wsc4j@virginia.edu and hee2b@virginia.edu.