Exploring Urban Landscape Connectivity for Pollinators Using Spatially Explicit Agent-Based Models

Speaker: Dr. Elsa Youngsteadt, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Ecology, and CGA Faculty Fellow, North Carolina State University

Introduction by: Dr. Georgina Sanchez, CGA’s Director of Research Engagement

Summary: Animal movement is central to ecology, determining individuals’ access to resources and mates while mediating exposure to threats. Urban landscape structure profoundly alters animal movements. Tracking data can point to potential solutions, but some species, such as most bee pollinators, are still too small to track. In this forum talk, Dr. Youngsteadt presents ongoing work to combine small-scale local bee movement assays with landscape-scale, agent-based modeling to gain a clearer picture of how cities may distort bee foraging patterns, potentially altering their access to resources and their ability to facilitate plant mating.

About the speaker: Elsa Youngsteadt is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at NC State University. The Youngsteadt Lab investigates the effects of urbanization and climate change on insects, including bees, ants, and butterflies. Youngsteadt also manages a native-bee Extension and outreach program, and developed outreach materials that are used statewide, including guides to bee identification and nesting habitat for North Carolina. After completing her Ph.D. in Entomology at NC State, she worked as a science writer and editor for American Scientist magazine, then returned to research in ecosystems throughout the Americas, from the Carolina sandhills to the Peruvian Amazon. Elsa grew up in Missouri and spent a few years in Wisconsin before settling in North Carolina, where her favorite bee is the carpenter bee and her favorite ecosystem is the longleaf pine savanna.