Jacob Francis
Education
- Ph.D., University of Nevada Reno, 2020
Research Interests
- Functional, Behavioral, and Community Ecology
- Mutualisms
- Plant – Pollinator – Microbe interactions
- Native Bee Biology
Research Description
My research program examines how organisms’ traits modulate the costs and benefits of ecological interactions and structure of biological communities. Using a combination of lab, modeling, and field-based experiments with flowering plants, pollinators (primarily native bees), and associated microbes, we’ve shown that the nutritional quality and toxic-chemical content of pollen and nectar produced by flowers affect pollinator behavior in unexpected ways that shape community level competition for pollinators. Additionally, our work has helped uncover the critical role of pollinator foraging decisions in floral microbiome assembly, emphasizing the importance of dispersal limitation in this microbial community. Currently we are working in local, south florida ecosystems to understand how plant-pollinator network structure predicts plant microbiomes, and how environmental changes impact these relationships.
Representative Publications
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Francis JS, Muller TG, Vannette RL. 2023. Intraspecific variation in realized dispersal probability and host quality shape nectar microbiomes. New Phytologist. 240(3): 1233-1245.
- †Francis JS, †Tatarko AR, Richman SK, Vaudo AD, Leonard AS. 2021. Microbes and pollinator behavior in the floral marketplace. Current Opinions in Insect Science. 44: 16-22.
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Francis JS, Acevedo CR*, Muth F, Leonard AS. 2019. Nectar quality changes the ecological cost of defended pollen. Current Biology. 29(14). PR679-R680.
- Muth F, Francis JS, Leonard AS. 2019. Modality-specific impairment of learning by a neonicotinoid pesticide. Biology Letters. 15(7): 20190359.
- Leonard AS, Francis JS. 2017. Plant-animal communication: past, present, and future. Evolutionary Ecology. 31(2): 143-151.
Additional Info
