Background/Question/Methods Symbiotic microbes can substantially influence how their hosts interact with the environment. Recent work suggests that plant-associated microbes can affect plant interactions with their biotic environment, pollinators, by changing nectar chemistry. Because microbes can vary greatly in their role as symbionts, determining the processes that shape species composition of symbiotic microbes is important to understanding their influence on host-environment interactions. Here, we examine how one process, dispersal, shapes microbial communities in floral nectar and their effects on nectar chemistry. Multiple modes of dispersal potentially exist, including via different pollinators and other flower-visiting animals and via wind and water. These characteristics of nectar microbial communities make them uniquely conducive to addressing the effects of dispersal mode. At the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve in California, we manipulated microbial access to flowers o...
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