Comparing the pollinator communities found in corn and soybean fields in Iowa

Previous we have identified robust communities of insect pollinators found to be using both corn and soybean fields as a resource in central Iowa.  The community found in corn is characterized by at least 38 species of bee and 15 species of flower visiting fly.  While the pollinator community found in soybean fields is characterized by at least 34 species of and 16 species of flower visiting fly.  The extent to which each community is unique is not well understood.  It may be that there is a distinct community of insect pollinators that is well adapted to life in corn and soybean production fields in Iowa. We plan to explore the similarity between these communities using multivariate methods of analysis.