Bumble bees play a major part in many of the world’s ecosystems; providing a reproduction medium for many species of flowering plants and agricultural crops, and playing the role of a food source for many species of bats and birds (Cameron et al., 2010). The population of bumble bees has been trending down for some years now, giving rise to many ecological concerns about how the populations can be conserved. Without the bumble bee, the world’s food chains could become severely compromised. The populations of many producer species would decline due to the lack of a major reproduction medium, consequently resulting in the decrease in population of primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. As the minimum temperature of alpine climates increase, the density of mutualistic plant species in said region begins to decline, resulting in higher competition between alpine bumble bee species for resources (Miller-Struttman et al. 2015). The purpose of Miller-Struttman et al.’s article, entitled Functional mismatch in a bumble bee pollination mutualism under climate change, is to examine the affects that climate change has had on the populations of bumble bee species. Specifically, the Miller-Struttman et al.’s article examines the affect that climate change has had on the mutualistic relationships between bumble bee species, and their corresponding host plant species. Bumble bees are equipped with a tongue (proboscis) that they use to drink nectar from the tubes of plants. In turn, the bumble bee picks up some of the plant’s pollen, and transports it, increasing the likelihood that said plant will reproduce. The overall purpose of Miller-Struttman et al.’s experiment is to examine the affects that climate change has had (if any) on the physical structures (proboscises and nectar tubes), and to determine if said changes will have an affect on the population of bee species. Figure 1.1 below details the experiment’s hypothesis, independent variables, and dependent variables.

Hypothesis