Marielle C. Schleifer, M.Sc.

Reseach interests:

• Nutrition
• Conservation
• Plant-Pollinator Interactions

Bees decline worldwide and some of the reasons are directly or indirectly linked to nutrition. Bees rely exclusively on flowering plant species (i.e. pollen and nectar) as their resource of energy and nutrients. The aim of my PhD is to examine which pollen nutrients can be perceived by bees, which are regulated by bees and which effects do the nutrients have on bee health and fitness. Since pollen nutrients correlate with each other, I want to test if pollen nutrients also correlate with other floral cues like color. This would allow the bees to assess the pollen quality already from a distance and hence facilitate foraging. We assume, that the flowering plants from which the bees collect pollen from, are not only chosen because of their abundance and availability, but also because of their specific nutrient profile, the perception and regulation of the nutrients as well as the effect certain nutrients have on bees health and fitness.

Curriculum Vitae:

05/2021 – ongoing: PhD — Perception and regulation of pollen nutrients and linked fitness effect on bees
Technical University Munich & Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg

03/2019 - 04/2021: Master's degree program — Ecology and Evolution
Paris Lodron University Salzburg

10/2013 - 03/2019 Bachelor's degree program — Biology
Paris Lodron University Salzburg

10/2012 - 09/2013 Bachelor's degree program — Molecular Biology
Paris Lodron University Salzburg

Publications:

Nebauer, C. A., Schleifer, M. C., Ruedenauer, F. A., Leonhardt, S. D., & Spaethe, J. (2023). Perception, regulation, and fitness effects of pollen phytosterols in the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris. American Journal of Botany, e16165.

Laina, D., Gfrerer, E., Scheurecker, V., Fuchs, R., Schleifer, M., Zittra, C., ... & Dötterl, S. (2022). Local insect availability partly explains geographical differences in floral visitor assemblages of Arum maculatum L.(Araceae). Frontiers in Plant Science, 13.