Available study topics

The direction of research is quite open (e.g. which insect groups, what questions to address using a supertree).

Landscapes that become more monotonous and intensive agricultural practices reduce the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes. In addition to the species diversity and abundance of different groups of organisms, these factors have a significant impact on the interactions between different organisms, including the relationship between plants and the insects that pollinate them. Within the framework of the bachelor's thesis, an overview is given based on the literature of how changes in the landscape structure have affected the networks of relationships between pollinated plants and pollinating insects.

Abrupt anthropogenic environmental changes can cause various evolutionary changes in plant populations. For insect-pollinated plants, a changed environment can manifest itself in shrinking and more uniform pollinator communities. The bachelor's thesis provides an overview of the scientific literature, where the influence of changes in the diversity and abundance of pollinating insects on the pollination-related traits of insect-pollinated plants has been discussed.

Increasing urbanization has a significant impact on both pollinators and the flowering plants that depend on them. The impact of urbanization on biodiversity can be both favorable and unfavorable, depending on both the degree of urbanization and the characteristics of the organisms.
*The bachelor's thesis provides an overview of the scientific literature, which have discussed the relationship between changes in the diversity and abundance of pollinating insects and pollinating plants with the rate of urbanization.
*As part of the master's thesis, the impact of different management techniques on pollinator and plant communities in the green areas of the city of Tartu can be compared.