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Pontarp M, Runemark A, Friberg M, Opedal ØH, Persson AS, Wang L, Smith HG. Evolutionary plant-pollinator responses to anthropogenic land-use change: impacts on ecosystem services. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:372-389. [PMID: 37866400 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural intensification at field and landscape scales, including increased use of agrochemicals and loss of semi-natural habitats, is a major driver of insect declines and other community changes. Efforts to understand and mitigate these effects have traditionally focused on ecological responses. At the same time, adaptations to pesticide use and habitat fragmentation in both insects and flowering plants show the potential for rapid evolution. Yet we lack an understanding of how such evolutionary responses may propagate within and between trophic levels with ensuing consequences for conservation of species and ecological functions in agroecosystems. Here, we review the literature on the consequences of agricultural intensification on plant and animal evolutionary responses and interactions. We present a novel conceptualization of evolutionary change induced by agricultural intensification at field and landscape scales and emphasize direct and indirect effects of rapid evolution on ecosystem services. We exemplify by focusing on economically and ecologically important interactions between plants and pollinators. We showcase available eco-evolutionary theory and plant-pollinator modelling that can improve predictions of how agricultural intensification affects interaction networks, and highlight available genetic and trait-focused methodological approaches. Specifically, we focus on how spatial genetic structure affects the probability of propagated responses, and how the structure of interaction networks modulates effects of evolutionary change in individual species. Thereby, we highlight how combined trait-based eco-evolutionary modelling, functionally explicit quantitative genetics, and genomic analyses may shed light on conditions where evolutionary responses impact important ecosystem services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikael Pontarp
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
| | - Anna Runemark
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
| | - Magne Friberg
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
| | - Øystein H Opedal
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
| | - Anna S Persson
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC), Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
| | - Lingzi Wang
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC), Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
- School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, 58 Salisbury Rd, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Henrik G Smith
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC), Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden
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2
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Beyer N, Gabriel D, Westphal C. Landscape composition modifies pollinator densities, foraging behavior and yield formation in faba beans. Basic Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2022.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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3
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Oilseed Rape Shares Abundant and Generalized Pollinators with Its Co-Flowering Plant Species. INSECTS 2021; 12:insects12121096. [PMID: 34940184 PMCID: PMC8704917 DOI: 10.3390/insects12121096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Plants in semi-natural areas provide food resources for pollinators that visit pollinator-dependent crop species, such as Oilseed Rape (OSR). Here, we study the patterns of pollinator visitation on OSR and its co-flowering plants in adjacent semi-natural areas. We find that OSR is visited by pollinators that are abundant in the community and that these pollinators also visit co-flowering plant species in semi-natural areas. OSR primarily influences the pollination of plant species which have similar floral traits (i.e., other disc flowers). Plant species that attract a high abundances of bumblebees, wild bees, flies, and beetles influence the pollination of OSR the most. Our results suggest that plant species in semi-natural areas that support the high abundances of common pollinators which are generalized in their visitation are most important to the pollination of OSR, and that such plant species do not necessarily have similar floral traits to OSR. Abstract Mass-flowering crops, such as Oilseed Rape (OSR), provide resources for pollinators and benefit from pollination services. Studies that observe the community of interactions between plants and pollinators are critical to understanding the resource needs of pollinators. We observed pollinators on OSR and wild plants in adjacent semi-natural areas in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany to quantify (1) the co-flowering plants that share pollinators with OSR, (2) the identity and functional traits of plants and pollinators in the network module of OSR, and (3) the identity of the plants and pollinators that act as network connectors and hubs. We found that four common plants share a high percentage of their pollinators with OSR. OSR and these plants all attract abundant pollinators in the community, and the patterns of sharing were not more than would be expected by chance sampling. OSR acts as a module hub, and primarily influences the other plants in its module that have similar functional traits. However, the plants that most influence the pollination of OSR have different functional traits and are part of different modules. Our study demonstrates that supporting the pollination of OSR requires the presence of semi-natural areas with plants that can support a high abundances of generalist pollinators.
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4
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Plant traits and landscape simplification drive intraspecific trait diversity of Bombus terrestris in wildflower plantings. Basic Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2021.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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5
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Riggi LG, Lundin O, Berggren Å. Mass-flowering red clover crops have positive effects on bumblebee richness and diversity after bloom. Basic Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2021.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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6
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Gardner E, Breeze TD, Clough Y, Smith HG, Baldock KCR, Campbell A, Garratt MPD, Gillespie MAK, Kunin WE, McKerchar M, Potts SG, Senapathi D, Stone GN, Wäckers F, Westbury DB, Wilby A, Oliver TH. Field boundary features can stabilise bee populations and the pollination of mass‐flowering crops in rotational systems. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Gardner
- School of Biological Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Tom D. Breeze
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Yann Clough
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Research and Department Biology Lund University Lund Sweden
| | - Henrik G. Smith
- Centre for Environmental and Climate Research and Department Biology Lund University Lund Sweden
| | - Katherine C. R. Baldock
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol UK
- Cabot Institute University of Bristol Bristol UK
- Department of Geographical and Environmental Sciences Northumbria University Newcastle upon Tyne UK
| | | | | | - Mark A. K. Gillespie
- School of Biology University of Leeds Leeds UK
- Department of Environmental Sciences Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Sogndal Norway
| | | | - Megan McKerchar
- School of Science and the Environment University of Worcester UK
| | - Simon G. Potts
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Deepa Senapathi
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Graham N. Stone
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK
| | - Felix Wäckers
- Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK
| | | | - Andrew Wilby
- Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK
| | - Tom H. Oliver
- School of Biological Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
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7
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Nagano Y, Miyashita T, Taki H, Yokoi T. Diversity of co‐flowering plants at field margins potentially sustains an abundance of insects visiting buckwheat,
Fagopyrum esculentum
, in an agricultural landscape. Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuta Nagano
- Graduate school of Science and Technology University of Tsukuba Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Tadashi Miyashita
- Department of Ecosystem Studies, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan
| | - Hisatomo Taki
- Department of Forest Entomology Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
| | - Tomoyuki Yokoi
- Graduate school of Science and Technology University of Tsukuba Tsukuba Ibaraki Japan
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8
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Schroeder H, Grab H, Kessler A, Poveda K. Human-Mediated Land Use Change Drives Intraspecific Plant Trait Variation. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 11:592881. [PMID: 33519849 PMCID: PMC7840540 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.592881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
In the Anthropocene, more than three quarters of ice-free land has experienced some form of human-driven habitat modification, with agriculture dominating 40% of the Earth's surface. This land use change alters the quality, availability, and configuration of habitat resources, affecting the community composition of plants and insects, as well as their interactions with each other. Landscapes dominated by agriculture are known to support a lower abundance and diversity of pollinators and frequently larger populations of key herbivore pests. In turn, insect communities subsidized by agriculture may spill into remaining natural habitats with consequences for wild plants persisting in (semi) natural habitats. Adaptive responses by wild plants may allow them to persist in highly modified landscapes; yet how landscape-mediated variation in insect communities affects wild plant traits related to reproduction and defense remains largely unknown. We synthesize the evidence for plant trait changes across land use gradients and propose potential mechanisms by which landscape-mediated changes in insect communities may be driving these trait changes. Further, we present results from a common garden experiment on three wild Brassica species demonstrating variation in both defensive and reproductive traits along an agricultural land use gradient. Our framework illustrates the potential for plant adaptation under land use change and predicts how defense and reproduction trait expression may shift in low diversity landscapes. We highlight areas of future research into plant population and community effects of land use change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hayley Schroeder
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Heather Grab
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
- School of Integrative Plant Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - André Kessler
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
| | - Katja Poveda
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
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9
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Le Provost G, Badenhausser I, Violle C, Requier F, D’Ottavio M, Roncoroni M, Gross L, Gross N. Grassland-to-crop conversion in agricultural landscapes has lasting impact on the trait diversity of bees. LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY 2020; 36:281-295. [PMID: 33505122 PMCID: PMC7810634 DOI: 10.1007/s10980-020-01141-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT Global pollinator decline has motivated much research to understand the underlying mechanisms. Among the multiple pressures threatening pollinators, habitat loss has been suggested as a key-contributing factor. While habitat destruction is often associated with immediate negative impacts, pollinators can also exhibit delayed responses over time. OBJECTIVES We used a trait-based approach to investigate how past and current land use at both local and landscape levels impact plant and wild bee communities in grasslands through a functional lens. METHODS We measured flower and bee morphological traits that mediate plant-bee trophic linkage in 66 grasslands. Using an extensive database of 20 years of land-use records, we tested the legacy effects of the landscape-level conversion of grassland to crop on flower and bee trait diversity. RESULTS Land-use history was a strong driver of flower and bee trait diversity in grasslands. Particularly, bee trait diversity was lower in landscapes where much of the land was converted from grassland to crop long ago. Bee trait diversity was also strongly driven by plant trait diversity computed with flower traits. However, this relationship was not observed in landscapes with a long history of grassland-to-crop conversion. The effects of land-use history on bee communities were as strong as those of current land use, such as grassland or mass-flowering crop cover in the landscape. CONCLUSIONS Habitat loss that occurred long ago in agricultural landscapes alters the relationship between plants and bees over time. The retention of permanent grassland sanctuaries within intensive agricultural landscapes can offset bee decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëtane Le Provost
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, USC 1339, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- LTSER « Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre », Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre SBIK-F, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Isabelle Badenhausser
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, USC 1339, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- LTSER « Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre », Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Prairies Plantes Fourragères, 86600 Lusignan, France
| | - Cyrille Violle
- UMR 5175 CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Univ Paul Valéry 3, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Fabrice Requier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, UMR Évolution, Génomes, Comportement et Écologie, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marie D’Ottavio
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, USC 1339, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- LTSER « Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre », Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- Laboratoire de Lutte Biologique, Département des sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC C.P. 8888 Canada
| | - Marilyn Roncoroni
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, USC 1339, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- LTSER « Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre », Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro Sup, UMR Ecosystème Prairial, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Louis Gross
- Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, USC 1339, Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- LTSER « Zone Atelier Plaine & Val de Sèvre », Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé UMR 7372, CNRS, Université de La Rochelle, 79360 Villiers en Bois, France
- INRAE, UR 0633, URZF Unité de Recherche Zoologie Forestière, 45075 Orléans, France
| | - Nicolas Gross
- Université Clermont Auvergne, INRAE, VetAgro Sup, UMR Ecosystème Prairial, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
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10
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Gómez-Martínez C, Aase ALTO, Totland Ø, Rodríguez-Pérez J, Birkemoe T, Sverdrup-Thygeson A, Lázaro A. Forest fragmentation modifies the composition of bumblebee communities and modulates their trophic and competitive interactions for pollination. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10872. [PMID: 32616732 PMCID: PMC7331617 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67447-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the effects of landscape fragmentation on global bumblebee declines requires going beyond estimates of abundance and richness and evaluating changes in community composition and trophic and competitive interactions. We studied the effects of forest fragmentation in a Scandinavian landscape that combines temperate forests and croplands. For that, we evaluated how forest fragmentation features (patch size, isolation and shape complexity, percentage of forest in the surroundings) as well as local flowering communities influenced bumblebee abundance, richness and community composition in 24 forest patches along a fragmentation gradient. In addition, we assessed the effect of fragmentation on bumblebee-plant network specialization (H2'), and potential inter- and intraspecific competition via shared plants. Patch isolation was associated with lower bumblebee abundance, whereas flower density was positively related to both bumblebee abundance and richness. Overall, forest fragmentation reduced the abundance of forest-specialists while increasing the abundance of open-habitat species. Patches with complex shapes and few flowers showed more generalized bumblebee-plant networks (i.e., fewer specific interactions). Patch shape complexity and the percentage of forest also modified inter- and intraspecific competitive interactions, with habitat generalists outcompeting forest specialists in fragmented areas. Understanding these mechanisms is necessary to anticipate to the impact of forest fragmentation on bumblebee decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmelo Gómez-Martínez
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (UIB-CSIC), Global Change Research Group, C/Miquel Marquès 21, 07190, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain.
| | - Anne Lene T O Aase
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway
| | - Ørjan Totland
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway
| | - Javier Rodríguez-Pérez
- IMAB (Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology), Departamento Ciencias del Medio Natural, Centro Jerónimo de Ayanz, Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Campus Arrosadía, 31006, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
| | - Tone Birkemoe
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway
| | - Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway
| | - Amparo Lázaro
- Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (UIB-CSIC), Global Change Research Group, C/Miquel Marquès 21, 07190, Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain
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11
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Gaba S, Cheviron N, Perrot T, Piutti S, Gautier JL, Bretagnolle V. Weeds Enhance Multifunctionality in Arable Lands in South-West of France. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2020.00071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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12
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Land-use history impacts functional diversity across multiple trophic groups. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:1573-1579. [PMID: 31907310 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910023117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Land-use change is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Although biodiversity often shows a delayed response to land-use change, previous studies have typically focused on a narrow range of current landscape factors and have largely ignored the role of land-use history in shaping plant and animal communities and their functional characteristics. Here, we used a unique database of 220,000 land-use records to investigate how 20-y of land-use changes have affected functional diversity across multiple trophic groups (primary producers, mutualists, herbivores, invertebrate predators, and vertebrate predators) in 75 grassland fields with a broad range of land-use histories. The effects of land-use history on multitrophic trait diversity were as strong as other drivers known to impact biodiversity, e.g., grassland management and current landscape composition. The diversity of animal mobility and resource-acquisition traits was lower in landscapes where much of the land had been historically converted from grassland to crop. In contrast, functional biodiversity was higher in landscapes containing old permanent grasslands, most likely because they offer a stable and high-quality habitat refuge for species with low mobility and specialized feeding niches. Our study shows that grassland-to-crop conversion has long-lasting impacts on the functional biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems. Accordingly, land-use legacy effects must be considered in conservation programs aiming to protect agricultural biodiversity. In particular, the retention of permanent grassland sanctuaries within intensive landscapes may offset ecological debts.
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13
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Orłowski G, Karg J, Kamiński P, Baszyński J, Szady-Grad M, Ziomek K, Klawe JJ. Edge effect imprint on elemental traits of plant-invertebrate food web components of oilseed rape fields. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 687:1285-1294. [PMID: 31412462 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Of fundamental importance for the functioning of a community is the flow of energy and elements through its components. However, the question of how (if at all) the edge effect of habitats can drive elemental traits of organisms has hitherto been largely neglected issue in ecosystem ecology at the community level. We quantified the abundance of invertebrates and measured the elemental composition (K, Na, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, As, Cd, Co and Pb) of 15 different organisms within the plant-invertebrate food web (plant - oilseed rape pests/herbivores - pollinators = wild bees - saprovores - predators - parasitoids) sampled in 34 fields of a key bioenergy crop that is an exceptionally strong biodiversity driver, the oilseed rape. Then these were related to the individual field edge habitat features (including typically anthropogenic ones like dirt and tarred roads) measured within a 100 m radius around the invertebrate sampling sites. Our study showed that elemental traits of the plant-invertebrate food web components in oilseed rape crops varied owing to the habitat specificity determined at the relatively small spatial scale of an individual field, and that the elemental traits of these organisms differed from both an inter- and an intra-guild perspective. The major mechanistic explanation for most of these relationships seems to derive from the secondary gut content effect. Determining one single state for the homeostatic/stoichiometric regulation of chemical elements in invertebrates based on the application of whole-body metal concentrations is in principle impossible, because of the unknown noise caused by the inclusion of extracellular portions of metals in the analysis. It is thus imperative to develop consistent principles for assessing elemental traits of organisms that are based on highly sensitive and high-throughput analytical methods for the ionomic profiling of microsamples at the organ, tissue, cellular or even sub-cellular levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grzegorz Orłowski
- Institute of Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bukowska 19, 60-809 Poznań, Poland.
| | - Jerzy Karg
- Department of Nature Conservation, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
| | - Piotr Kamiński
- Department of Medical Biology and Biochemistry, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, M. Skłodowska-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland; Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafran St. 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
| | - Jędrzej Baszyński
- Department of Medical Biology and Biochemistry, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, M. Skłodowska-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Szady-Grad
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafran St. 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Ziomek
- Institute of Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bukowska 19, 60-809 Poznań, Poland
| | - Jacek J Klawe
- Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Ergonomics, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University, M. Skłodowska-Curie 9, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland
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14
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Campbell JW, Kimmel CB, Grodsky SM, Smithers C, Daniels JC, Ellis JD. Wildflower plantings harbor increased arthropod richness and abundance within agricultural areas in Florida (
USA
). Ecosphere 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua W. Campbell
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology Auburn University 301 Funchess Hall Auburn Alabama 36849 USA
| | - Chase B. Kimmel
- Entomology and Nematology Department University of Florida Steinmetz Hall, Natural Area Drive Gainesville Florida 32611 USA
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity Florida Museum of Natural History 3215 Hull Road, P.O. Box 112710 Gainesville Florida 32611 USA
| | - Steven M. Grodsky
- Department of Land, Air & Water Resources University of California, Davis Davis California 95616 USA
| | - Cherice Smithers
- Upland Habitat Research & Monitoring Wildlife Research Laboratory Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) 1105 SW Williston Road Gainesville Florida 32601 USA
| | - Jaret C. Daniels
- Entomology and Nematology Department University of Florida Steinmetz Hall, Natural Area Drive Gainesville Florida 32611 USA
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity Florida Museum of Natural History 3215 Hull Road, P.O. Box 112710 Gainesville Florida 32611 USA
| | - James D. Ellis
- Entomology and Nematology Department University of Florida Steinmetz Hall, Natural Area Drive Gainesville Florida 32611 USA
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Delnevo N, van Etten EJ, Byrne M, Stock WD. Floral display and habitat fragmentation: Effects on the reproductive success of the threatened mass-flowering Conospermum undulatum (Proteaceae). Ecol Evol 2019; 9:11494-11503. [PMID: 31641488 PMCID: PMC6802041 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragmentation of natural vegetation is currently one of the largest threats to plant populations and their interactions with pollinators. Plant reproductive susceptibility to habitat fragmentation has been investigated in many species; however, the response of wild mass-flowering species is poorly known, with research limited to mainly boreal plant species.Here, we studied twelve remnant populations of the threatened mass-flowering shrub Conospermum undulatum in the southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot, each presenting different population size, level of isolation, and floral display. We assessed the impact of fragmentation on (a) fruit and seed production; and (b) seed germination. To gain a deeper understanding of factors influencing the reproductive success of C. undulatum, we performed pollinator exclusion and self-pollination treatments to experimentally assess the mating system of this threatened shrub.We found C. undulatum to be strictly self-incompatible and totally reliant on pollinators visiting with an outcrossed pollen load to complete the reproductive cycle. Further, we found that fruit production dropped from 35% to <20% as a result of decreasing floral display. A reduction in population size from 880 to 5 plants and from ~700 to 0.21 in the floral display index led to a decrease in seed output, while a similar reduction in seed output, from 6% to 3%, was observed as a result of increasing isolation index from -21.41 to -0.04. Overall, seed germination was positively related to population size, and a negative relationship was found between germination and isolation. Synthesis and applications. Our results demonstrate the important relationship between pollinators and floral morphology in plants of southwest Australia that have coevolved with native pollinators and developed characteristic flower morphologies over long time frames. Indeed, due to its characteristic pollination mechanism, the self-incompatible C. undulatum can only rely on specialized native pollinators for pollen flow and cannot rely on its mass-flowering trait to attract generalist pollinators from coflowering species; neither can it compensate for the lack of visitors by promoting geitonogamy. Consequently, fragmentation has a significant effect on the reproductive output of C. undulatum, and size, isolation, and floral display of populations are important factors to be considered when planning conservation actions for the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Delnevo
- Centre for Ecosystem ManagementEdith Cowan UniversityJoondalupWAAustralia
| | - Eddie J. van Etten
- Centre for Ecosystem ManagementEdith Cowan UniversityJoondalupWAAustralia
| | - Margaret Byrne
- Biodiversity and Conservation ScienceDepartment of Biodiversity, Conservation and AttractionsBentley Delivery CentreBentleyWAAustralia
| | - William D. Stock
- Centre for Ecosystem ManagementEdith Cowan UniversityJoondalupWAAustralia
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16
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Are there magnet plants in Australian ecosystems: Pollinator visits to neighbouring plants are not affected by proximity to mass flowering plants. Basic Appl Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2018.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
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17
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Van Reeth C, Caro G, Bockstaller C, Michel N. Current and previous spatial distributions of oilseed rape fields influence the abundance and the body size of a solitary wild bee, Andrena cineraria, in permanent grasslands. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0197684. [PMID: 29787595 PMCID: PMC5963745 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Wild bees are essential pollinators whose survival partly depends on the capacity of their environment to offer a sufficient amount of nectar and pollen. Semi-natural habitats and mass-flowering crops such as oilseed rape provide abundant floristic resources for bees. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influences of the spatial distribution of semi-natural habitats and oilseed rape fields on the abundance and the mean body size of a solitary bee in grasslands. We focused on a generalist mining bee, Andrena cineraria, that forages and reproduces during oilseed rape flowering. In 21 permanent grasslands of Eastern France, we captured 1 287 individuals (1 205 males and 82 females) and measured the body size of male individuals. The flower density in grasslands was quantified during bee captures (2016) and the landscape surrounding grasslands was characterized during two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). The influence of oilseed rape was tested through its distribution in the landscape during both the current year of bee sampling and the previous year. Bee abundance was positively influenced by the flower density in grasslands and by the area covered by oilseed rape around grasslands in the previous year. The mean body size of A. cineraria was explained by the interaction between flower density in the grassland and the distance to the nearest oilseed rape field in the current year: the flower density positively influenced the mean body size only in grasslands distant from oilseed rape. A. cineraria abundance and body size distribution were not affected by the area of semi-natural habitats in the landscape. The spatial distribution of oilseed rape fields (during both the current and the previous year) as well as the local density of grassland flowers drive both bee abundance and the mean value of an intraspecific trait (body size) in permanent grasslands. Space-time variations of bee abundance and mean body size in grasslands may have important ecological implications on plant pollination and on interspecific interactions between pollinators. Specifically, a competition between bee species for nesting sites might occur in oilseed rape rich landscapes, thus raising important conservation issues for bee species that do not benefit from oilseed rape resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin Van Reeth
- Laboratoire Agronomie Environnement (UMR 1121), Université de Lorraine, INRA, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Gaël Caro
- Laboratoire Agronomie Environnement (UMR 1121), Université de Lorraine, INRA, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
| | - Christian Bockstaller
- Laboratoire Agronomie Environnement (UMR 1121), INRA, Université de Lorraine, Colmar, France
| | - Nadia Michel
- Laboratoire Agronomie Environnement (UMR 1121), Université de Lorraine, INRA, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France
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18
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The relation between oilseed rape and pollination of later flowering plants varies across plant species and landscape contexts. Basic Appl Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2017.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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19
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Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Espíndola A, Vanbergen AJ, Settele J, Kremen C, Dicks LV. Ecological intensification to mitigate impacts of conventional intensive land use on pollinators and pollination. Ecol Lett 2017; 20:673-689. [PMID: 28346980 PMCID: PMC6849539 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2016] [Revised: 12/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/16/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Worldwide, human appropriation of ecosystems is disrupting plant–pollinator communities and pollination function through habitat conversion and landscape homogenisation. Conversion to agriculture is destroying and degrading semi‐natural ecosystems while conventional land‐use intensification (e.g. industrial management of large‐scale monocultures with high chemical inputs) homogenises landscape structure and quality. Together, these anthropogenic processes reduce the connectivity of populations and erode floral and nesting resources to undermine pollinator abundance and diversity, and ultimately pollination services. Ecological intensification of agriculture represents a strategic alternative to ameliorate these drivers of pollinator decline while supporting sustainable food production, by promoting biodiversity beneficial to agricultural production through management practices such as intercropping, crop rotations, farm‐level diversification and reduced agrochemical use. We critically evaluate its potential to address and reverse the land use and management trends currently degrading pollinator communities and potentially causing widespread pollination deficits. We find that many of the practices that constitute ecological intensification can contribute to mitigating the drivers of pollinator decline. Our findings support ecological intensification as a solution to pollinator declines, and we discuss ways to promote it in agricultural policy and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki
- MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, Alkotmány u. 2-4., 2163, Vácrátót, Hungary.,MTA Centre for Ecological Research, GINOP Sustainable Ecosystems Group, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3., 8237, Tihany, Hungary
| | - Anahí Espíndola
- Department of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences South 252, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3051, USA
| | - Adam J Vanbergen
- NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK
| | - Josef Settele
- UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Dept. of Community Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120 Halle, Germany.,iDiv, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Banos, College, Laguna 4031, Philippines
| | - Claire Kremen
- University of California, 217 Wellman Hall Berkeley, California 94720-3114 CA, USA
| | - Lynn V Dicks
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
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20
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Temporally dependent pollinator competition and facilitation with mass flowering crops affects yield in co-blooming crops. Sci Rep 2017; 7:45296. [PMID: 28345653 PMCID: PMC5366890 DOI: 10.1038/srep45296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges in sustainable agricultural production is managing ecosystem services, such as pollination, in ways that maximize crop yields. Most efforts to increase services by wild pollinators focus on management of natural habitats surrounding farms or non-crop habitats within farms. However, mass flowering crops create resource pulses that may be important determinants of pollinator dynamics. Mass bloom attracts pollinators and it is unclear how this affects the pollination and yields of other co-blooming crops. We investigated the effects of mass flowering apple on the pollinator community and yield of co-blooming strawberry on farms spanning a gradient in cover of apple orchards in the landscape. The effect of mass flowering apple on strawberry was dependent on the stage of apple bloom. During early and peak apple bloom, pollinator abundance and yield were reduced in landscapes with high cover of apple orchards. Following peak apple bloom, pollinator abundance was greater on farms with high apple cover and corresponded with increased yields on these farms. Spatial and temporal overlap between mass flowering and co-blooming crops alters the strength and direction of these dynamics and suggests that yields can be optimized by designing agricultural systems that avoid competition while maximizing facilitation.
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21
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Geslin B, Gauzens B, Baude M, Dajoz I, Fontaine C, Henry M, Ropars L, Rollin O, Thébault E, Vereecken N. Massively Introduced Managed Species and Their Consequences for Plant–Pollinator Interactions. ADV ECOL RES 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2016.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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22
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Senapathi D, Goddard MA, Kunin WE, Baldock KCR. Landscape impacts on pollinator communities in temperate systems: evidence and knowledge gaps. Funct Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Deepa Senapathi
- Centre for Agri‐Environmental Research School of Agriculture Policy & Development University of Reading ReadingRG6 6AR UK
| | - Mark A. Goddard
- School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences Newcastle University Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU UK
| | | | - Katherine C. R. Baldock
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol BristolBS8 1TQ UK
- Cabot Institute University of Bristol Royal Fort House BristolBS8 1UJ UK
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23
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Holzschuh A, Dainese M, González-Varo JP, Mudri-Stojnić S, Riedinger V, Rundlöf M, Scheper J, Wickens JB, Wickens VJ, Bommarco R, Kleijn D, Potts SG, Roberts SPM, Smith HG, Vilà M, Vujić A, Steffan-Dewenter I. Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe. Ecol Lett 2016; 19:1228-36. [PMID: 27531385 PMCID: PMC5031195 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2016] [Revised: 06/24/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Mass-flowering crops (MFCs) are increasingly cultivated and might influence pollinator communities in MFC fields and nearby semi-natural habitats (SNHs). Across six European regions and 2 years, we assessed how landscape-scale cover of MFCs affected pollinator densities in 408 MFC fields and adjacent SNHs. In MFC fields, densities of bumblebees, solitary bees, managed honeybees and hoverflies were negatively related to the cover of MFCs in the landscape. In SNHs, densities of bumblebees declined with increasing cover of MFCs but densities of honeybees increased. The densities of all pollinators were generally unrelated to the cover of SNHs in the landscape. Although MFC fields apparently attracted pollinators from SNHs, in landscapes with large areas of MFCs they became diluted. The resulting lower densities might negatively affect yields of pollinator-dependent crops and the reproductive success of wild plants. An expansion of MFCs needs to be accompanied by pollinator-supporting practices in agricultural landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Holzschuh
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Matteo Dainese
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Juan P González-Varo
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Sonja Mudri-Stojnić
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 2, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Verena Riedinger
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Maj Rundlöf
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Jeroen Scheper
- Alterra, Animal Ecology Team, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jennifer B Wickens
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Victoria J Wickens
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Riccardo Bommarco
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David Kleijn
- Alterra, Animal Ecology Team, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Simon G Potts
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Stuart P M Roberts
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
| | - Henrik G Smith
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.,Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden
| | - Montserrat Vilà
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Ante Vujić
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 2, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia
| | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
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24
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Woodcock BA, Isaac NJB, Bullock JM, Roy DB, Garthwaite DG, Crowe A, Pywell RF. Impacts of neonicotinoid use on long-term population changes in wild bees in England. Nat Commun 2016; 7:12459. [PMID: 27529661 PMCID: PMC4990702 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 240] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Wild bee declines have been ascribed in part to neonicotinoid insecticides. While short-term laboratory studies on commercially bred species (principally honeybees and bumblebees) have identified sub-lethal effects, there is no strong evidence linking these insecticides to losses of the majority of wild bee species. We relate 18 years of UK national wild bee distribution data for 62 species to amounts of neonicotinoid use in oilseed rape. Using a multi-species dynamic Bayesian occupancy analysis, we find evidence of increased population extinction rates in response to neonicotinoid seed treatment use on oilseed rape. Species foraging on oilseed rape benefit from the cover of this crop, but were on average three times more negatively affected by exposure to neonicotinoids than non-crop foragers. Our results suggest that sub-lethal effects of neonicotinoids could scale up to cause losses of bee biodiversity. Restrictions on neonicotinoid use may reduce population declines. Neonicotinoid as insecticide on oilseed rape can reduce bee colony density, but its effect at a large geographical scale is unclear. This study describes 18-year long wild bee tracking data in England and show neonicotinoid use is correlated with wild bee population declines at real landscape scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben A Woodcock
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Nicholas J B Isaac
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - James M Bullock
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | - David B Roy
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
| | | | - Andrew Crowe
- FERA Science Ltd., Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ, UK
| | - Richard F Pywell
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
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25
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Mogren CL, Rand TA, Fausti SW, Lundgren JG. The Effects of Crop Intensification on the Diversity of Native Pollinator Communities. ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY 2016; 45:865-72. [PMID: 27271948 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvw066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Increases in agricultural conversion are leading to declines in native grasslands and natural resources critical for beneficial insects. However, little is known regarding how these changes affect pollinator diversity. Land use types were categorized within 300 m and 3 km radii of pollinator sampling locations in Brookings County, SD. Pollinator abundance and species richness were regressed on the proportion of the landscape dedicated to row crops, grass and pasture, forage crops, small grains, and aquatic habitats using variance components modeling. Row crops had a negative effect on bee abundance at 300 m, after fixed effects modeling accounted for outliers skewing this relationship. At 3 km, corn positively affected bee abundance and richness, while soybean acreage decreased species richness. The landscape matrix of outlying sites consisted of large monocultured areas with few alternative habitat types available, leading to inflated populations of Melissodes and Halictidae. Syrphids had a positive parabolic relationship between diversity and row crops, indicating potential for competitive exclusion from intermediate landscapes. Unlike other studies, landscape diversity within 300 m was not found to significantly benefit pollinator diversity. Within especially agriculturally developed areas of the region, high abundances of pollinators suggest selection for a few dominant species. There was no effect of forage crops or aquatic habitats on pollinator diversity, indicating that less highly managed areas still represent degraded habitat within the landscape. Incorporating pollinator-friendly crops at the farm level throughout the region is likely to enhance pollinator diversity by lessening the negative effects of large monocultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina L Mogren
- USDA-ARS, North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, 2923 Medary Ave., Brookings, SD 57006 (; ) Current Address: Louisiana State University AgCenter, Entomology Department, 404 Life Sciences, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
| | - Tatyana A Rand
- USDA-ARS, Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory, 1500 North Central Ave., Sidney, MT 59270
| | - Scott W Fausti
- Economics Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007
| | - Jonathan G Lundgren
- USDA-ARS, North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, 2923 Medary Ave., Brookings, SD 57006 (; ) Current Address: Ecdysis Foundation, 46958 188th St, Estelline, SD 57234
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26
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Williams NM, Ward KL, Pope N, Isaacs R, Wilson J, May EA, Ellis J, Daniels J, Pence A, Ullmann K, Peters J. Native wildflower plantings support wild bee abundance and diversity in agricultural landscapes across the United States. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2015; 25:2119-31. [PMID: 26910943 DOI: 10.1890/14-1748.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Global trends in pollinator-dependent crops have raised awareness of the need to support managed and wild bee populations to ensure sustainable crop production. Provision of sufficient forage resources is a key element for promoting bee populations within human impacted landscapes, particularly those in agricultural lands where demand for pollination service is high and land use and management practices have reduced available flowering resources. Recent government incentives in North America and Europe support the planting of wildflowers to benefit pollinators; surprisingly, in North America there has been almost no rigorous testing of the performance of wildflower mixes, or their ability to support wild bee abundance and diversity. We tested different wildflower mixes in a spatially replicated, multiyear study in three regions of North America where production of pollinator-dependent crops is high: Florida, Michigan, and California. In each region, we quantified flowering among wildflower mixes composed of annual and perennial species, and with high and low relative diversity. We measured the abundance and species richness of wild bees, honey bees, and syrphid flies at each mix over two seasons. In each region, some but not all wildflower mixes provided significantly greater floral display area than unmanaged weedy control plots. Mixes also attracted greater abundance and richness of wild bees, although the identity of best mixes varied among regions. By partitioning floral display size from mix identity we show the importance of display size for attracting abundant and diverse wild bees. Season-long monitoring also revealed that designing mixes to provide continuous bloom throughout the growing season is critical to supporting the greatest pollinator species richness. Contrary to expectation, perennials bloomed in their first season, and complementarity in attraction of pollinators among annuals and perennials suggests that inclusion of functionally diverse species may provide the greatest benefit. Wildflower mixes may be particularly important for providing resources for some taxa, such as bumble bees, which are known to be in decline in several regions of North America. No mix consistently attained the full diversity that was planted. Further study is needed on how to achieve the desired floral display and diversity from seed mixes.
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27
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Olsson O, Bolin A, Smith HG, Lonsdorf EV. Modeling pollinating bee visitation rates in heterogeneous landscapes from foraging theory. Ecol Modell 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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28
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Riedinger V, Mitesser O, Hovestadt T, Steffan-Dewenter I, Holzschuh A. Annual dynamics of wild bee densities: attractiveness and productivity effects of oilseed rape. Ecology 2015; 96:1351-60. [PMID: 26236848 DOI: 10.1890/14-1124.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Mass-flowering crops may affect long-term population dynamics, but effects on pollinators have never been studied across several years. We monitored wild bees in oilseed rape fields in 16 landscapes in Germany in two consecutive years. Effects on bee densities of landscape oilseed rape cover in the years of monitoring and in the previous years were evaluated with landscape data from three consecutive years. We fit empirical data to a mechanistic model to provide estimates for oilseed rape attractiveness and its effect on bee productivity in comparison to the rest of the landscape, and we evaluated consequences for pollinator densities in consecutive years. Our results show that high oilseed rape cover in the previous year enhances current densities of wild bees (except for bumble bees). Moreover, we show a strong attractiveness of and dilution on (i.e., decreasing bee densities with increasing landscape oilseed rape cover) oilseed rape for bees during flowering in the current year, modifying the effect of the previous year's oilseed rape cover in the case of wild bees (excluding Bombus). As long as other factors such as nesting sites or natural enemies do not limit bee reproduction, our findings suggest long-term positive effects of mass-flowering crops on bee populations, at least for non-Bombus generalists, which possibly help to maintain crop pollination services even when crop area increases. Similar effects are conceivable for other organisms providing ecosystem services in annual crops and should be considered in future studies.
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29
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Bailes EJ, Ollerton J, Pattrick JG, Glover BJ. How can an understanding of plant-pollinator interactions contribute to global food security? CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY 2015; 26:72-79. [PMID: 26116979 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2015.06.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2015] [Revised: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 06/01/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Pollination of crops by animals is an essential part of global food production, but evidence suggests that wild pollinator populations may be declining while a number of problems are besetting managed honey bee colonies. Animal-pollinated crops grown today, bred in an environment where pollination was less likely to limit fruit set, are often suboptimal in attracting and sustaining their pollinator populations. Research into plant-pollinator interactions is often conducted in a curiosity-driven, ecological framework, but may inform breeding and biotechnological approaches to enhance pollinator attraction and crop yield. In this article we review key topics in current plant-pollinator research that have potential roles in future crop breeding for enhanced global food security.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Bailes
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Jeff Ollerton
- Department of Environmental and Geographic Sciences, University of Northampton, Avenue Campus, Northampton NN2 6JD, UK
| | - Jonathan G Pattrick
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK
| | - Beverley J Glover
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EA, UK.
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30
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Samson-Robert O, Labrie G, Mercier PL, Chagnon M, Derome N, Fournier V. Increased Acetylcholinesterase Expression in Bumble Bees During Neonicotinoid-Coated Corn Sowing. Sci Rep 2015; 5:12636. [PMID: 26223214 PMCID: PMC4519780 DOI: 10.1038/srep12636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Accepted: 06/25/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
While honey bee exposure to systemic insecticides has received much attention, impacts on wild pollinators have not been as widely studied. Neonicotinoids have been shown to increase acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in honey bees at sublethal doses. High AChE levels may therefore act as a biomarker of exposure to neonicotinoids. This two-year study focused on establishing whether bumble bees living and foraging in agricultural areas using neonicotinoid crop protection show early biochemical signs of intoxication. Bumble bee colonies (Bombus impatiens) were placed in two different agricultural cropping areas: 1) control (≥ 3 km from fields planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds) or 2) exposed (within 500 m of fields planted with neonicotinoid-treated seeds), and maintained for the duration of corn sowing. As determined by Real Time qPCR, AChE mRNA expression was initially significantly higher in bumble bees from exposed sites, then decreased throughout the planting season to reach a similar endpoint to that of bumble bees from control sites. These findings suggest that exposure to neonicotinoid seed coating particles during the planting season can alter bumble bee neuronal activity. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report in situ that bumble bees living in agricultural areas exhibit signs of neonicotinoid intoxication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Samson-Robert
- Centre de recherche en innovation sur les végétaux, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Geneviève Labrie
- CÉROM, Centre de recherche sur les grains Inc., Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, Québec, J3G 0E2, Canada
| | - Pierre-Luc Mercier
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Madeleine Chagnon
- Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada
| | - Nicolas Derome
- Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Valérie Fournier
- Centre de recherche en innovation sur les végétaux, Université Laval, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada
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Ekroos J, Jakobsson A, Wideen J, Herbertsson L, Rundlöf M, Smith HG. Effects of landscape composition and configuration on pollination in a native herb: a field experiment. Oecologia 2015; 179:509-18. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3370-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2014] [Accepted: 06/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Tiedeken EJ, Stout JC. Insect-flower interaction network structure is resilient to a temporary pulse of floral resources from invasive Rhododendron ponticum. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0119733. [PMID: 25764085 PMCID: PMC4357452 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Accepted: 02/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Invasive alien plants can compete with native plants for resources, and may ultimately decrease native plant diversity and/or abundance in invaded sites. This could have consequences for native mutualistic interactions, such as pollination. Although invasive plants often become highly connected in plant-pollinator interaction networks, in temperate climates they usually only flower for part of the season. Unless sufficient alternative plants flower outside this period, whole-season floral resources may be reduced by invasion. We hypothesized that the cessation of flowering of a dominant invasive plant would lead to dramatic, seasonal compositional changes in plant-pollinator communities, and subsequent changes in network structure. We investigated variation in floral resources, flower-visiting insect communities, and interaction networks during and after the flowering of invasive Rhododendron ponticum in four invaded Irish woodland sites. Floral resources decreased significantly after R. ponticum flowering, but the magnitude of the decrease varied among sites. Neither insect abundance nor richness varied between the two periods (during and after R. ponticum flowering), yet insect community composition was distinct, mostly due to a significant reduction in Bombus abundance after flowering. During flowering R. ponticum was frequently visited by Bombus; after flowering, these highly mobile pollinators presumably left to find alternative floral resources. Despite compositional changes, however, network structural properties remained stable after R. ponticum flowering ceased: generality increased, but quantitative connectance, interaction evenness, vulnerability, H'2 and network size did not change. This is likely because after R. ponticum flowering, two to three alternative plant species became prominent in networks and insects increased their diet breadth, as indicated by the increase in network-level generality. We conclude that network structure is robust to seasonal changes in floral abundance at sites invaded by alien, mass-flowering plant species, as long as alternative floral resources remain throughout the season to support the flower-visiting community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin Jo Tiedeken
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Jane C. Stout
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
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33
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Crowther LP, Hein PL, Bourke AFG. Habitat and forage associations of a naturally colonising insect pollinator, the tree bumblebee Bombus hypnorum. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107568. [PMID: 25259579 PMCID: PMC4178030 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Bumblebees (Bombus species) are major pollinators of commercial crops and wildflowers but factors affecting their abundance, including causes of recent population declines, remain unclear. Investigating the ecology of species with expanding ranges provides a potentially powerful means of elucidating these factors. Such species may also bring novel pollination services to their new ranges. We therefore investigated landscape-scale habitat use and foraging preferences of the Tree Bumblebee, B. hypnorum, a recent natural colonist that has rapidly expanded its range in the UK over the past decade. Counts of B. hypnorum and six other Bombus species were made in March-June 2012 within a mixed landscape in south-eastern Norfolk, UK. The extent of different landscape elements around each transect was quantified at three scales (250 m, 500 m and 1500 m). We then identified the landscape elements that best predicted the density of B. hypnorum and other Bombus species. At the best fitting scale (250 m), B. hypnorum density was significantly positively associated with extent of both urban and woodland cover and significantly negatively associated with extent of oilseed rape cover. This combination of landscape predictors was unique to B. hypnorum. Urban and woodland cover were associated with B. hypnorum density at three and two, respectively, of the three scales studied. Relative to other Bombus species, B. hypnorum exhibited a significantly higher foraging preference for two flowering trees, Crataegus monogyna and Prunus spinosa, and significantly lower preferences for Brassica napus, Glechoma hederacea and Lamium album. Our study provides novel, quantitative support for an association of B. hypnorum with urban and woodland landscape elements. Range expansion in B. hypnorum appears to depend, on exploitation of widespread habitats underutilised by native Bombus species, suggesting B. hypnorum will readily co-exist with these species. These findings suggest that management could target bumblebee species with distinctive habitat requirements to help maintain pollination services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liam P. Crowther
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Pierre-Louis Hein
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
- IUT Nancy-Brabois, Rue du Doyen Urion, Villers-les-Nancy CS, France
| | - Andrew F. G. Bourke
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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34
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Buri P, Humbert JY, Arlettaz R. Promoting pollinating insects in intensive agricultural matrices: field-scale experimental manipulation of hay-meadow mowing regimes and its effects on bees. PLoS One 2014; 9:e85635. [PMID: 24416434 PMCID: PMC3887108 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2013] [Accepted: 12/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Bees are a key component of biodiversity as they ensure a crucial ecosystem service: pollination. This ecosystem service is nowadays threatened, because bees suffer from agricultural intensification. Yet, bees rarely benefit from the measures established to promote biodiversity in farmland, such as agri-environment schemes (AES). We experimentally tested if the spatio-temporal modification of mowing regimes within extensively managed hay meadows, a widespread AES, can promote bees. We applied a randomized block design, replicated 12 times across the Swiss lowlands, that consisted of three different mowing treatments: 1) first cut not before 15 June (conventional regime for meadows within Swiss AES); 2) first cut not before 15 June, as treatment 1 but with 15% of area left uncut serving as a refuge; 3) first cut not before 15 July. Bees were collected with pan traps, twice during the vegetation season (before and after mowing). Wild bee abundance and species richness significantly increased in meadows where uncut refuges were left, in comparison to meadows without refuges: there was both an immediate (within year) and cumulative (from one year to the following) positive effect of the uncut refuge treatment. An immediate positive effect of delayed mowing was also evidenced in both wild bees and honey bees. Conventional AES could easily accommodate such a simple management prescription that promotes farmland biodiversity and is likely to enhance pollination services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierrick Buri
- Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Jean-Yves Humbert
- Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Raphaël Arlettaz
- Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Valais Field Station, Sion, Switzerland
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35
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Breeze TD, Vaissière BE, Bommarco R, Petanidou T, Seraphides N, Kozák L, Scheper J, Biesmeijer JC, Kleijn D, Gyldenkærne S, Moretti M, Holzschuh A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Stout JC, Pärtel M, Zobel M, Potts SG. Agricultural policies exacerbate honeybee pollination service supply-demand mismatches across Europe. PLoS One 2014; 9:e82996. [PMID: 24421873 PMCID: PMC3885438 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Declines in insect pollinators across Europe have raised concerns about the supply of pollination services to agriculture. Simultaneously, EU agricultural and biofuel policies have encouraged substantial growth in the cultivated area of insect pollinated crops across the continent. Using data from 41 European countries, this study demonstrates that the recommended number of honeybees required to provide crop pollination across Europe has risen 4.9 times as fast as honeybee stocks between 2005 and 2010. Consequently, honeybee stocks were insufficient to supply >90% of demands in 22 countries studied. These findings raise concerns about the capacity of many countries to cope with major losses of wild pollinators and highlight numerous critical gaps in current understanding of pollination service supplies and demands, pointing to a pressing need for further research into this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom D. Breeze
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | | | | | | | | | - Lajos Kozák
- Department of Nature Conservation, Zoology and Game Management, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Jeroen Scheper
- Animal Ecology Team, Alterra, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - David Kleijn
- Animal Ecology Team, Alterra, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Resource Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Steen Gyldenkærne
- Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Institution for Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Marco Moretti
- Community Ecology Research Unit Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Holzschuh
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jane C. Stout
- Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
| | - Meelis Pärtel
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Martin Zobel
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Simon G. Potts
- Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
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36
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Delmas CEL, Escaravage N, Pornon A. Massive floral display affects insect visits but not pollinator-mediated pollen transfer in Rhododendron ferrugineum. PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2014; 16:234-243. [PMID: 23682673 DOI: 10.1111/plb.12039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2012] [Accepted: 03/18/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Fragmentation of natural vegetation creates one of the largest threats to plant-pollinator interactions. Although fragmentation impacts on plant populations have been explored in many, mainly herbaceous, species, the response of wild mass-flowering species is poorly known. Here, we studied 28 heathland patches dominated by the mass-flowering shrub Rhododendron ferrugineum, each presenting different R. ferrugineum floral display sizes (total inflorescence number per patch) and patch isolation (median distance to the three nearest patches). We assessed the impacts of these two factors on (i) heathland patch visitor assemblage (considering R. ferrugineum versus surrounding community) and (ii) R. ferrugineum flower visitation rate and pollen transfer limitation (comparing seed set from emasculated to pollen-supplemented flowers). We found that diversity and abundance of bees visiting R. ferrugineum in heathland patches significantly decreased with decreasing R. ferrugineum floral display, while overall visitor density per patch and flower visitation rate increased. Moreover, a decrease in massive floral display and increase in patch isolation resulted in reduced visitor density in the surrounding community. Even in patches with few individuals, we found disproportionate visitor abundance in R. ferrugineum compared to the surrounding community. Finally, pollen transfer limitation in R. ferrugineum was neither affected by visitation rate nor by patch attributes. By disproportionally attracting pollinators from co-flowering species, and probably promoting geitonogamous pollen transfer, the mass-flowering trait appears adequate to compensate, in terms of conspecific pollen transfer, for the decrease in visitor diversity and abundance and in mate availability, which usually result from population fragmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- C E L Delmas
- Université de Toulouse ENFA (Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique), UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), F-31062, Toulouse, France
- CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Université Paul Sabatier, UMR5174 EDB, F-31062, Toulouse, France
| | - N Escaravage
- Université de Toulouse ENFA (Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique), UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), F-31062, Toulouse, France
- CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Université Paul Sabatier, UMR5174 EDB, F-31062, Toulouse, France
| | - A Pornon
- Université de Toulouse ENFA (Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique), UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), F-31062, Toulouse, France
- CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Université Paul Sabatier, UMR5174 EDB, F-31062, Toulouse, France
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37
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Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Haenke S, Batáry P, Jauker B, Báldi A, Tscharntke T, Holzschuh A. Contrasting effects of mass-flowering crops on bee pollination of hedge plants at different spatial and temporal scales. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2013; 23:1938-1946. [PMID: 24555319 DOI: 10.1890/12-2012.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Landscape-wide mass-flowering of oilseed rape (canola Brassica napus) can considerably affect wild bee communities and pollination success of wild plants. We aimed to assess the impact of oilseed rape on the pollination of wild plants and bee abundance during and after oilseed-rape bloom, including effects on crop-noncrop spillover at landscape and adjacent-field scales. We focused on two shrub species (hawthorn Crataegus spp., dog rose Rosa canina) and adjacent herb flowering in forest edges, connected hedges, and isolated hedges in Lower Saxony, Germany. We selected 35 landscape circles of 1 km radius, differing in the amount of oilseed rape; 18 were adjacent to oilseed rape and 17 to cereal fields, and we quantified bee density via pan traps at all sites. Adjacent oilseed rape positively affected fruit mass and seed number per fruit of simultaneously flowering hawthorn (no effect on dog rose, which flowers after the oilseed rape bloom). At the landscape scale, oilseed rape had a negative effect on bumble bee density in the hedges during flowering due to dilution of pollinators per unit area and the consequently intensified competition between oilseed rape and wild shrubs, but a positive effect after flowering when bees moved to the hedges, which still provided resources. In contrast, positive landscape-scale effects of oilseed rape were found throughout the season in forest edges, suggesting that edges support nesting activity and enhanced food resources. Our results show that oilseed rape effects on bee abundances and pollination success in seminatural habitats depend on the spatial and temporal scale considered and on the habitat type, the wild plant species, and the time of crop flowering. These scale-dependent positive and negative effects should be considered in evaluations of landscape-scale configuration and composition of crops. Food resources provided by mass-flowering crops should be most beneficial for landscape-wide enhancement of wild bee populations if seminatural habitats are available, providing (1) nesting resources and (2) continuous flowering resources during the season.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sebastian Haenke
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, Georg-August University, Grisebachstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Péter Batáry
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, Georg-August University, Grisebachstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Birgit Jauker
- Justus Liebig University, Department of Animal Ecology, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - András Báldi
- MTA OK, Lendület Ecosystem Services Research Group, Alkotmány út 2-4, H-2163 Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - Teja Tscharntke
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, Georg-August University, Grisebachstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Andrea Holzschuh
- Agroecology, Department of Crop Sciences, Georg-August University, Grisebachstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
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38
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Stanley DA, Knight ME, Stout JC. Ecological Variation in Response to Mass-Flowering Oilseed Rape and Surrounding Landscape Composition by Members of a Cryptic Bumblebee Complex. PLoS One 2013; 8:e65516. [PMID: 23840338 PMCID: PMC3686753 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2012] [Accepted: 05/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Bombus sensu stricto species complex is a widespread group of cryptic bumblebee species which are important pollinators of many crops and wild plants. These cryptic species have, until now, largely been grouped together in ecological studies, and so little is known about their individual colony densities, foraging ranges or habitat requirements, which can be influenced by land use at a landscape scale. We used mass-flowering oilseed rape fields as locations to sample bees of this complex, as well as the second most common visitor to oilseed rape B. lapidarius, and molecular RFLP methods to distinguish between the cryptic species. We then used microsatellite genotyping to identify sisters and estimate colony densities, and related both proportions of cryptic species and their colony densities to the composition of the landscape surrounding the fields. We found B. lucorum was the most common member of the complex present in oilseed rape followed by B. terrestris. B. cryptarum was also present in all but one site, with higher proportions found in the east of the study area. High numbers of bumblebee colonies were estimated to be using oilseed rape fields as a forage resource, with B. terrestris colony numbers higher than previous estimates from non-mass-flowering fields. We also found that the cryptic species responded differently to surrounding landscape composition: both relative proportions of B. cryptarum in samples and colony densities of B. lucorum were negatively associated with the amount of arable land in the landscape, while proportions and colony densities of other species did not respond to landscape variables at the scale measured. This suggests that the cryptic species have different ecological requirements (which may be scale-dependent) and that oilseed rape can be an important forage resource for many colonies of bumblebees. Given this, we recommend sustainable management of this crop to benefit bumblebees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dara A. Stanley
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- * E-mail:
| | - Mairi E. Knight
- School of Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, United Kingdom
| | - Jane C. Stout
- Botany Department, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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39
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Community-dependent foraging habits of flower visitors: cascading indirect interactions among five bumble bee species. Ecol Res 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s11284-013-1051-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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40
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Stanley DA, Stout JC. Quantifying the impacts of bioenergy crops on pollinating insect abundance and diversity: a field-scale evaluation reveals taxon-specific responses. J Appl Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dara A. Stanley
- Botany Department; School of Natural Sciences and Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research; Trinity College Dublin; Dublin 2 Ireland
| | - Jane C. Stout
- Botany Department; School of Natural Sciences and Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research; Trinity College Dublin; Dublin 2 Ireland
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41
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Easton AH, Goulson D. The neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid repels pollinating flies and beetles at field-realistic concentrations. PLoS One 2013; 8:e54819. [PMID: 23382980 PMCID: PMC3557293 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2012] [Accepted: 12/17/2012] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Neonicotinoids are widely used systemic insecticides which, when applied to flowering crops, are translocated to the nectar and pollen where they may impact upon pollinators. Given global concerns over pollinator declines, this potential impact has recently received much attention. Field exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids depends on the concentrations present in flowering crops and the degree to which pollinators choose to feed upon them. Here we describe a simple experiment using paired yellow pan traps with or without insecticide to assess whether the commonly used neonicotinoid imidacloprid repels or attracts flying insects. Both Diptera and Coleoptera exhibited marked avoidance of traps containing imidacloprid at a field-realistic dose of 1 µg L(-1), with Diptera avoiding concentrations as low as 0.01 µg L(-1). This is to our knowledge the first evidence for any biological activity at such low concentrations, which are below the limits of laboratory detection using most commonly available techniques. Catch of spiders in pan traps was also slightly reduced by the highest concentrations of imidacloprid used (1 µg L(-1)), but catch was increased by lower concentrations. It remains to be seen if the repellent effect on insects occurs when neonicotinoids are present in real flowers, but if so then this could have implications for exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids and for crop pollination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy H. Easton
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
| | - Dave Goulson
- Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland
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42
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Loeuille N, Barot S, Georgelin E, Kylafis G, Lavigne C. Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Agricultural Networks. ADV ECOL RES 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-420002-9.00006-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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43
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Mesa LA, Howlett BG, Grant JE, Didham RK. Changes in the relative abundance and movement of insect pollinators during the flowering cycle of Brassica rapa crops: implications for gene flow. JOURNAL OF INSECT SCIENCE (ONLINE) 2013; 13:13. [PMID: 23937538 PMCID: PMC3742347 DOI: 10.1673/031.013.1301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2011] [Accepted: 01/22/2010] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The potential movement of transgenes from genetically modified crops to non-genetically modified crops via insect-mediated pollen dispersal has been highlighted as one of the areas of greatest concern in regards to genetically modified crops. Pollen movement depends sensitively on spatial and temporal variation in the movement of insect pollinators between crop fields. This study tested the degree of variation in the diversity and relative abundance of flower-visiting insects entering versus leaving pak choi, Brassica rapa var. chinensis L. (Brassicales: Brassicaceae), crops throughout different stages of the flowering cycle. The relative abundance of flower-visiting insects varied significantly with Brassica crop phenology. Greater numbers of flower-visiting insects were captured inside rather than outside the crop fields, with the highest capture rates of flower-visitors coinciding with the peak of flowering in both spring-flowering and summer-flowering crops. Moreover, the ratio of flower-visiting insects entering versus leaving crop fields also varied considerably with changing crop phenology. Despite high variation in relative capture rates, the data strongly indicate non-random patterns of variation in insect movement in relation to crop phenology, with early-season aggregation of flower-visiting insects entering and remaining in the crop, and then mass emigration of flower-visiting insects leaving the crop late in the flowering season. Although pollen movement late in the flowering cycle might contribute relatively little to total seed set (and hence crop production), the findings here suggest that extensive late-season pollinator redistribution in the landscape could contribute disproportionately to long-distance gene movement between crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura A. Mesa
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, P.O. Box 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
- Sustainable Production, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Bradley G. Howlett
- Sustainable Production, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Jan E. Grant
- Breeding and Genomics, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 4704, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Raphael K. Didham
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, P.O. Box 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009, Australia
- CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Underwood Ave, Floreat WA 6014, Australia
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Abstract
Although agricultural habitats can provide enormous amounts of food resources for pollinator species, links between agricultural and (semi-)natural habitats through dispersal and foraging movements have hardly been studied. In 67 study sites, we assessed the interactions between mass-flowering oilseed rape fields and semi-natural grasslands at different spatial scales, and their effects on the number of brood cells of a solitary cavity-nesting bee. The probability that the bee Osmia bicornis colonized trap nests in oilseed rape fields increased from 12 to 59 % when grassland was nearby, compared to fields isolated from grassland. In grasslands, the number of brood cells of O. bicornis in trap nests was 55 % higher when adjacent to oilseed rape compared to isolated grasslands. The percentage of oilseed rape pollen in the larval food was higher in oilseed rape fields and grasslands adjacent to oilseed rape than in isolated grasslands. In both oilseed rape fields and grasslands, the number of brood cells was positively correlated with the percentage of oilseed rape pollen in the larval food. We show that mass-flowering agricultural habitats--even when they are intensively managed--can strongly enhance the abundance of a solitary bee species nesting in nearby semi-natural habitats. Our results suggest that positive effects of agricultural habitats have been underestimated and might be very common (at least) for generalist species in landscapes consisting of a mixture of agricultural and semi-natural habitats. These effects might also have--so far overlooked--implications for interspecific competition and mutualistic interactions in semi-natural habitats.
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Jauker F, Peter F, Wolters V, Diekötter T. Early reproductive benefits of mass-flowering crops to the solitary bee Osmia rufa outbalance post-flowering disadvantages. Basic Appl Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2012.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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46
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Whitehorn PR, O'Connor S, Wackers FL, Goulson D. Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production. Science 2012; 336:351-2. [PMID: 22461500 DOI: 10.1126/science.1215025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 682] [Impact Index Per Article: 56.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Rader R, Howlett BG, Cunningham SA, Westcott DA, Edwards W. Spatial and temporal variation in pollinator effectiveness: do unmanaged insects provide consistent pollination services to mass flowering crops? J Appl Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02066.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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48
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Bommarco R, Lundin O, Smith HG, Rundlöf M. Drastic historic shifts in bumble-bee community composition in Sweden. Proc Biol Sci 2011; 279:309-15. [PMID: 21676979 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The species richness of flower-visiting insects has declined in past decades, raising concerns that the ecosystem service they provide by pollinating crops and wild plants is threatened. The relative commonness of different species with shared ecological traits can play a pervasive role in determining ecosystem functioning, but information on changes in abundances of pollinators over time is lacking. We gathered data on relative abundances of bumble-bee species in Swedish red clover fields during three periods in the last 70 years (1940s, 1960s and present), and on clover seed yields since 1921. We found drastic decreases in bumble-bee community evenness, with potential consequences for level and stability of red clover seed yield. The relative abundances of two short-tongued bumble-bees have increased from 40 per cent in the 1940s to entirely dominate present communities with 89 per cent. Average seed yield declined in recent years and variation in yield doubled, suggesting that the current dependence on few species for pollination has been especially detrimental to stability in seed yield. Our results suggest a need to develop management schemes that promote not only species-rich but also more evenly composed communities of service-providing organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Bommarco
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7044, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
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Alanen EL, Hyvönen T, Lindgren S, Härmä O, Kuussaari M. Differential responses of bumblebees and diurnal Lepidoptera to vegetation succession in long-term set-aside. J Appl Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02012.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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50
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Williams NM, Cariveau D, Winfree R, Kremen C. Bees in disturbed habitats use, but do not prefer, alien plants. Basic Appl Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2010.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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