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Cantwell-Jones A, Tylianakis JM, Larson K, Gill RJ. Using individual-based trait frequency distributions to forecast plant-pollinator network responses to environmental change. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14368. [PMID: 38247047 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14368] [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: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Determining how and why organisms interact is fundamental to understanding ecosystem responses to future environmental change. To assess the impact on plant-pollinator interactions, recent studies have examined how the effects of environmental change on individual interactions accumulate to generate species-level responses. Here, we review recent developments in using plant-pollinator networks of interacting individuals along with their functional traits, where individuals are nested within species nodes. We highlight how these individual-level, trait-based networks connect intraspecific trait variation (as frequency distributions of multiple traits) with dynamic responses within plant-pollinator communities. This approach can better explain interaction plasticity, and changes to interaction probabilities and network structure over spatiotemporal or other environmental gradients. We argue that only through appreciating such trait-based interaction plasticity can we accurately forecast the potential vulnerability of interactions to future environmental change. We follow this with general guidance on how future studies can collect and analyse high-resolution interaction and trait data, with the hope of improving predictions of future plant-pollinator network responses for targeted and effective conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aoife Cantwell-Jones
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Jason M Tylianakis
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, School of Biological Sciences, Private Bag 4800, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Keith Larson
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Richard J Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
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2
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Bell KL, Turo KJ, Lowe A, Nota K, Keller A, Encinas‐Viso F, Parducci L, Richardson RT, Leggett RM, Brosi BJ, Burgess KS, Suyama Y, de Vere N. Plants, pollinators and their interactions under global ecological change: The role of pollen DNA metabarcoding. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6345-6362. [PMID: 36086900 PMCID: PMC10947134 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic activities are triggering global changes in the environment, causing entire communities of plants, pollinators and their interactions to restructure, and ultimately leading to species declines. To understand the mechanisms behind community shifts and declines, as well as monitoring and managing impacts, a global effort must be made to characterize plant-pollinator communities in detail, across different habitat types, latitudes, elevations, and levels and types of disturbances. Generating data of this scale will only be feasible with rapid, high-throughput methods. Pollen DNA metabarcoding provides advantages in throughput, efficiency and taxonomic resolution over traditional methods, such as microscopic pollen identification and visual observation of plant-pollinator interactions. This makes it ideal for understanding complex ecological networks and their responses to change. Pollen DNA metabarcoding is currently being applied to assess plant-pollinator interactions, survey ecosystem change and model the spatiotemporal distribution of allergenic pollen. Where samples are available from past collections, pollen DNA metabarcoding has been used to compare contemporary and past ecosystems. New avenues of research are possible with the expansion of pollen DNA metabarcoding to intraspecific identification, analysis of DNA in ancient pollen samples, and increased use of museum and herbarium specimens. Ongoing developments in sequencing technologies can accelerate progress towards these goals. Global ecological change is happening rapidly, and we anticipate that high-throughput methods such as pollen DNA metabarcoding are critical for understanding the evolutionary and ecological processes that support biodiversity, and predicting and responding to the impacts of change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Bell
- CSIRO Health & Biosecurity and CSIRO Land & WaterFloreatWAAustralia
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Western AustraliaCrawleyWAAustralia
| | - Katherine J. Turo
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural ResourcesRutgers UniversityNew BrunswickNew JerseyUSA
| | | | - Kevin Nota
- Department of Ecology and GeneticsEvolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | - Alexander Keller
- Organismic and Cellular Networks, Faculty of BiologyBiocenter, Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität MünchenPlaneggGermany
| | - Francisco Encinas‐Viso
- Centre for Australian National Biodiversity ResearchCSIROBlack MountainAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
| | - Laura Parducci
- Department of Ecology and GeneticsEvolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
- Department of Environmental BiologySapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Rodney T. Richardson
- Appalachian LaboratoryUniversity of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceFrostburgMarylandUSA
| | | | - Berry J. Brosi
- Department of BiologyUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWashingtonUSA
| | - Kevin S. Burgess
- Department of BiologyCollege of Letters and Sciences, Columbus State University, University System of GeorgiaAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Yoshihisa Suyama
- Field Science CenterGraduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku UniversityOsakiMiyagiJapan
| | - Natasha de Vere
- Natural History Museum of DenmarkUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
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3
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Tommasi N, Biella P, Maggioni D, Fallati L, Agostinetto G, Labra M, Galli P, Galimberti A. DNA metabarcoding unveils the effects of habitat fragmentation on pollinator diversity, plant-pollinator interactions, and pollination efficiency in Maldive islands. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6394-6404. [PMID: 35651283 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Habitat fragmentation affects biodiversity, but with unclear effects on pollinators and their interactions with plants in anthropized landscapes. Islands could serve as open air laboratories, suitable to disentangle how land-use alteration impacts pollination ecology. In Maldive islands we investigated how pollinator richness, plant-pollinator interactions and pollination efficiency are influenced by the green area fragmentation (i.e., gardens and semi-natural patches). Moreover, we considered the mediating role of pollinator body size and the plant trait of being invasive in shaping interactions. To do this, we surveyed pollinator insects from 11 islands representing a gradient of green area fragmentation. A DNA metabarcoding approach was adopted to identify the pollen transported by pollinators and characterize the plant-pollinator interactions. We found that intermediate levels of green area fragmentation characterized pollinator communities and increased their species richness, while decreasing interaction network complexity. Invasive plants were more frequently found on pollinator bodies than native or exotic noninvasive ones, indicating a concerningly higher potential for pollen dispersal and reproduction of the former ones. Intriguingly, pollinator body size mediated the effect of landscape alteration on interactions, as only the largest bees expanded the foraging diet in terms of plant richness in the transported pollen at increasing fragmentation. In parallel, the pollination efficiency increased with pollinator species richness in two sentinel plants. This study shows that moderate landscape fragmentation of green areas shapes many aspects of the pollination ecosystem service, where despite interactions being less complex and mediated by pollinator body size, pollinator insect biodiversity and potential plant reproduction are supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Tommasi
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- INFN Sezione Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Biella
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Maggioni
- Earth and Environmental Science Department, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo, Maldives
| | - Luca Fallati
- Earth and Environmental Science Department, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo, Maldives
| | - Giulia Agostinetto
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Labra
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- INFN Sezione Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Galli
- Earth and Environmental Science Department, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo, Maldives
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- INFN Sezione Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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4
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White SA, Dillon ME. Climate warming and bumble bee declines: the need to consider sub-lethal heat, carry-over effects, and colony compensation. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1251235. [PMID: 38028807 PMCID: PMC10644220 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1251235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Global declines in abundance and diversity of insects are now well-documented and increasingly concerning given the critical and diverse roles insects play in all ecosystems. Habitat loss, invasive species, and anthropogenic chemicals are all clearly detrimental to insect populations, but mounting evidence implicates climate change as a key driver of insect declines globally. Warming temperatures combined with increased variability may expose organisms to extreme heat that exceeds tolerance, potentially driving local extirpations. In this context, heat tolerance limits (e.g., critical thermal maximum, CTmax) have been measured for many invertebrates and are often closely linked to climate regions where animals are found. However, temperatures well below CTmax may also have pronounced effects on insects, but have been relatively less studied. Additionally, many insects with out-sized ecological and economic footprints are colonial (e.g., ants, social bees, termites) such that effects of heat on individuals may propagate through or be compensated by the colony. For colonial organisms, measuring direct effects on individuals may therefore reveal little about population-level impacts of changing climates. Here, we use bumble bees (genus Bombus) as a case study to highlight how a limited understanding of heat effects below CTmax and of colonial impacts and responses both likely hinder our ability to explain past and predict future climate change impacts. Insights from bumble bees suggest that, for diverse invertebrates, predicting climate change impacts will require a more nuanced understanding of the effects of heat exposure and additional studies of carry-over effects and compensatory responses by colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina A. White
- Department of Zoology and Physiology and Program in Ecology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, United States
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5
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Das S, Das A. Ants are more than just curious bystanders to some flowers-they act as significant pollinators. FRONTIERS IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 3:1145761. [PMID: 38469491 PMCID: PMC10926462 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2023.1145761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Ant-plant associations are ubiquitous and highly diverse in almost all terrestrial environments, resulting in complex ecological networks. Although ant-plant mutualism is prevalent, ant-mediated pollination is uncommon, and only a few investigations have demonstrated their role in pollination. Thus, the topic of ant-mediated pollination requires revision to assess its significance in pollination biology. Ants are frequent floral visitors, but their impact on plant reproductive fitness is rarely acknowledged; nonetheless, numerous flower-visiting ants have been investigated for their involvement in promoting floral development and hybrid vigor in crops. In this study, we present a summary of the scientific literature published over the last four decades on ants' involvement in pollination, the diversity of pollinating ants to various host plants, the ant-plant pollinating networks, and seasonal patterns of ant-mediated pollination. Ants generally forage for flowers in quest of nectar and other sustenance, and in doing so they pollinate the flowers that they encounter. This review identified the pollination networks between ants and plants at the species and family levels. Pollination is often affected by a number of aspects, including the flower's sex, its ovary position, the inflorescence it bears, and the time of year. The available literature demonstrates that ants visit the inflorescences of the same species only to promote cross-pollination, a process known as "geitonogamy"; however, we conclude that ants may visit different inflorescences of different plants in the field. If ant pollination is the norm, there is less selection pressure to acquire self-compatibility; nonetheless, ants' cross-pollination may have caused ants to co-evolve with the pollinating flowers. This indicates that ants are more than just curious bystanders to some flowers; they act as significant pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amlan Das
- Entomology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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6
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Prudnikow L, Pannicke B, Wünschiers R. A primer on pollen assignment by nanopore-based DNA sequencing. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1112929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The possibility to identify plants based on the taxonomic information coming from their pollen grains offers many applications within various biological disciplines. In the past and depending on the application or research in question, pollen origin was analyzed by microscopy, usually preceded by chemical treatment methods. This procedure for identification of pollen grains is both time-consuming and requires expert knowledge of morphological features. Additionally, these microscopically recognizable features usually have a low resolution at species-level. Since a few decades, DNA has been used for the identification of pollen taxa, as sequencing technologies evolved both in their handling and affordability. We discuss advantages and challenges of pollen DNA analyses compared to traditional methods. With readers with little experience in this field in mind, we present a hands-on primer for genetic pollen analysis by nanopore sequencing. As our lab mainly works with pollen collected within agroecological research projects, we focus on pollen collected by pollinating insects. We briefly consider sample collection, storage and processing in the laboratory as well as bioinformatic aspects. Currently, pollen metabarcoding is mostly conducted with next-generation sequencing methods that generate short sequence reads (<1 kb). Increasingly, however, pollen DNA analysis is carried out using the long-read generating (several kb), low-budget and mobile MinION nanopore sequencing platform by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Therefore, we are focusing on aspects for palynology with the MinION DNA sequencing device.
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Klečka J, Mikát M, Koloušková P, Hadrava J, Straka J. Individual-level specialisation and interspecific resource partitioning in bees revealed by pollen DNA metabarcoding. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13671. [PMID: 35959478 PMCID: PMC9359135 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
It is increasingly recognised that intraspecific variation in traits, such as morphology, behaviour, or diet is both ubiquitous and ecologically important. While many species of predators and herbivores are known to display high levels of between-individual diet variation, there is a lack of studies on pollinators. It is important to fill in this gap because individual-level specialisation of flower-visiting insects is expected to affect their efficiency as pollinators with consequences for plant reproduction. Accordingly, the aim of our study was to quantify the level of individual-level specialisation and foraging preferences, as well as interspecific resource partitioning, in three co-occurring species of bees of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae), C. chalybea, C. nigrolabiata, and C. cucurbitina. We conducted a field experiment where we provided artificial nesting opportunities for the bees and combined a short-term mark-recapture study with the dissection of the bees' nests to obtain repeated samples from individual foraging females and complete pollen provisions from their nests. We used DNA metabarcoding based on the ITS2 locus to identify the composition of the pollen samples. We found that the composition of pollen carried on the bodies of female bees and stored in the brood provisions in their nests significantly differed among the three co-occurring species. At the intraspecific level, individual females consistently differed in their level of specialisation and in the composition of pollen carried on their bodies and stored in their nests. We also demonstrate that higher generalisation at the species level stemmed from larger among-individual variation in diets, as observed in other types of consumers, such as predators. Our study thus reveals how specialisation and foraging preferences of bees change from the scale of individual foraging bouts to complete pollen provisions accumulated in their nests over many days. Such a multi-scale view of foraging behaviour is necessary to improve our understanding of the functioning of plant-flower visitor communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Klečka
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michael Mikát
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Pavla Koloušková
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Hadrava
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic,Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Straka
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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8
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Biella P, Ssymank A, Galimberti A, Galli P, Perlík M, Ramazzotti F, Rota A, Tommasi N. Updating the list of flower-visiting bees, hoverflies and wasps in the central atolls of Maldives, with notes on land-use effects. Biodivers Data J 2022; 10:e85107. [PMID: 36761651 PMCID: PMC9848504 DOI: 10.3897/bdj.10.e85107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Maldives islands host a unique biodiversity, but their integrity is threatened by climate change and impacting land-uses (e.g. cemented or agricultural areas). As pollinators provide key services for the ecosystems and for the inhabitants, it is crucial to know which pollinators occur in the islands, to characterise their genetic identity and to understand which plants they visit and the size of the human impact. Given that no significant faunistic surveys of Hymenoptera have been published for the country in more than 100 years and that Syrphidae were only partly investigated, we sampled islands in the central part of the Maldives country (Faafu and Daahlu atolls) and hand-netted flower-visiting bees, wasps and hoverflies (Hymenoptera: Anthophila, Crabronidae, Sphecidae, Vespidae, Scoliidae and Diptera: Syrphidae). Overall, we found 21 species; 76.4% of the collected specimens were Anthophila (bees), 12.7% belonged to several families of wasps and 10.8% of individuals were Syrphidae. It seems that one third of species are new for the Maldives, based on the published literature. Human land-uses seem to shape the local pollinator fauna since the assemblages of bees, wasps and hoverflies from urbanised and agricultural islands differed from those in resort and natural ones. These pollinators visited 30 plant species in total, although some invasive plants hosted the highest number of flower visitor species. Biogeographically, this pollinating fauna is mostly shared with Sri Lanka and India. Genetically, the used marker hinted for a unique fauna in relation to the rest of the distribution ranges in most cases, although generally within the level of intraspecific genetic variation. This study significantly contributes to increasing the knowledge on the pollinator diversity and genetic identity in Maldives islands also considering the important implications for the islands' land-use and the role of invasive plants. This study will be pivotal for future pollination studies and biodiversity conservation efforts in the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Biella
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
| | - Axel Ssymank
- Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn, GermanyBundesamt für NaturschutzBonnGermany
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
| | - Paolo Galli
- Earth and Environmental Science Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyEarth and Environmental Science Department, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
- MaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center), Magoodhoo, MaldivesMaRHE Center (Marine Research and High Education Center)MagoodhooMaldives
| | - Michal Perlík
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech RepublicFaculty of Science, University of South BohemiaCeske BudejoviceCzech Republic
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech RepublicInstitute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of SciencesCeske BudejoviceCzech Republic
| | - Fausto Ramazzotti
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
| | - Alessia Rota
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
| | - Nicola Tommasi
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, ItalyZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-BicoccaMilanoItaly
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9
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Tommasi N, Pioltelli E, Biella P, Labra M, Casiraghi M, Galimberti A. Effect of urbanization and its environmental stressors on the intraspecific variation of flight functional traits in two bumblebee species. Oecologia 2022; 199:289-299. [PMID: 35575832 PMCID: PMC9225972 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05184-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The way urbanization shapes the intraspecific variation of pollinator functional traits is little understood. However, this topic is relevant for investigating ecosystem services and pollinator health. Here, we studied how urbanization affects the functional traits of workers in two bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris and B. pascuorum) sampled in 37 sites along a gradient of urbanization in North Italy (an area of 1800 km2 including the metropolitan context of Milan and other surrounding capital districts). Namely, we investigated the effect of land use composition, configuration, air temperature, flower resource abundance, and air pollutants on the variation of traits related to flight performance and of stress during insect development (i.e., wing size, wing shape and size fluctuating asymmetry). The functional traits of the two bumblebees responded idiosyncratically to urbanization. Urban temperatures were associated with smaller wing sizes in B. pascuorum and with more accentuated fluctuating asymmetry of wing size in B. terrestris. Moreover, flower abundance correlated with bigger wings in B. terrestris and with less asymmetric wing size in B. pascuorum. Other traits did not vary significantly, and other urban variables played minor effects. These species-specific variation patterns highlight that environmental stressor linked to urbanization negatively impact the traits related to flight performance and development stability of these syntopic bumblebees, with possible consequences on the pollination service they provide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Tommasi
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- INFN Sezione Di Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Emiliano Pioltelli
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Biella
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Labra
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- INFN Sezione Di Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Maurizio Casiraghi
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- ZooplantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
- INFN Sezione Di Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
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10
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Biella P, Tommasi N, Guzzetti L, Pioltelli E, Labra M, Galimberti A. City climate and landscape structure shape pollinators, nectar and transported pollen along a gradient of urbanization. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Biella
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
| | - Nicola Tommasi
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare ‐ Sez. Milano Bicocca Milan Italy
| | - Lorenzo Guzzetti
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
| | - Emiliano Pioltelli
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
| | - Massimo Labra
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare ‐ Sez. Milano Bicocca Milan Italy
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare ‐ Sez. Milano Bicocca Milan Italy
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11
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Abstract
The identification of floral visitation by pollinators provides an opportunity to improve our understanding of the fine-scale ecological interactions between plants and pollinators, contributing to biodiversity conservation and promoting ecosystem health. In this review, we outline the various methods which can be used to identify floral visitation, including plant-focused and insect-focused methods. We reviewed the literature covering the ways in which DNA metabarcoding has been used to answer ecological questions relating to plant use by pollinators and discuss the findings of this research. We present detailed methodological considerations for each step of the metabarcoding workflow, from sampling through to amplification, and finally bioinformatic analysis. Detailed guidance is provided to researchers for utilisation of these techniques, emphasising the importance of standardisation of methods and improving the reliability of results. Future opportunities and directions of using molecular methods to analyse plant–pollinator interactions are then discussed.
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12
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Librán-Embid F, Grass I, Emer C, Ganuza C, Tscharntke T. A plant-pollinator metanetwork along a habitat fragmentation gradient. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:2700-2712. [PMID: 34612562 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
To understand how plant-pollinator interactions respond to habitat fragmentation, we need novel approaches that can capture properties that emerge at broad scales, where multiple communities engage in metanetworks. Here we studied plant-pollinator interactions over 2 years on 29 calcareous grassland fragments selected along independent gradients of habitat size and surrounding landscape diversity of cover types. We associated network centrality of plant-pollinator interactions and grassland fragments with their ecological and landscape traits, respectively. Interactions involving habitat specialist plants and large-bodied pollinators were the most central, implying that species with these traits form the metanetwork core. Large fragments embedded in landscapes with high land cover diversity exhibited the highest centrality; however, small fragments harboured many unique interactions not found on larger fragments. Intensively managed landscapes have reached a point in which all remaining fragments matter, meaning that losing any further areas may vanish unique interactions with unknown consequences for ecosystem functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felipe Librán-Embid
- Agroecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Zoological Biodiversity, Institute of Geobotany, Leibniz University of Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Ingo Grass
- Department of Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Carine Emer
- Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.,Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Cristina Ganuza
- Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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DNA-Based Herbal Teas' Authentication: An ITS2 and psbA-trnH Multi-Marker DNA Metabarcoding Approach. PLANTS 2021; 10:plants10102120. [PMID: 34685929 PMCID: PMC8539046 DOI: 10.3390/plants10102120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Medicinal plants have been widely used in traditional medicine due to their therapeutic properties. Although they are mostly used as herbal infusion and tincture, employment as ingredients of food supplements is increasing. However, fraud and adulteration are widespread issues. In our study, we aimed at evaluating DNA metabarcoding as a tool to identify product composition. In order to accomplish this, we analyzed fifteen commercial products with DNA metabarcoding, using two barcode regions: psbA-trnH and ITS2. Results showed that on average, 70% (44-100) of the declared ingredients have been identified. The ITS2 marker appears to identify more species (n = 60) than psbA-trnH (n = 35), with an ingredients' identification rate of 52% versus 45%, respectively. Some species are identified only by one marker rather than the other. Additionally, in order to evaluate the quantitative ability of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to compare the plant component to the corresponding assigned sequences, in the laboratory, we created six mock mixtures of plants starting both from biomass and gDNA. Our analysis also supports the application of DNA metabarcoding for a relative quantitative analysis. These results move towards the application of HTS analysis for studying the composition of herbal teas for medicinal plants' traceability and quality control.
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Harnessing the Power of Metabarcoding in the Ecological Interpretation of Plant-Pollinator DNA Data: Strategies and Consequences of Filtering Approaches. DIVERSITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/d13090437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Although DNA metabarcoding of pollen mixtures has been increasingly used in the field of pollination biology, methodological and interpretation issues arise due to its high sensitivity. Filtering or maintaining false positives, contaminants, and rare taxa or molecular features could lead to different ecological results. Here, we reviewed how this choice has been addressed in 43 studies featuring pollen DNA metabarcoding, which highlighted a very high heterogeneity of filtering methods. We assessed how these strategies shaped pollen assemblage composition, species richness, and interaction networks. To do so, we compared four processing methods: unfiltering, filtering with a proportional 1% of sample reads, a fixed threshold of 100 reads, and the ROC approach (Receiver Operator Characteristic). The results indicated that filtering impacted species composition and reduced species richness, with ROC emerging as a conservative approach. Moreover, in contrast to unfiltered networks, filtering decreased network Connectance and Entropy, and it increased Modularity and Connectivity, indicating that using cut-off thresholds better describes interactions. Overall, unfiltering might compromise reliable ecological interpretations, unless a study targets rare species. We discuss the suitability of each filtering type, plead for justifying filtering strategies on biological or methodological bases and for developing shared approaches to make future studies more comparable.
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Toji T, Itino T. Differences in the flower visitor behaviour on female and hermaphroditic flowers of Cimicifuga simplex. J NAT HIST 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2021.1946611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tsubasa Toji
- Department of Science and Technology, Graduate School of Medicine, Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
| | - Takao Itino
- Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
- Institute of Mountain Science, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
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16
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Biella P, Ćetković A, Gogala A, Neumayer J, Sárospataki M, Šima P, Smetana V. Northwestward range expansion of the bumblebee Bombus haematurus into Central Europe is associated with warmer winters and niche conservatism. INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 28:861-872. [PMID: 32401399 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Species range expansions are crucial for understanding niche formation and the interaction with the environment. Here, we studied the bumblebee Bombus haematurus Kriechbaumer, 1870, a species historically distributed from northern Serbia through northern Iran which has very recently started expanding northwestward into Central Europe without human-mediated dispersal (i.e., it is a natural spread). After updating the global distribution of this species, we investigated if niche shifts took place during this range expansion between newly colonized and historical areas. In addition, we have explored which climatic factors may have favored the natural range expansion of the species. Our results indicated that Bombus haematurus has colonized large territories in 7 European countries outside the historical area in the period from the 1980s to 2018, a natural expansion over an area that equals 20% of the historical distribution. In addition, this bumblebee performs generalism in flower visitation and it occurs in different habitats, although a preference for forested areas clearly emerges. The land-use associated with the species in the colonized areas is similar to the historical distribution, indicating that no major niche shifts occurred during the spread. Furthermore, in recently colonized localities, the range expansion was associated with warming temperatures during the winter and also during both queen overwintering and emergence phases. These findings document a case of natural range expansion due to environmental change rather than due to niche shifts, and specifically they suggest that warmer winters could be linked to the process of natural colonization of new areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Biella
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
| | | | - Andrej Gogala
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Miklós Sárospataki
- Department of Zoology and Ecology, Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary
| | - Peter Šima
- Department of Research and Development, Koppert s.r.o., Nové Zámky, Slovakia
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Siddique AB, Biella P, Unterseher M, Albrectsen BR. Mycobiomes of Young Beech Trees Are Distinguished by Organ Rather Than by Habitat, and Community Analyses Suggest Competitive Interactions Among Twig Fungi. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:646302. [PMID: 33936005 PMCID: PMC8086555 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.646302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) are prominent keystone species of great economic and environmental value for central Europe, hosting a diverse mycobiome. The composition of endophyte communities may depend on tree health, plant organ or tissue, and growth habitat. To evaluate mycobiome communalities at local scales, buds, and twigs were sampled from two young healthy mountain beech stands in Bavaria, Germany, four kilometers apart. With Illumina high-throughput sequencing, we found 113 fungal taxa from 0.7 million high-quality reads that mainly consisted of Ascomycota (52%) and Basidiomycota (26%) taxa. Significant correlations between richness and diversity indices were observed (p < 0.05), and mycobiomes did not differ between habitats in the current study. Species richness and diversity were higher in twigs compared to spring buds, and the assemblages in twigs shared most similarities. Interaction network analyses revealed that twig-bound fungi shared similar numbers of (interaction) links with others, dominated by negative co-occurrences, suggesting that competitive exclusion may be the predominant ecological interaction in the highly connected twig mycobiome. Combining community and network analyses strengthened the evidence that plant organs may filter endophytic communities directly through colonization access and indirectly by facilitating competitive interactions between the fungi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abu Bakar Siddique
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Paolo Biella
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
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18
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Biella P, Akter A, Ollerton J, Nielsen A, Klecka J. An empirical attack tolerance test alters the structure and species richness of plant–pollinator networks. Funct Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Biella
- ZooPlantLab Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences University of Milano‐Bicocca Milan Italy
- Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia České Budějovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice Czech Republic
| | - Asma Akter
- Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia České Budějovice Czech Republic
- Institute of Entomology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice Czech Republic
| | - Jeff Ollerton
- Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology University of Northampton Northampton UK
| | - Anders Nielsen
- Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research Ås Norway
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES) Department of Biosciences University of Oslo Oslo Norway
| | - Jan Klecka
- Institute of Entomology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice Czech Republic
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Correction: Foraging strategies are maintained despite workforce reduction: A multidisciplinary survey on the pollen collected by a social pollinator. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0227453. [PMID: 31887134 PMCID: PMC6936842 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Frigerio J, Agostinetto G, Sandionigi A, Mezzasalma V, Berterame NM, Casiraghi M, Labra M, Galimberti A. The hidden 'plant side' of insect novel foods: A DNA-based assessment. Food Res Int 2019; 128:108751. [PMID: 31955731 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 10/02/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
In the context of novel foods, a category for which the market demand is increasing worldwide, the consumption of edible insects and related insect-based products is expected to grow in the next years. Insects represent an important source of energy for the human diet but there is a lack of scientific knowledge about their processing to ensure safe food items to the consumer. In this study we adopted a combined DNA-based approach to verify the identity of the declared species in five categories of commercial insect-based products (mt COI DNA barcoding) and to characterize plant declared ingredients or contaminants (nu ITS2 DNA metabarcoding) with particular attention to putative elements of allergenic concern belonging, for example to the insect rearing substrate. Moreover, the same approach has been used to assess its sensitivity to cases of contamination and counterfeits to insect flour with low cost (and potentially allergenic) vegetable flours like wheat and soybean. Results show the success of insect DNA barcoding authentication even for highly processed products. Furthermore, the DNA metabarcoding analysis revealed a high efficacy as a screening method to identify both plant ingredients and vegetal traces belonging to insect farming or possible adulteration events, also acting as an early warning strategy for the occurrence of allergens of human concern. This approach could support the development of new risk assessment procedures for novel foods by regulatory authorities to ensure their quality, safety, and acceptance which will become more required in order to face the challenge of feeding the world population in the next decades.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giulia Agostinetto
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy
| | - Anna Sandionigi
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy
| | | | - Nadia Maria Berterame
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy
| | - Maurizio Casiraghi
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy
| | - Massimo Labra
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, I-20126 Milano, Italy.
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