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Modeling pollinating bee visitation rates in heterogeneous landscapes from foraging theory

Olsson, Ola LU orcid ; Bolin, Arvid LU ; Smith, Henrik LU and Lonsdorf, Eric V. (2015) In Ecological Modelling 316. p.133-143
Abstract
Pollination by bees is important for food production. Recent concerns about the declines of both domestic and wild bees, calls for measures to promote wild pollinator populations in farmland. However, to be able to efficiently promote and prioritize between measures that benefit pollinators, such as modified land use, agri-environment schemes, or specific conservation measures, it is important to have a tool that accurately predicts how bees use landscapes and respond to such measures. In this paper we compare an existing model for predicting pollination (the “Lonsdorf model”), with an extension of a general model for habitat use of central place foragers (the “CPF model”). The Lonsdorf model has been shown to perform relatively well in... (More)
Pollination by bees is important for food production. Recent concerns about the declines of both domestic and wild bees, calls for measures to promote wild pollinator populations in farmland. However, to be able to efficiently promote and prioritize between measures that benefit pollinators, such as modified land use, agri-environment schemes, or specific conservation measures, it is important to have a tool that accurately predicts how bees use landscapes and respond to such measures. In this paper we compare an existing model for predicting pollination (the “Lonsdorf model”), with an extension of a general model for habitat use of central place foragers (the “CPF model”). The Lonsdorf model has been shown to perform relatively well in simple landscapes, but not in complex landscapes. We hypothesized that this was because it lacks a behavioral component, assuming instead that bees in essence diffuse out from the nest into the landscape. By adding a behavioral component, the CPF model in contrast assumes that bees only use those parts of the landscape that enhances their fitness, completely avoiding foraging in other parts of the landscape. Because foraging is directed towards the most rewarding foraging habitat patches as determined by quality and distance, foraging habitat will include a wide range of forage qualities close to the nest, but a much narrower range farther away. We generate predictions for both simple and complex hypothetical landscapes, to illustrate the effect of including the behavioral rule, and for real landscapes. In the real landscapes the models give similar predictions for visitation rates in simple landscapes, but more different predictions in heterogeneous landscapes. We also analyze the consequences of introducing hedgerows near a mass-flowering crop field under each model. The Lonsdorf model predicts that any habitat improvement will enhance pollination of the crop. In contrast, the CPF model predicts that the hedgerow must provide good nesting sites, and not just foraging opportunities, for it to benefit pollination of the crop, because good forage quality alone may drain bees away from the field. Our model can be used to optimize pollinator mitigation measures in real landscapes. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
mass-flowering crop, central-place foraging, optimality, bumblebee, bee, pollination
in
Ecological Modelling
volume
316
pages
133 - 143
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000364248600012
  • scopus:84940508393
ISSN
0304-3800
DOI
10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.009
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9af982af-4347-4891-a574-31fbb74a0b6d (old id 7764069)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:10:52
date last changed
2022-04-22 01:45:09
@article{9af982af-4347-4891-a574-31fbb74a0b6d,
  abstract     = {{Pollination by bees is important for food production. Recent concerns about the declines of both domestic and wild bees, calls for measures to promote wild pollinator populations in farmland. However, to be able to efficiently promote and prioritize between measures that benefit pollinators, such as modified land use, agri-environment schemes, or specific conservation measures, it is important to have a tool that accurately predicts how bees use landscapes and respond to such measures. In this paper we compare an existing model for predicting pollination (the “Lonsdorf model”), with an extension of a general model for habitat use of central place foragers (the “CPF model”). The Lonsdorf model has been shown to perform relatively well in simple landscapes, but not in complex landscapes. We hypothesized that this was because it lacks a behavioral component, assuming instead that bees in essence diffuse out from the nest into the landscape. By adding a behavioral component, the CPF model in contrast assumes that bees only use those parts of the landscape that enhances their fitness, completely avoiding foraging in other parts of the landscape. Because foraging is directed towards the most rewarding foraging habitat patches as determined by quality and distance, foraging habitat will include a wide range of forage qualities close to the nest, but a much narrower range farther away. We generate predictions for both simple and complex hypothetical landscapes, to illustrate the effect of including the behavioral rule, and for real landscapes. In the real landscapes the models give similar predictions for visitation rates in simple landscapes, but more different predictions in heterogeneous landscapes. We also analyze the consequences of introducing hedgerows near a mass-flowering crop field under each model. The Lonsdorf model predicts that any habitat improvement will enhance pollination of the crop. In contrast, the CPF model predicts that the hedgerow must provide good nesting sites, and not just foraging opportunities, for it to benefit pollination of the crop, because good forage quality alone may drain bees away from the field. Our model can be used to optimize pollinator mitigation measures in real landscapes.}},
  author       = {{Olsson, Ola and Bolin, Arvid and Smith, Henrik and Lonsdorf, Eric V.}},
  issn         = {{0304-3800}},
  keywords     = {{mass-flowering crop; central-place foraging; optimality; bumblebee; bee; pollination}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{133--143}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Ecological Modelling}},
  title        = {{Modeling pollinating bee visitation rates in heterogeneous landscapes from foraging theory}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3829463/7764070.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.08.009}},
  volume       = {{316}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}