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Critical resource levels of pollen for the declining bee Andrena hattorfiana (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae)

Larsson, M and Franzén, Markus LU (2007) In Biological Conservation 134(3). p.405-414
Abstract
The native bee fauna provides an important ecosystem function, but a large proportion of this fauna in Europe is threatened as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. The solitary bee Andrena hattorfiana is specialised on collecting pollen from the plant-family Dipsacaceae. In northern Europe the major pollen resource is the insect-pollinated herb Knautia arvensis. We quantified the available K. arvensis resource, measured habitat characteristics and performed a flower-visitor survey in 57 well-defined K. arvensis populations in southern Sweden. There was a strong relationship between bee and plant population sizes. In populations with A. hattorfiana present (N=26), the female bees utilised on average 39% (12-80%) of the total... (More)
The native bee fauna provides an important ecosystem function, but a large proportion of this fauna in Europe is threatened as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. The solitary bee Andrena hattorfiana is specialised on collecting pollen from the plant-family Dipsacaceae. In northern Europe the major pollen resource is the insect-pollinated herb Knautia arvensis. We quantified the available K. arvensis resource, measured habitat characteristics and performed a flower-visitor survey in 57 well-defined K. arvensis populations in southern Sweden. There was a strong relationship between bee and plant population sizes. In populations with A. hattorfiana present (N=26), the female bees utilised on average 39% (12-80%) of the total available pollen resource. The nest architecture and nesting biology of A. hattorfiana is described for the first time. By excavating nests, we found that the provisioning for one average bee nest (containing 6 cells) required ca. 72 inflorescences or 11 plant individuals. The results suggest a certain minimum pollen amount needed to host an A. hattorfiana population. For example, for a population of ten reproducing A. hattorfiona female with the average degree of utilisation, the critical resource was predicted as 156 +/- 16 individuals (+/- SE) of the plant K. arvensis, which corresponds to 780 inflorescences or 36,731,978 pollen grains. These findings suggest that calculations via a 'pollen budget' can predict critical resources for a given size of specialised bee population, and thereby provide a tool in conservation. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Biological Conservation
volume
134
issue
3
pages
405 - 414
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000244385100012
  • scopus:37849188311
ISSN
1873-2917
DOI
10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.030
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Animal Ecology (Closed 2011) (011012001)
id
ef4b29d3-f811-41c3-b24d-9d759dca9eb7 (old id 167146)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:46:26
date last changed
2022-04-05 04:50:11
@article{ef4b29d3-f811-41c3-b24d-9d759dca9eb7,
  abstract     = {{The native bee fauna provides an important ecosystem function, but a large proportion of this fauna in Europe is threatened as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. The solitary bee Andrena hattorfiana is specialised on collecting pollen from the plant-family Dipsacaceae. In northern Europe the major pollen resource is the insect-pollinated herb Knautia arvensis. We quantified the available K. arvensis resource, measured habitat characteristics and performed a flower-visitor survey in 57 well-defined K. arvensis populations in southern Sweden. There was a strong relationship between bee and plant population sizes. In populations with A. hattorfiana present (N=26), the female bees utilised on average 39% (12-80%) of the total available pollen resource. The nest architecture and nesting biology of A. hattorfiana is described for the first time. By excavating nests, we found that the provisioning for one average bee nest (containing 6 cells) required ca. 72 inflorescences or 11 plant individuals. The results suggest a certain minimum pollen amount needed to host an A. hattorfiana population. For example, for a population of ten reproducing A. hattorfiona female with the average degree of utilisation, the critical resource was predicted as 156 +/- 16 individuals (+/- SE) of the plant K. arvensis, which corresponds to 780 inflorescences or 36,731,978 pollen grains. These findings suggest that calculations via a 'pollen budget' can predict critical resources for a given size of specialised bee population, and thereby provide a tool in conservation.}},
  author       = {{Larsson, M and Franzén, Markus}},
  issn         = {{1873-2917}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{405--414}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Biological Conservation}},
  title        = {{Critical resource levels of pollen for the declining bee Andrena hattorfiana (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.030}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biocon.2006.08.030}},
  volume       = {{134}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}