Experimental evidence that honeybees depress wild insect densities in a flowering crop
Lindström, Sandra A M LU
; Herbertsson, Lina
LU
; Rundlöf, Maj
LU
; Bommarco, Riccardo
LU
and Smith, Henrik G.
LU
(2016)
In Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
283(1843).
- Abstract
While addition of managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) improves pollination of many entomophilous crops, it is unknown if it simultaneously suppresses the densities of wild insects through competition. To investigate this, we added 624 honeybee hives to 23 fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) over 2 years and made sure that the areas around 21 other fields were free from honeybee hives. We demonstrate that honeybee addition depresses the densities of wild insects (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, marchflies, other flies, and other flying and flower-visiting insects) even in a massive flower resource such as oilseed rape. The effect was independent of the complexity of the surrounding landscape, but increased with the size of... (More)
While addition of managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) improves pollination of many entomophilous crops, it is unknown if it simultaneously suppresses the densities of wild insects through competition. To investigate this, we added 624 honeybee hives to 23 fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) over 2 years and made sure that the areas around 21 other fields were free from honeybee hives. We demonstrate that honeybee addition depresses the densities of wild insects (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, marchflies, other flies, and other flying and flower-visiting insects) even in a massive flower resource such as oilseed rape. The effect was independent of the complexity of the surrounding landscape, but increased with the size of the crop field, which suggests that the effect was caused by spatial displacement of wild insects. Our results have potential implications both for the pollination of crops (if displacement of wild pollinators offsets benefits achieved by adding honeybees) and for conservation of wild insects (if displacement results in negative fitness consequences).
(Less)
- author
- Lindström, Sandra A M
LU
; Herbertsson, Lina
LU
; Rundlöf, Maj
LU
; Bommarco, Riccardo
LU
and Smith, Henrik G.
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016-11-30
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Crop pollinators, Flies, Interspecific competition, Oilseed rape, Wild bees
- in
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 283
- issue
- 1843
- article number
- 20161641
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:27881750
- wos:000390349900008
- scopus:85001022586
- ISSN
- 0962-8452
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.2016.1641
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 12fd887d-d768-4355-b2e8-a4d56353d65e
- date added to LUP
- 2016-12-28 14:13:51
- date last changed
- 2025-01-11 18:58:32
@article{12fd887d-d768-4355-b2e8-a4d56353d65e,
abstract = {{<p>While addition of managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) improves pollination of many entomophilous crops, it is unknown if it simultaneously suppresses the densities of wild insects through competition. To investigate this, we added 624 honeybee hives to 23 fields of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) over 2 years and made sure that the areas around 21 other fields were free from honeybee hives. We demonstrate that honeybee addition depresses the densities of wild insects (bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies, marchflies, other flies, and other flying and flower-visiting insects) even in a massive flower resource such as oilseed rape. The effect was independent of the complexity of the surrounding landscape, but increased with the size of the crop field, which suggests that the effect was caused by spatial displacement of wild insects. Our results have potential implications both for the pollination of crops (if displacement of wild pollinators offsets benefits achieved by adding honeybees) and for conservation of wild insects (if displacement results in negative fitness consequences).</p>}},
author = {{Lindström, Sandra A M and Herbertsson, Lina and Rundlöf, Maj and Bommarco, Riccardo and Smith, Henrik G.}},
issn = {{0962-8452}},
keywords = {{Crop pollinators; Flies; Interspecific competition; Oilseed rape; Wild bees}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{11}},
number = {{1843}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Experimental evidence that honeybees depress wild insect densities in a flowering crop}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1641}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.2016.1641}},
volume = {{283}},
year = {{2016}},
}