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Effects of crop and non-crop resources and competition : High importance of trees and oilseed rape for solitary bee reproduction

Yourstone, Johanna LU ; Karlsson, Melanie LU orcid ; Klatt, Björn K. LU orcid ; Olsson, Ola LU orcid and Smith, Henrik G. LU (2021) In Biological Conservation 261.
Abstract
To mitigate wild bee declines, it is important to understand the separate and joint effects of parallel losses of semi-natural habitats containing flower resources and increases in transient flower resources provided by mass- flowering crops. Since mobility may affect how bee species cope with these changes, they may also affect competitive interactions and thus community composition. We focused on how the reproduction of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis is impacted by crop and non-crop forage availability, and if any impact is modified by competition with more mobile bumblebees. We placed trap nests for O. bicornis with and without bumblebee colonies as neighbors at 0, 300, and 1000 m distance from nearest oilseed rape field in 12... (More)
To mitigate wild bee declines, it is important to understand the separate and joint effects of parallel losses of semi-natural habitats containing flower resources and increases in transient flower resources provided by mass- flowering crops. Since mobility may affect how bee species cope with these changes, they may also affect competitive interactions and thus community composition. We focused on how the reproduction of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis is impacted by crop and non-crop forage availability, and if any impact is modified by competition with more mobile bumblebees. We placed trap nests for O. bicornis with and without bumblebee colonies as neighbors at 0, 300, and 1000 m distance from nearest oilseed rape field in 12 agricultural land-scapes. We found that O. bicornis benefitted from proximity to oilseed rape, as well as availability of trees and buttercups. O. bicornis mainly collected oak and maple pollen early in the nesting season, and later switched to buttercup and other grassland species. In contrast to our expectations, we found no competition effects from the more mobile bumblebees. Our study demonstrates that availability of pollen from early-flowering trees and mid- season flowers is important for O. bicornis, but that a mass flowering crop still benefits its reproduction, most likely by supplying nectar. These results underline the importance of a high configurational heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes for bees. Management aiming at safeguarding bee populations in intensified agricultural landscapes should ensure availability of different types of flower resources, including woody species, at appropriate spatial and temporal scales. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
To mitigate wild bee declines, it is important to understand the separate and joint effects of parallel losses of semi-natural habitats containing flower resources and increases in transient flower resources provided by mass-flowering crops. Since mobility may affect how bee species cope with these changes, they may also affect competitive interactions and thus community composition. We focused on how the reproduction of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis is impacted by crop and non-crop forage availability, and if any impact is modified by competition with more mobile bumblebees. We placed trap nests for O. bicornis with and without bumblebee colonies as neighbors at 0, 300, and 1000 m distance from nearest oilseed rape field in 12... (More)
To mitigate wild bee declines, it is important to understand the separate and joint effects of parallel losses of semi-natural habitats containing flower resources and increases in transient flower resources provided by mass-flowering crops. Since mobility may affect how bee species cope with these changes, they may also affect competitive interactions and thus community composition. We focused on how the reproduction of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis is impacted by crop and non-crop forage availability, and if any impact is modified by competition with more mobile bumblebees. We placed trap nests for O. bicornis with and without bumblebee colonies as neighbors at 0, 300, and 1000 m distance from nearest oilseed rape field in 12 agricultural landscapes. We found that O. bicornis benefitted from proximity to oilseed rape, as well as availability of trees and buttercups. O. bicornis mainly collected oak and maple pollen early in the nesting season, and later switched to buttercup and other grassland species. In contrast to our expectations, we found no competition effects from the more mobile bumblebees. Our study demonstrates that availability of pollen from early-flowering trees and mid-season flowers is important for O. bicornis, but that a mass flowering crop still benefits its reproduction, most likely by supplying nectar. These results underline the importance of a high configurational heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes for bees. Management aiming at safeguarding bee populations in intensified agricultural landscapes should ensure availability of different types of flower resources, including woody species, at appropriate spatial and temporal scales. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Foraging ecology, Central-place foragers, Pollinators, Agricultural landscape
in
Biological Conservation
volume
261
article number
109249
pages
9 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85110738046
ISSN
0006-3207
DOI
10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109249
project
Scale-dependence of mitigation of pollinator loss
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b2006a06-11fa-4eb1-a121-70512205d49e
date added to LUP
2021-07-22 15:54:21
date last changed
2023-10-10 22:19:47
@article{b2006a06-11fa-4eb1-a121-70512205d49e,
  abstract     = {{To mitigate wild bee declines, it is important to understand the separate and joint effects of parallel losses of semi-natural habitats containing flower resources and increases in transient flower resources provided by mass- flowering crops. Since mobility may affect how bee species cope with these changes, they may also affect competitive interactions and thus community composition. We focused on how the reproduction of the solitary bee Osmia bicornis is impacted by crop and non-crop forage availability, and if any impact is modified by competition with more mobile bumblebees. We placed trap nests for O. bicornis with and without bumblebee colonies as neighbors at 0, 300, and 1000 m distance from nearest oilseed rape field in 12 agricultural land-scapes. We found that O. bicornis benefitted from proximity to oilseed rape, as well as availability of trees and buttercups. O. bicornis mainly collected oak and maple pollen early in the nesting season, and later switched to buttercup and other grassland species. In contrast to our expectations, we found no competition effects from the more mobile bumblebees. Our study demonstrates that availability of pollen from early-flowering trees and mid- season flowers is important for O. bicornis, but that a mass flowering crop still benefits its reproduction, most likely by supplying nectar. These results underline the importance of a high configurational heterogeneity of agricultural landscapes for bees. Management aiming at safeguarding bee populations in intensified agricultural landscapes should ensure availability of  different types of  flower resources, including woody species, at appropriate spatial and temporal scales.}},
  author       = {{Yourstone, Johanna and Karlsson, Melanie and Klatt, Björn K. and Olsson, Ola and Smith, Henrik G.}},
  issn         = {{0006-3207}},
  keywords     = {{Foraging ecology; Central-place foragers; Pollinators; Agricultural landscape}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Biological Conservation}},
  title        = {{Effects of crop and non-crop resources and competition : High importance of trees and oilseed rape for solitary bee reproduction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109249}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109249}},
  volume       = {{261}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}