Analysis of pollen loads in a wild bee community (Hymenoptera: Apidae) – a method for elucidating habitat use and foraging distances

Beil, Marion; Horn, Helmut; Schwabe, Angelika

doi:10.1051/apido:2008021

Cited by 74 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Due to this spatial structuring, these woody genera are consequently underrecorded as pollen sources by direct observations, and as a result their importance to bees may be widely underestimated. Beil et al (2008) produced similar findings with a small number of bees collected on low growing herbaceous plants found to be carrying pollen from woody plant genera. In some cases in this study the nearest trees of this type were located over 1000 metres away from the collection point.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Minckley et al 1999;Steffan-Dewenter and Tschantke 2001;Goulson et al 2005). However, many wild bees are not flower constant and do not exclusively use the same flower species during a foraging trip, instead visiting and carrying pollen from many different flowering plants at once (Westrich 1989;Beil et al 2008). Additionally, wild bees can forage over considerable distances (Beil et al 2008;Zurbuchen et al 2010) and may visit flowers inaccessible to or outside the areas visited by recorders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many wild bees are not flower constant and do not exclusively use the same flower species during a foraging trip, instead visiting and carrying pollen from many different flowering plants at once (Westrich 1989;Beil et al 2008). Additionally, wild bees can forage over considerable distances (Beil et al 2008;Zurbuchen et al 2010) and may visit flowers inaccessible to or outside the areas visited by recorders. As a result, direct observations may not capture the full range of plant species visited for pollen, and may not accurately measure the relative contribution that different host plants make to the overall diet as the proportion of pollen collected from each particular plant species is unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The level of specialisation, as either oligolectic (collecting pollen from one plant family or genus) or polylectic (collecting pollen from many plant families) can then be made with greater confidence (Westrich 1989;Müller 1996;Müller and Kuhlmann 2008). The use of pollen load analysis is becoming more widely used in field studies to assess pollen utilisation of both semi-natural and agri-environment scheme plants (Carvell et al 2006;Kremen and Williams 2007;Beil et al 2008) and to quantify historical bee diets through the analysis of remaining pollen loads present on museum specimens (Kleijn and Raemaekers 2008;Scheper et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diet characterisation of solitary bees on farmland: dietary specialisation predicts rarity

2016

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Changes in agricultural practice across Europe and North America have been associated with declines in wild bee populations. Bee diet breadth has been associated with sensitivity to agricultural intensification, but much of this analysis has been conducted at the categorical level of generalist or specialist, and it is not clear to what extent the level of generalisation within generalist species is also associated with species persistence. We used pollen load analysis to quantify the pollen diets of wild solitary bees on 19 farms across southern England, UK. A total of 72 species of solitary bees were recorded, but only 31 species were abundant enough to allow for formal diet characterisation. The results broadly conformed to existing literature with the majority of species polylectic and collecting pollen from a wide range of plants. Pollen load analysis consistently identified pollens from more plant species and families from each bee species than direct observation of their foraging behaviour. After rarefaction to standardise pollen load sample sizes, diet breadth was significantly associated with frequency of occurrence, with more generalist bees present on more farms than less generalist bees. Our results show that the majority of bee species present on farmland in reasonable numbers are widely variable in their pollen choices, but that those with the broadest diet were present on the greatest number of farms. Increasing the diversity of plants included in agri-environment schemes may be necessary to provide a wider range of pollen resources in order to support a diverse bee community on farmland.Communicated by Eckehard G. Brockerhoff.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diet characterisation of solitary bees on farmland: dietary specialisation predicts rarity

2016

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“…Numerous studies exist that describes the potential of native bees as pollinators of crops (Bosch and Blas 1994;Vicens and Bosch 2000;Bosch and Kemp 2002;Biliński and Teper 2004;Ladurner et al 2004;Giejdasz et al 2005;Tepedino et al 2007;Beil et al 2008;Ladurner et al 2008;Oliveira and Schlindwein 2009;Teper and Bilinski 2009;Tuell et al 2009). Several native wild bee species have been identified to be capable of replacing or at least supplementing the decreasing number of honeybees (Kremen et al 2002;Rader et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On managing the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) in apple orchards

Gruber¹,

Eckel²,

Everaars³

et al. 2011

Apidologie

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-A worldwide decline of pollinator abundance is recorded and the worldwide pollination of insectpollinated crops has traditionally depended on a single species, the honeybee. The risks of relying on a single species are obvious. Other species have been developed for particular crops. Here we present an extension of the framework of Bosch and Kemp (2002) that deals on how to develop a bee species into a crop pollinator. We used nesting aids in different settings to address five important issues that are necessary for an effective management of a bee species in a commercial setting. Our study system was the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) in apple orchards in eastern Germany, but our approach should be transferable to other settings. The first issue was to demonstrate that it is possible to increase population size of O. bicornis by providing nesting aids. Second, we present how someone can study landscape features that promote the occurrence and abundance of O. bicornis. Further, we studied the dispersal of the species inside the orchard, and could demonstrate that bees prefer to disperse along lines of trees. Finally, we studied the effect of nesting substrate and type of farming on the recruitment of bees. We found a close relationship between the length of nesting tubes and achieved sex ratio and a negative effect of conventional farming on the number of nests built. We conclude with recommendations on how our findings can be used to optimize the management of O. bicornis in apple orchards.solitary bees / pollination / yield increase / management / Apoidea

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Genetic diversity assessment of Helichrysum arenarium (Asteraceae) for the genetic restoration of declining populations

Van Rossum,

Godé,

Baruca Arbeiter

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench (Asteraceae) is a self‐compatible, insect‐pollinated herb occurring in sand grasslands, and is declining and endangered in many parts of its European distribution range. A recovery plan of H. arenarium has been conducted in southern Belgium, involving plant translocations. We developed multiplex genotyping protocol for nine microsatellite markers previously published for Helichrysum italicum and two newly developed microsatellite markers for H. arenarium. Eleven polymorphic loci were associated (pooled) in two multiplex panels, to assess the genetic status of the only small remaining population in Belgium and of three large German populations used as seed source for propagating transplants. The small Belgian population was characterized by high clonality, with only two, however heterozygous, genets detected. The three large German populations showed high genetic diversity (He ranging from 0.635 to 0.670) and no significant inbreeding coefficient values, despite expectations of geitonogamous selfing. Management practices (grazing livestock) increasing seed dispersal distances, inbreeding depression at early stages of development, and mechanisms preventing or delaying selfing might be hypothesized to explain the observed patterns. The two Belgian genotypes remained within genetic variation range of German populations so that the high genetic differentiation between Belgian and German populations (FST values ranging from 0.186 to 0.206) likely resulted from genetic drift effects and small sample size. Transplants obtained from seeds sampled from the three large source populations from Germany constitute a highly diverse, noninbred gene pool, and are thus of high genetic quality for plant translocations.

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Analysis of pollen loads in a wild bee community (Hymenoptera: Apidae) – a method for elucidating habitat use and foraging distances

Cited by 74 publications

References 35 publications

Diet characterisation of solitary bees on farmland: dietary specialisation predicts rarity

Diet characterisation of solitary bees on farmland: dietary specialisation predicts rarity

On managing the red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) in apple orchards

Genetic diversity assessment of Helichrysum arenarium (Asteraceae) for the genetic restoration of declining populations

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