Declines in forage availability for bumblebees at a national scale

Carvell, Claire; Roy, David B.; Smart, Simon M.; Pywell, Richard F.; Preston, Chris; Goulson, Dave

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.05.008

Cited by 320 publications

(309 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Unfortunately, populations of approximately half of the bumble bee species in North America and Europe are declining (69)(70)(71). One of the key factors driving this decline (and the decline of other bee species) is loss of habitat and the associated loss of nutritional resources provided by a diversity of flowering plant species (72,73). In depauperate landscapes, bees likely do not have access to the diversity of host-plant species needed to self-select their diet and balance their nutritional intake adequately.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Vaudo

Patch

Mortensen

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

311

302

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To fuel their activities and rear their offspring, foraging bees must obtain a sufficient quality and quantity of nutritional resources from a diverse plant community. Pollen is the primary source of proteins and lipids for bees, and the concentrations of these nutrients in pollen can vary widely among host-plant species. Therefore we hypothesized that foraging decisions of bumble bees are driven by both the protein and lipid content of pollen. By successively reducing environmental and floral cues, we analyzed pollen-foraging preferences of Bombus impatiens in (i) host-plant species, (ii) pollen isolated from these hostplant species, and (iii) nutritionally modified single-source pollen diets encompassing a range of protein and lipid concentrations. In our semifield experiments, B. impatiens foragers exponentially increased their foraging rates of pollen from plant species with high protein: lipid (P:L) ratios; the most preferred plant species had the highest ratio (∼4.6:1). These preferences were confirmed in cage studies where, in pairwise comparisons in the absence of other floral cues, B. impatiens workers still preferred pollen with higher P:L ratios. Finally, when presented with nutritionally modified pollen, workers were most attracted to pollen with P:L ratios of 5:1 and 10:1, but increasing the protein or lipid concentration (while leaving ratios intact) reduced attraction. Thus, macronutritional ratios appear to be a primary factor driving bee pollen-foraging behavior and may explain observed patterns of host-plant visitation across the landscape. The nutritional quality of pollen resources should be taken into consideration when designing conservation habitats supporting bee populations.foraging behavior | nutritional ecology | pollen | pollinator | preferences F oraging animals must obtain appropriate nutrients for growth, development, and reproduction from their environments. Bees forage in a very complex and changing environment, where floral nutritional resources (nectar and pollen) vary widely in quality and quantity among plant species (1). These resources are accompanied by myriad floral cues, including floral odors, color, morphology, and display area, and can vary dramatically in spatiotemporal availability; all these factors may influence and reinforce foraging decisions (2, 3). Worldwide declines in populations of bees and other pollinators have been linked to reduced diversity and abundance of host-plant species, likely placing bees under nutritional stress (4, 5). To develop strategic conservation protocols that preserve or restore foraging habitat that supports healthy pollinator populations, we must understand how bees forage in their environments to meet their nutritional needs. It is well established that solitary and social insects can forage selectively and regulate their intake of synthetic diets spanning a range of macronutrient nutritional qualities to reach their optimal, species-specific nutritional intake (6-8). Here we examine whether the generalist bumble bee species Bombus...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Vaudo

Patch

Mortensen

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

311

302

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“…These declines seem to have affected obligately outcrossing animal-pollinated plant populations in particular as they rely entirely on insect pollen vectors [18], suggesting a general decline in floral resources for pollinators. Indeed, in the UK, there is evidence that 76% of forage plants used by bumblebees declined in frequency between 1978 and 1998 [71]. Recent research has begun linking these floral shifts to pollinator dynamics, both in controlled experiments [24] and in the field [22,71].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, in the UK, there is evidence that 76% of forage plants used by bumblebees declined in frequency between 1978 and 1998 [71]. Recent research has begun linking these floral shifts to pollinator dynamics, both in controlled experiments [24] and in the field [22,71]. If wild floral resources have decreased, the planting of mass-flowering crops such as oilseed rape and sunflowers could provide valuable resources for pollinators [72].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers

Potts¹,

Biesmeijer²,

Kremen³

et al. 2010

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

5,005

3,688

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“…While research into the causes and consequences of eutrophication was a response to clear policy interest, analysis of CS vegetation data has also contributed evidence in response to concerns over the causes and consequences of loss of pollinators in north-west Europe and Britain Carvell et al, 2006;Baude et al, 2016). Habitat specific studies, such as those relating to woodlands (for example Petit et al, 2004;Kimberley et al, 2013Kimberley et al, , 2016 and hedgerows, McCollin et al, 2000;Garbutt and Sparks, 2002;Critchley et al, 2013) have been facilitated through the use of CS data.…”

Section: Wider Uses Of Data To Datementioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term vegetation monitoring in Great Britain – the Countryside Survey 1978–2007 and beyond

Wood

Smart

Bunce

et al. 2017

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. The Countryside Survey (CS) of Great Britain provides a globally unique series of datasets, consisting of an extensive set of repeated ecological measurements at a national scale, covering a time span of 29 years. CS was first undertaken in 1978 to monitor ecological and land use change in Britain using standardised procedures for recording ecological data from representative 1 km squares throughout the country. The same sites, with some additional squares, were used for subsequent surveys of vegetation undertaken in 1990, 1998 and 2007, with the intention of future surveys. Other data records include soils, freshwater habitats and invertebrates, and land cover and landscape feature diversity and extents. These data have been recorded in the same locations on analogous dates. However, the present paper describes only the details of the vegetation surveys.The survey design is a series of gridded, stratified, randomly selected 1 km squares taken as representative of classes derived from a statistical environmental classification of Britain. In the 1978 survey, 256 one-kilometre sample squares were recorded, increasing to 506 in 1990, 569 in 1998 and 591 in 2007. Initially each square contained up to 11 dispersed vegetation plots but additional plots were later placed in different features so that eventually up to 36 additional sampling plots were recorded, all of which can be relocated where possible (unless the plot has been lost, for example as a consequence of building work), providing a total of 16 992 plots by 2007. Plots are estimated to have a precise relocation accuracy of 85 %. A range of plots located in different land cover types and landscape features (for example, field boundaries) are included.Although a range of analyses have already been carried out, with changes in the vegetation being related to a range of drivers at local and national scales, there is major potential for further analyses, for example in relation to climate change. Although the precise locations of the plots are restricted, largely for reasons of landowner confidentiality, sample sites are intended to be representative of larger areas, and many potential opportunities for further analyses remain.

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Declines in forage availability for bumblebees at a national scale

Cited by 320 publications

References 35 publications

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Macronutrient ratios in pollen shape bumble bee ( Bombus impatiens ) foraging strategies and floral preferences

Global pollinator declines: trends, impacts and drivers

Long-term vegetation monitoring in Great Britain – the Countryside Survey 1978–2007 and beyond

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