Differences in bee community composition between restored and remnant prairies are more strongly linked to forb community differences than landscape differences

Lane, Ian G.; Portman, Zachary M.; Herron-Sweet, Christina H.; Pardee, Gabriella L.; Cariveau, Daniel P.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.14035

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…CP42 USDA Conservation Reserve Program mixes; Vandever et al, 2021). Our results indicate that managers should increase the forb proportions of seed mixes, which would provide better pollinator habitat (Lane et al, 2021) and would result in mixtures that closer match the plant trait values of remnant prairies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exotic species explain plant functional trait differences between seed mixes, restored and reference prairies

Kaul

Wilsey

2023

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Are community‐weighted plant functional traits related to the ‘fast–slow’ growth rate continuum different in seed mixes, restored and reference prairies? If so, then what are the traits that explain differences? Remnant prairies, which serve as reference sites for restorations, often have higher plant species diversity and a lower abundance of exotic (non‐native) species than their restoration counterparts. They may differ in their community‐weighted functional traits as well, although this is poorly studied. Location Tallgrass prairies and abandoned fields in Iowa, United States, North America. Methods We compared functional traits between remnant prairies, restoration seed mixes, and established restorations to determine if community‐weighted trait values (∑pi × traits) are comparable. Relative abundance was determined by previous sampling of 93 restorations, 48 seed mixes and five remnant sites. Functional traits, including leaf specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and plant height, were measured for 145 native and 39 non‐native plant species, 663 plants, and 1326 leaves. Results Seed mixes had greater community‐weighted LDMC and lower SLA than remnants, perhaps because of human selection for high grass abundance in mixes. Established restorations had lower community‐weighted LDMC and higher SLA than remnants and seed mixes, and restorations had a large exotic species component. The proportional abundance of exotics in restorations explained trait differences between remnants and restorations. After taking into account functional groupings, perennial exotic species, on average, had higher SLA and lower LDMC than perennial native species. Remnants and established restorations had similar plant heights, and height was not significantly different between native and exotic species. Conclusions Our results indicate that seed mixes differ from remnants in a manner that was the opposite of the difference between seed mixes and established restorations. Although seed mixes favored species with slower growth rate trait compositions, the species that established in restored prairies tended to have traits associated with faster growth rates. We recommend developing prairie restoration seed mixes with a greater proportion of forbs, especially those with lower LDMC and higher SLA.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exotic species explain plant functional trait differences between seed mixes, restored and reference prairies

Kaul

Wilsey

2023

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…However, although functionally distinct plants can share generalist pollinator bees, different plants also attract specific bee species (Rasmussen et al 2021), and the phenology of plants may limit the subset of bee species available to them (Olesen et al 2011). This complementarity of plants in terms of their attraction to different species of bees likely underlies the frequent finding that richness of both common and rare bee species increases with plant species richness (Sutter et al 2017), and may explain why plant diversity is often found to be of greater importance in explaining patterns of bee diversity than landscape diversity (Sydenham et al 2015, Lane et al 2022, but see Griffin et al 2021). In terms of the multi-level filtering hypothesis, plant species or plant type, may therefore operate as a high-level filter by constraining the subset of bee species from the regional species pool that can be filtered by climatic and other environmental conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutral processes related to regional bee commonness and dispersal distances are important predictors of plant–pollinator networks along gradients of climate and landscape conditions

et al. 2022

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Understanding how niche-based and neutral processes contribute to the spatial variation in plant-pollinator interactions is central to designing effective pollination conservation schemes. Such schemes are needed to reverse declines of wild bees and other pollinating insects, and to promote pollination services to wild and cultivated plants. We used data on wild bee interactions with plants belonging to the four tribes Loteae, Trifolieae, Anthemideae and either spring-or summer-flowering Cichorieae, sampled systematically along a 682 km latitudinal gradient to build models that allowed us to 1) predict occurrences of pairwise bee-flower interactions across 115 sampling locations, and 2) estimate the contribution of variables hypothesized to be related to niche-based assembly structuring processes (viz. annual mean temperature, landscape diversity, bee sociality, bee phenology and flower preferences of bees) and neutral processes (viz. regional commonness and dispersal distance to conspecifics). While neutral processes were important predictors of plant-pollinator distributions, niche-based processes were reflected in the contrasting distributions of solitary bee and bumble bees along the temperature gradient, and in the influence of bee flower preferences on the distribution of bee species across plant types. In particular, bee flower preferences separated bees into three main groups, albeit with some overlap: visitors to spring-flowering Cichorieae; visitors to Anthemideae and summer-flowering Cichorieae; and visitors to Trifolieae and Loteae. Our findings suggest that both neutral and niche-based processes are significant contributors to the spatial distribution of plant-pollinator interactions so that conservation actions in our region should be directed towards areas:

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“…We conducted this study in remnant prairies because remnants are areas that were deemed undesirable for farming by European settlers because of their topography, hydrology or use for railroad development, thus, they were never ploughed or cultivated. Studying ground‐nesting bees in remnant prairie reduced any potential confounding effects or legacies of farm management practices that may impact local floral community composition, soil properties and wild bee communities (Barak et al, 2017; Lane et al, 2022; Whisler et al, 2016). Each site was similarly managed, or co‐managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prescribed fire increases the number of ground‐nesting bee nests in tallgrass prairie remnants

Brokaw

Portman

Bruninga‐Socolar

et al. 2023

Insect Conserv Diversity

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Prescribed burning is a common management technique in tallgrass prairie remnants, but there have been few empirical studies that directly examine burning impacts on the nesting preferences and habitat of ground‐nesting bees. We used emergence traps in remnant tallgrass prairies in western Minnesota, USA to determine whether ground‐nesting bees prefer to nest in burned or unburned prairies. We estimated the total number of nests made by actively nesting bees in burned and unburned patches by assessing each specimen for wing and mandible wear, sex, and sociality. We also measured characteristics that may influence bee nesting preferences including bare ground, thatch depth, vegetative cover, and the floral community. We found more nests of actively nesting ground‐nesting bees in burned patches than unburned patches, but no differences in effective number of species of ground‐nesting bees or community composition. Burned patches had higher amounts of percent bare ground and a thinner thatch layer, but no differences in percent vegetative cover, floral abundance, flowering plant species richness, effective number of species of flowers or community composition. Our results suggest that ground‐nesting bees prefer to nest in burned patches of remnant tallgrass prairies and highlight opportunities for future research to better understand bee nesting ecology in response to prairie management.

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Differences in bee community composition between restored and remnant prairies are more strongly linked to forb community differences than landscape differences

Cited by 21 publications

References 88 publications

Exotic species explain plant functional trait differences between seed mixes, restored and reference prairies

Exotic species explain plant functional trait differences between seed mixes, restored and reference prairies

Neutral processes related to regional bee commonness and dispersal distances are important predictors of plant–pollinator networks along gradients of climate and landscape conditions

Prescribed fire increases the number of ground‐nesting bee nests in tallgrass prairie remnants

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