Do bumble bee queens choose nest sites to maximize foraging rate? Testing models of nest site selection

Suzuki, Yukari; Kawaguchi, Lina; Munidasa, Dulee Tamirei; Toquenaga, Yukihiko

doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0789-3

Cited by 27 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…(), who found that floral availability of agricultural field margins was not correlated with abundance of nest‐searching queens. In contrast, floral resources have been found to predict nest‐searching queens (although only in the early morning) and also the location of actual nests of B. ardens (Suzuki et al ., ). However Suzuki et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Therefore locations with ample spring flowering plants might be the most suitable (Fye & Medler, ; Holm, ), and in support of this Suzuki et al . () found a positive relationship between floral availability and number of nest‐searching queens in Bombus ardens , but only during the early morning when it was cool; later in the day nest‐searching queens were found far from flowers. They subsequently found that nests tended to be located in flower‐rich areas, but only six nests were detected…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Location of bumblebee nests is predicted by counts of nest‐searching queens

O’Connor

Park

Goulson

2017

Ecological Entomology

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* Bumblebee nests are difficult to find in sufficient numbers for well replicated studies. Counts of nest-searching queens in spring and early summer have been used as an indication of preferred nesting habitat, but this relationship has not yet been validated; high densities of nest-searching queens may indicate habitat with few nesting opportunities (meaning that queens have to spend longer looking for them). * From mid April 2010, queen bumblebees were counted along twenty transects in grassland and woodland habitats in Central Scotland, UK. The number of inflorescences of suitable forage plants were also estimated at each transect visit. The area surrounding each transect was searched for nests in the summer. * In total 173 queen bumblebees were recorded on transects, and of these 149 were engaged in nest-searching. Searches subsequently revealed 33 bumblebee nests. * The number of nest-searching queens on transects was significantly, positively related to the number of nests subsequently found. Estimated floral abundance along the transect did not correlate with numbers of nest-searching queens or the number of nests found, suggesting that queens do not target their searching to areas locally high in spring forage. * The data suggest that counts of nest-searching queens do provide a useful positive indication of good nesting habitat, and hence where bumblebee nests are likely to be found later in the year

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Location of bumblebee nests is predicted by counts of nest‐searching queens

O’Connor

Park

Goulson

2017

Ecological Entomology

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“…We focused instead on offspring production by colonies placed into the field. Nest establishment is an important factor in determining population density and persistence within the landscape (Goulson et al 2010), and since the foundress queen alone forages to support the nascent colony, it might be a period when colonies are particularly sensitive to resource limitation (Suzuki et al 2009). By placing colonies of standard size directly into the field, we also filtered out variation related to colony establishment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape‐scale resources promote colony growth but not reproductive performance of bumble bees

Williams

Regetz

Kremen

2012

Ecology

201

221

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Variation in the availability of food resources over space and time is a likely driver of how landscape structure and composition affect animal populations. Few studies, however, have directly assessed the spatiotemporal variation in resource availability that arises from landscape pattern, or its effect on populations and population dynamic parameters. We tested the effect of floral resource availability at the landscape scale on the numbers of worker, male, and queen offspring produced by bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenśkii, colonies experimentally placed within complex agricultural-natural landscapes. We quantified flower densities in all land use types at different times of the season and then used these data to calculate spatially explicit estimates of floral resources surrounding each colony. Floral availability strongly correlated with landscape structure, and different regions of the landscape showed distinct seasonal patterns of floral availability. The floral resources available in the landscape surrounding a colony positively affected the number of workers and males it produced. Production was more sensitive to early- than to later-season resources. Floral resources did not significantly affect queen production despite a strong correlation between worker number and queen number among colonies. No landscape produced high floral resources during both the early and late season, and seasonal consistency is likely required for greater queen production. Floral resources are important determinants of colony growth and likely affect the pollination services provided by bumble bees at a landscape scale. Spatiotemporal variation in floral resources across the landscape precludes a simple relationship between resources and reproductive success as measured by queens, but nonetheless likely influences the total abundance of bumble bees in our study region.

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“…The high variation in pollinator abundance observed near natural habitat (Fig. 3) could be attributable to differences in the assemblage of native plants present in natural areas, as certain native plants may provide more adequate floral resources or better nesting conditions than others (Suzuki et al. 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollination services decline with distance from natural habitat even in biodiversity‐rich areas

Carvalheiro

Seymour

Veldtman

et al. 2010

Journal of Applied Ecology

247

179

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Summary1. There is considerable evidence for the negative impacts of habitat alteration on pollinators in highly disturbed regions of the world. However, it remains unclear whether these findings reflect a global crisis for crop pollination. Understanding the extent to which world agriculture is endangered by pollinator decline is essential if the economic valuation of nature is to be used to promote conservation. 2. We assess the susceptibility to pollinator limitation of one of the most important tropical and subtropical fruit crops, mango Mangifera indica L., commonly planted in a region of South Africa located between two large biodiversity-rich protected natural areas. We conducted flower visitor surveys, exclusion experiments and spatial analysis of flower visitation and fruit production patterns. 3. Our results show that both ants and flower visitors were effective pollinators of mango, the latter significantly declining (in abundance and species richness) with distance to natural habitat while ants were not affected. Neither the absence of pesticides nor the supplementation of flower visitors by using managed honeybees served to offset these negative impacts. Food-web data suggest that maintaining diversity of flower resources within farmland can help maintain pollinator communities. 4. Moreover, models based exclusively on pollinator abundance underestimated the negative effect of distance from natural habitat on production (42% less at 500 m from natural habitat). As soil nutrient levels and water content are regularly measured and corrected in all study sites, these results suggest that pollinator diversity may also be important. 5. Synthesis and applications. This study provides one of the first examples of marked pollination limitation in farms surrounded by well-protected natural habitat. For mango farming to be sustainable, it is essential to limit contiguous growth of farmland and consider practices that restore the complexity of plant-pollinator networks within farms, for example through the creation and maintenance of pollinator-friendly areas. By highlighting the economic gains of adopting pollinator-friendly practices in agriculture, this work contributes to a growing body of studies that reveal that making farmland more suitable for pollinators benefits both agriculture and nature conservation.

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Do bumble bee queens choose nest sites to maximize foraging rate? Testing models of nest site selection

Cited by 27 publications

References 22 publications

Location of bumblebee nests is predicted by counts of nest‐searching queens

Location of bumblebee nests is predicted by counts of nest‐searching queens

Landscape‐scale resources promote colony growth but not reproductive performance of bumble bees

Pollination services decline with distance from natural habitat even in biodiversity‐rich areas

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