Effects of different types of low‐intensity management on plant‐pollinator interactions in Estonian grasslands

Švara, Elena Motivans; Ștefan, Valentin; Sossai, Esther; Feldmann, Reinart; Aguilon, Dianne Joy; Bontšutšnaja, Anna; Vojtkó, Anna E.; Kilian, Isabel C.; Lang, Piret; Mõtlep, Marilin; Prangel, Elisabeth; Viljur, Mari-Liis; Knight, Tiffany M.; Neuenkamp, Lena

doi:10.1002/ece3.8325

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 119 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, in the long term, an even more intense reduction in diversity can be observed, also impacting generalist species ( Burkle & Knight, 2012 ). Furthermore, the increase and lack of effect on nestedness in the 11 presented studies could be linked to the concentration of interactions by generalist species, both in plants and pollinators ( Jauker et al, 2019 ; Díaz Infante, Lara & Arizmendi, 2020 ; Morrison & Dirzo, 2020 ; Motivans Švara et al, 2021 ; Escobedo-Kenefic et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

The human touch: a meta-analysis of anthropogenic effects on plant-pollinator interaction networks

López-Vázquez,

Lara,

Corcuera

et al. 2024

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Anthropogenic activities significantly impact natural ecosystems, leading to alterations in plant and pollinator diversity and abundance. These changes often result in shifts within interacting communities, potentially reshaping the structure of plant-pollinator interaction networks. Given the escalating human footprint on habitats, evaluating the response of these networks to anthropization is critical for devising effective conservation and management strategies. Methods We conducted a comprehensive review of the plant-pollinator network literature to assess the impact of anthropization on network structure. We assessed network metrics such as nestedness measure based on overlap and decreasing fills (NODF), network specialization (H2’), connectance (C), and modularity (Q) to understand structural changes. Employing a meta-analytical approach, we examined how anthropization activities, such as deforestation, urbanization, habitat fragmentation, agriculture, intentional fires and livestock farming, affect both plant and pollinator richness. Results We generated a dataset for various metrics of network structure and 36 effect sizes for the meta-analysis, from 38 articles published between 2010 and 2023. Studies assessing the impact of agriculture and fragmentation were well-represented, comprising 68.4% of all studies, with networks involving interacting insects being the most studied taxa. Agriculture and fragmentation reduce nestedness and increase specialization in plant-pollinator networks, while modularity and connectance are mostly not affected. Although our meta-analysis suggests that anthropization decreases richness for both plants and pollinators, there was substantial heterogeneity in this regard among the evaluated studies. The meta-regression analyses helped us determine that the habitat fragment size where the studies were conducted was the primary variable contributing to such heterogeneity. Conclusions The analysis of human impacts on plant-pollinator networks showed varied effects worldwide. Responses differed among network metrics, signaling nuanced impacts on structure. Activities like agriculture and fragmentation significantly changed ecosystems, reducing species richness in both pollinators and plants, highlighting network vulnerability. Regional differences stressed the need for tailored conservation. Despite insights, more research is crucial for a complete understanding of these ecological relationships.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

The human touch: a meta-analysis of anthropogenic effects on plant-pollinator interaction networks

López-Vázquez,

Lara,

Corcuera

et al. 2024

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Additionally, it is important to assess which traits of flower morphology make plants important for pollinators in the SCNP plant-pollinator network, and likewise which traits of pollinators drive interactions. Analysis of functional traits in a plant-pollinator network can lead to a more complete understanding of how interactions are structured in a network (Motivans S ̌vara et al, 2021) and which traits are important to consider when introducing native plants. Our study takes a step towards this objective by analyzing subsets (functional groups) of species in the context of network structure and pollinator composition, but more intentional studies of functional traits could identify crucial trends in pollination that might illuminate patterns in different habitats.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of the decline of a keystone plant species on a dune community plant-pollinator network

Sandacz,

Vitt,

Knight

et al. 2023

Front. Conserv. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological communities are maintained through species interactions, and the resilience of species interactions is critical to the persistence of natural communities. Keystone species play outsized roles in maintaining species interaction networks, and within plant-pollinator communities are high priorities for conservation. The loss of a keystone plant from a plant-pollinator network is expected to cause changes to network structure and composition of pollinator species, with the potential to cause secondary losses of plants and pollinators. To understand how the unmanipulated decline of a keystone plant affects the structure and composition of its network, we studied the plant-pollinator interactions of a Lake Michigan dune plant community where the population of the keystone plant, Cirsium pitcheri, is in rapid decline. The network prior to C. pitcheri decline (2016) was compared to the network as C. pitcheri continued to decline (2021 and 2022) in response to habitat loss. We find evidence that the loss of C. pitcheri altered network structure such that the community may be more sensitive to perturbations. Furthermore, changes in the composition of pollinators were explained by species turnover to a greater extent than by interaction rewiring, including the loss of bumblebees. Short-term negative consequences based on the changes to network structure and composition might lead to long-term effects on the persistence of the dune community. Our study exemplifies that the decline of a keystone plant can have negative implications for conservation of a plant-pollinator community. Using an interaction network framework to assess plant-pollinator communities has potential to develop strategies for best conservation and restoration practices in habitats vulnerable to habitat loss and disturbance.

show abstract

“…It is thus critical to monitor plant-pollinator interactions and to understand the factors that cause these interactions to change across space and time. As many species of pollinating insects cannot be identified on sight, most studies quantifying plant-pollinator interactions capture insects that are observed to visit flowers and identifying them later using microscopy (e.g., Motivans Švara et al 2021; Rakosy et al 2022) or DNA barcoding (Creedy et al 2020). While these methods are accurate and can provide museum specimens that are valuable for a wide variety of research purposes (Rakosy et al 2023), they are time consuming, costly to scale, and require expert knowledge in insect taxonomy or barcoding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilising affordable smartphones and open-source time-lapse photography for monitoring pollinators

Ștefan,

Workman,

Cobain

et al. 2024

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Monitoring plant-pollinator interactions is crucial for understanding factors that influence these relationships across space and time. While traditional methods in pollination ecology are time-consuming and resource-intensive, the growing availability of photographic technology, coupled with advancements in artificial intelligence classification, offers the potential for non-destructive and automated techniques. However, it is important that the photographs are of high enough quality to enable insects to be identified at lower taxonomic levels, preferably genus or species levels. This study assessed the feasibility of using smartphones to automatically capture images of insects visiting flowers and evaluated whether the captured images offered sufficient resolution for precise insect identification. Smartphones were positioned above target flowers from various plant species to capture time-lapse images of any flower visitor in urban green areas around Leipzig and Halle, Germany. We present the proportions of insect identifications achieved at different taxonomic levels, such as order, family, genus, and species, and discuss whether limitations stem from the automated approach (e.g., inability to observe distinguishing features in images despite high image quality) or low image quality. Practical recommendations are provided to address these challenges. Our results indicate that for bee families, nearly three quarters of all cases could be identified to genus level. Flies were more difficult, due to the small size of many individuals and the more challenging features needed for identification (e.g., in the wing veins). Overall, we suggest that smartphones are an effective tool when optimised by researchers. As technology continues to advance, smartphones are becoming increasingly accessible, affordable, and user-friendly, rendering them an appealing option for pollinator monitoring.

show abstract

Effects of different types of low‐intensity management on plant‐pollinator interactions in Estonian grasslands

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 11 publications

References 119 publications

The human touch: a meta-analysis of anthropogenic effects on plant-pollinator interaction networks

The human touch: a meta-analysis of anthropogenic effects on plant-pollinator interaction networks

The effects of the decline of a keystone plant species on a dune community plant-pollinator network

Utilising affordable smartphones and open-source time-lapse photography for monitoring pollinators

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About