Investigating plant—pollinator relationships in the Aegean: the approaches of the project POL-AEGIS (The pollinators of the Aegean archipelago: diversity and threats)

Fire, a frequent disturbance in the Mediterranean, affects pollinator communities. We explored the response of major pollinator guilds to fire severity, across a fire‐severity gradient at different spatial scales. We show that the abundance of all pollinator groups responded to fire severity, and that bees and beetles showed in addition a significant species‐diversity response. Bees, sawflies, and wasps responded to fire severity at relatively small spatial scales (250–300 m), whereas flies and beetles responded at larger spatial scales. The response of bees, sawflies, and wasps was unimodal, as predicted by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, whereas flies and beetles showed a negative response. A possible explanation is that the observed patterns (spatial scale and type of response) are driven by taxa‐specific ecological and life‐history traits, such as nesting preference and body size, as well as the availability of resources in the postfire landscape. Our observational study provides an insight into the effect of fire severity on pollinators. However, future research exploring the explicit link between the pre‐ and postfire landscape structure and pollinator traits and responses is required for further establishment and understanding of cause–effect relationships.

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“…200,000 specimens from the Aegean, established at the Laboratory of Biogeography and Ecology, University of the Aegean (Petanidou et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate fire severity is best for the diversity of most of the pollinator guilds in Mediterranean pine forests

Lazarina

Devalez

Neokosmidis

et al. 2019

Ecology

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“…After processing in the laboratory, the specimens were identified to species level (when necessary, with the help of European specialists) and deposited in the database of the Melissotheque of the Aegean (Petanidou et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant–flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

Lázaro

Tscheulin

Devalez

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

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The structure of pollination networks is an important indicator of ecosystem stability and functioning. Livestock grazing is a frequent land use practice that directly affects the abundance and diversity of flowers and pollinators and, therefore, may indirectly affect the structure of pollination networks. We studied how grazing intensity affected the structure of plant-flower visitor networks along a wide range of grazing intensities by sheep and goats, using data from 11 Mediterranean plant-flower visitor communities from Lesvos Island, Greece. We hypothesized that intermediate grazing might result in higher diversity as predicted by the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, which could in turn confer more stability to the networks. Indeed, we found that networks at intermediate grazing intensities were larger, more generalized, more modular, and contained more diverse and even interactions. Despite general responses at the network level, the number of interactions and selectiveness of particular flower visitor and plant taxa in the networks responded differently to grazing intensity, presumably as a consequence of variation in the abundance of different taxa with grazing. Our results highlight the benefit of maintaining moderate levels of livestock grazing by sheep and goats to preserve the complexity and biodiversity of the rich Mediterranean communities, which have a long history of grazing by these domestic animals.

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“…Collected insects were transferred to vials and refrigerated if they were to be processed within 24 h, otherwise deep frozen until pinning. After processing in the laboratory, the specimens were identified to species level (when necessary, with the help of European specialists) and deposited in the database of the Melissotheque of the Aegean (Petanidou et al 2013). …”

Section: Insect Visitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant-flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

Lázaro¹,

Tscheulin²,

Devalez³

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. The structure of pollination networks is an important indicator of ecosystem stability and functioning. Livestock grazing is a frequent land use practice that directly affects the abundance and diversity of flowers and pollinators and, therefore, may indirectly affect the structure of pollination networks. We studied how grazing intensity affected the structure of plant-flower visitor networks along a wide range of grazing intensities by sheep and goats, using data from 11 Mediterranean plant-flower visitor communities from Lesvos Island, Greece. We hypothesized that intermediate grazing might result in higher diversity as predicted by the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, which could in turn confer more stability to the networks. Indeed, we found that networks at intermediate grazing intensities were larger, more generalized, more modular, and contained more diverse and even interactions. Despite general responses at the network level, the number of interactions and selectiveness of particular flower visitor and plant taxa in the networks responded differently to grazing intensity, presumably as a consequence of variation in the abundance of different taxa with grazing. Our results highlight the benefit of maintaining moderate levels of livestock grazing by sheep and goats to preserve the complexity and biodiversity of the rich Mediterranean communities, which have a long history of grazing by these domestic animals.

show abstract

Investigating plant—pollinator relationships in the Aegean: the approaches of the project POL-AEGIS (The pollinators of the Aegean archipelago: diversity and threats)

Cited by 36 publications

References 91 publications

Moderate fire severity is best for the diversity of most of the pollinator guilds in Mediterranean pine forests

Moderate fire severity is best for the diversity of most of the pollinator guilds in Mediterranean pine forests

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant–flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant-flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

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