Microsatellite analysis reveals the spatial dynamics of Bombus humilis and Bombus sylvarum

Abstract

Abstract1. Substantial reductions in the distributional ranges of several species of bumblebee have been recorded in the UK. Loss and fragmentation of suitable foraging and nesting habitat to agricultural intensification is thought to be the main driving force behind declines.2. Limited knowledge of species ecology means that effective conservation management prescriptions cannot be put into place.3. Here we investigated the spatial dynamics of two UK Biodiversity Action Plan bumblebee species, Bombus sylvarum and Bombus humilis. For the first time, microsatellite DNA analysis was used to estimate foraging distances in rare bumblebees.4. Sisterhoods were identified between bees sampled at discrete forage patches within a fragmented landscape. Using these sisterhoods, minimum estimates of maximum and mean foraging distances were calculated from distances separating sister bees.5. Minimum mean foraging distances were calculated as 475 ± 97m for B. humilis and 231 ± 58m for B. sylvarum. Mean distances were significantly greater for B. humilis than B. sylvarum (P<0.001).6. The differences between the spatial scales that the species were recorded over highlighted a need for further research into the spatial dynamics of rare and more ubiquitous foraging bumblebees.4

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project

“…(), 436 Fermon, Waltert, Vane‐Wright, and Muhlenberg (), 437 Ribeiro and Freitas (), 438 Breedt, Dreber, and Kellner (), 439 Scott, Setterfield, Douglas, and Andersen (), 440 Cagle (), 441 Johnson, Gómez, and Pinedo‐Vasquez (), 442 Su, Zhang, and Qiu (), 443 Gottschalk, De Toni, Valente, and Hofmann (), 444 Axmacher et al. (), 445 García, Ortiz Zapata, Aguayo, and D'Elia (), 446 Jolli and Pandit (), 447 Saldaña‐Vázquez, Sosa, Hernández‐Montero, and López‐Barrera (), 448 Nicolas, Barriere, Tapiero, and Colyn (), 449 Sakchoowong, Nomura, Ogata, and Chanpaisaeng (), 450 García‐R, Cárdenas‐H, and Castro‐H (), 451 Yoshikura, Yasui, and Kamijo (), 452 Connop, Hill, Steer, and Shaw (), 453 Darvill, Knight, and Goulson (), 454 Diekötter, Walther‐Hellwig, Conradi, Suter, and Frankl (), 455 Goulson, Lye, and Darvill (), 456 Goulson et al. (), 457 Hanley et al.…”

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

“…Regardless of these limitations, our data strongly suggest that the availability of high densities of floral resources in springtime within close proximity is not essential for nest establishment of the common British bumblebee species. However, workers of some rarer species of bumblebees forage over a smaller area (Connop et al ., ), and if this trend is the same for queens of such species, availability of spring forage within 100 m of nests may be essential for successful nest establishment.…”

Microsatellite Analysis of Museum Specimens Reveals Historical Differences in Genetic Diversity between Declining and More Stable Bombus Species

“… Comparison of the genetic diversity as the mean allelic richness ( A R ) and the expected heterozygosity ( H E ) averaged across loci (± S.D.) between the historical and recent data of a) the declining and b) the more stable bumblebee spp., with data from our project and from the literature [ 13 , 24 – 30 ]. See also S5 Table for referees and genetic parameters of these populations.…”