Monitoring agricultural ecosystems by using wild bees as environmental indicators

Schindler, Matthias; Diestelhorst, Olaf; Haertel, Stephan; Saure, Christoph; Scharnowski, Arno; Schwenninger, Hans

doi:10.3897/biorisk.8.3600

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Sampling of each plot was performed during five sampling events evenly distributed between April to September 2018, starting with the flowering of dandelion and continuing every 3 to 4 weeks depending on weather conditions. Sampling was performed in resource-dependent variable transect walks (Westphal et al 2008;Schindler et al 2013). Accordingly, collectors could freely move with respect to the distribution of relevant nesting and feeding resources for bees within the plots.…”

Section: Bee Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions of local habitat type, landscape composition and flower availability moderate wild bee communities

et al. 2020

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Context Landscape and local habitat traits moderate wild bee communities. However, whether landscape effects differ between local habitat types is largely unknown. Objectives We explored the way that wild bee communities in three distinct habitats are shaped by landscape composition and the availability of flowering plants by evaluating divergences in response patterns between habitats. Methods In a large-scale monitoring project across 20 research areas, wild bee data were collected on three habitats: near-natural grassland, established flower plantings and residual habitats (e.g. field margins). Additionally, landscape composition was mapped around the research areas. Results Our monitoring produced a dataset of 27,650 bees belonging to 324 species. Bee communities on all three habitats reacted similarly to local flower availability. Intensively managed grassland in the surrounding landscape had an overall negative effect on the studied habitats. Other landscape variables produced diverging response patterns that were particularly pronounced during early and late season. Bee communities in near-natural grassland showed a strong positive response to ruderal areas. Flower plantings and residual habitats such as field margins showed a pronounced positive response to extensively managed grassland and woodland edges. Response patterns regarding bee abundance were consistent with those found for species richness. Conclusion We advise the consideration of local habitat type and seasonality when assessing the effect of landscape context on bee communities. A reduction in the intensity of grassland management enhances bee diversity in a broad range of habitats. Moreover, wild bee communities are promoted by habitat types such as ruderal areas or woodland edges.

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Section: Bee Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions of local habitat type, landscape composition and flower availability moderate wild bee communities

et al. 2020

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“…Sampling time was adapted to the size of the sub-areas and ranged between 3 min for small objects like dead wood elements and 15 min for large areas like lawns, shrubs, Sedum or wildflowers. Each roof was sampled monthly, seven times from March to September 2014 (Schindler et al 2013). Sampling was conducted between 10 am and 4 pm on days with warm (22.8 ± 4.9°C), windless and dry weather conditions.…”

Section: Wild Bee Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

2018

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Green roofs are potentially valuable habitats for plants and animals in urban areas. Wild bees are important pollinators for crops and wild plants and may be enhanced by anthropogenic structures, but little is known about wild bees on green roofs in cities. This study investigates the effects of green roof qualities (floral resources, substrate character and depth, roof height and age) on wild bee diversity, abundance and traits (nesting type, sociality, pollen specialisation, body size) on green roofs in Vienna. Nine green roofs were sampled monthly between March and September 2014 by a semi quantitative approach. Wild bees were collected in pre-defined sub-areas for the same amount of time and floral resources were recorded. Over all green roofs, 992 individuals belonging to 90 wild bee species were observed. Wild bee diversity and abundance was strongly positively affected by increasing forage availability and fine substrates. Wild bees on roofs were characteristically solitary, polylectic and 8.3-11.2 mm. Regarding nesting type, the percentage of above-ground nesting bees was higher compared to the common species composition in Middle Europe. Ground-nesting wild bees were mainly eusocial, smaller (6.4-9.6 mm) and positively affected by roofs with fine substrates. During June, when forage availability by wildflowers on roofs was Blow^(5-15% flower coverage), flowering Sedum species were an important forage resource. We conclude that wild bee diversity and abundance on green roofs are enhanced by floral resources. Furthermore, the installations of areas with finer and deeper substrates benefit ground nesting and eusocial wild bees.

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“…The results of our study should be interpreted and discussed in the light of the small sample size. Nevertheless, they underline that the reduction of floral resources for wild bees in agricultural landscapes lead to the decrease of available pollen, which is necessary for the provision of brood cells (Le Féon et al ., ; Schindler et al ., ; Hass et al ., ). Subsequently, female wild bees are unable to provide adequate quantities of food to their offspring, as intensively farmed agricultural landscapes frequently contain monocultures with short flowering periods and low plant diversity (Mandelik et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Pollen availability for the Horned mason bee (Osmia cornuta) in regions of different land use and landscape structures

Kratschmer

Petrović

Curto

et al. 2019

Ecological Entomology

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1. Osmia cornuta is a generalist regarding its habitat requirements and is used for pollination in orchards. The species collects pollen from different plant taxa, but pollen richness and pollen quantity in a nest may be affected by land use and landscape structures.2. The availability of pollen resources for O. cornuta was studied across different land use types (one urban, village-structured, agricultural, and viticultural region each) by pollen analysis in the context of landscape structures.3. In total, 16 pollen types were identified in 1180 brood cells of O. cornuta. On average (± SD), the highest pollen richness per region (n = 4) was found in the viticultural region (4.75 ± 0.96) and the lowest in the agricultural region (1 ± 2). Osmia cornuta collected predominantly pollen from the Sorbus-pollen group, which includes Prunus species. Salix was primarily collected in the village-structured and agricultural regions, and Quercus was frequently found in samples from the viticulture region. The highest mean (± SD) number of brood cells per region (n = 4) was found in the viticulture region (136.35 ± 57.45) and the lowest in the agricultural region (20.25 ± 40.5). Increasing proportions of green areas in urban and village-structured regions affected the pollen richness positively, whereas agricultural areas had a negative impact on pollen richness and the number of brood cells.4. It was concluded that the polylectic O. cornuta uses a wide range of flowering plants dependent on their availability. The maintenance of fruit trees as well as willow and oak trees enhances floral resources qualitatively and quantitatively for O.cornuta specifically in intensively farmed agricultural areas.

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Monitoring agricultural ecosystems by using wild bees as environmental indicators

Cited by 29 publications

References 59 publications

Interactions of local habitat type, landscape composition and flower availability moderate wild bee communities

Interactions of local habitat type, landscape composition and flower availability moderate wild bee communities

Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

Pollen availability for the Horned mason bee (Osmia cornuta) in regions of different land use and landscape structures

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