Pollen preferences among the bee species visiting apple (Malus pumila) in New York

Russo, Laura; Danforth, Bryan N.

doi:10.1007/s13592-017-0525-3

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…In an assessment of types of pollen collected by wild bee pollinators found visiting crop flowers in New York apple orchards (including both long-and short-season bees), Russo and Danforth (2017) found that, in addition to apple pollen, the majority of other pollen types were collected from early flowering woody plants such as Prunus and Salix. The native woody plants Salix, Acer, Prunus-type, Rubus, and Rhus were all ranked in the top 10 pollen types most commonly collected by the wild bees visiting blueberry and cherry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The native woody plants Salix, Acer, Prunus-type, Rubus, and Rhus were all ranked in the top 10 pollen types most commonly collected by the wild bees visiting blueberry and cherry. In an assessment of types of pollen collected by wild bee pollinators found visiting crop flowers in New York apple orchards (including both long-and short-season bees), Russo and Danforth (2017) found that, in addition to apple pollen, the majority of other pollen types were collected from early flowering woody plants such as Prunus and Salix. Long-season crop pollinating bees such as Bombus, Xylocopa, and Ceratina are social or subsocial and require pollen and nectar resources throughout both the spring and the summer in order to found nests and raise workers/subservient daughters (Cardinal andDanforth 2011, Dicks et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wild bee species often have distinct foraging preferences, and many species will only collect pollen from a restricted suite of plants (Westrich 1989, Cane andSipes 2006). The different pollen species collected by some wild bee pollinators have been quantified during crop bloom (e.g., Russo and Danforth 2017), but results are dominated by crop pollen, and their use of alternative host plant species outside this bloom period is less well known. Analysis of pollen loads carried by wild bees is a powerful tool, which can be used to assess species-level pollen preferences and hence foraging niche (Westrich 1989, Cane and Sipes 2006, M€ uller and Kuhlmann 2008.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analysis of pollen loads carried by wild bees is a powerful tool, which can be used to assess species-level pollen preferences and hence foraging niche (Westrich 1989, Cane and Sipes 2006, M€ uller and Kuhlmann 2008. The different pollen species collected by some wild bee pollinators have been quantified during crop bloom (e.g., Russo and Danforth 2017), but results are dominated by crop pollen, and their use of alternative host plant species outside this bloom period is less well known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Limited phenological and dietary overlap between bee communities in spring flowering crops and herbaceous enhancements

Wood

Gibbs

Rothwell

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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Wild bee populations have undergone declines in recent years across much of the Western world, and these declines have the potential to limit yield in pollination-dependent crops. Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum, and tart cherry, Prunus cerasus, are spring-blooming crops that rely on the movement of pollen by bees and other insects for pollination. Wild bee populations can be increased on farmland by providing floral resources, but whether the addition of these plants translates into increased pollinator density on crop flowers has not been documented in most cropping systems. To determine the importance of providing additional floral resources for wild bee pollinator communities, we selected blueberry fields and tart cherry orchards with and without herbaceous floral enhancements in western Michigan, USA. The bee communities visiting crop flowers, enhancements and control grassy field margins were sampled over a 5-yr period. In addition, the pollen diets of the most abundant wild bee crop pollinators were quantified across Michigan to better understand their foraging niches and to identify potentially important alternative host plants. The presence of floral enhancements did not increase the abundance of wild bees on either blueberry or cherry flowers during bloom. The bee community visiting blueberry was evenly composed of short-season bees that fly only during the spring and long-season bees that fly in both spring and summer. In contrast, the bee community visiting cherry was dominated by short-season spring bees. The majority of pollen collected by the wild bee communities visiting blueberry and cherry was from spring-flowering woody plants, with limited use of the herbaceous enhancements. Enhancements attracted greater abundance and species richness of bees compared to control areas, including twice as many floral specialists. Conserving summer-flying, grassland-associated bees is an appropriate goal for pollinator conservation programs. However, herbaceous enhancements may not provide adequate resources for the wild bees that pollinate spring-flowering crops. This study demonstrates that an examination of the pollen collected by wild bees across their flight periods can identify plant species to help them persist in intensively managed landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Limited phenological and dietary overlap between bee communities in spring flowering crops and herbaceous enhancements

Wood

Gibbs

Rothwell

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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“…A high d′ value indicates a high degree of specialization in pollen use of an insect species (high "exclusiveness"), whereas insect species sharing many pollen types with other taxa receive small d′ values (i.e. "opportunistic" species) pollen resources early in the season (Kämper et al, 2016;Russo & Danforth, 2017;Villenave et al, 2005). The early season has been identified as a critical period during the life history of many important crop pollinators and pest enemies (e.g.…”

Section: Relative Importance Of Pollen Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal shifts and complementary use of pollen sources by two bees, a lacewing and a ladybeetle species in European agricultural landscapes

Bertrand

Eckerter

Ammann

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Continuous availability of food resources, such as pollen, is vital for many insects that provide pollination and pest control services to agriculture. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the shared or complementary use of floral resources by such species, which hampers more effective landscape management to simultaneously promote them in agroecosystems.2. Here, we simultaneously quantified pollen use by a bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and a mason bee (Osmia bicornis), two bee species recognized as important crop pollinators, as well as a lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea) and a ladybeetle species (Harmonia axyridis), both common predators of crop aphids, throughout the season in 23 agricultural landscapes in Germany and Switzerland.3. Pollen diets were more diverse and similar among C. carnea and H. axyridis compared to the two bee species, but all four species shared key pollen types early in the season such as Acer, Quercus, Salix and Prunus. All species exhibited a pronounced shift in pollen sources from primarily woody plants (mainly trees) in spring to primarily herbaceous plants in summer. The majority of pollen (overall ≥64%) came from non-agricultural plants even in crop-dominated landscapes. Synthesis and applications.Our results highlight the importance of trees as pollen sources for many insect species, particularly early in the season. Our findings support incentives that promote heterogeneous agricultural landscapes including both woody and herbaceous semi-natural habitats, ensuring phenological complementarity of floral resources for insect species that can provide pollination and pest control services to agriculture. The identified key plant species can help to design and optimize agri-environment schemes to promote these functionally important insects. K E Y W O R D Sbumblebee, floral resources, foraging habitat, landscape resources, mason bee, pollen diet, resource specialization

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More than mesolectic: Characterizing the nutritional niche of Osmia cornifrons

Crone,

Boyle,

Bresnahan

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Characterizing the nutritional needs of wild bee species is an essential step to better understanding bee biology and providing suitable supplemental forage for at‐risk species. Here, we aim to characterize the nutritional needs of a model solitary bee species, Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski), by using dietary protein‐to‐lipid ratio (P:L ratio) as a proxy for nutritional niche and niche breadth. We first identified the mean target P:L ratio (~3.02:1) and P:L collection range (0.75–6.26:1) from pollen provisions collected across a variety of sites and time points. We then investigated the P:L tolerance range of larvae by rearing bees in vitro on a variety of diets. Multifloral and single‐source pollen diets with P:L ratios within the range of surveyed provisions did not always support larval development, indicating that other dietary components such as plant secondary compounds and micronutrients must also be considered in bee nutritional experiments. Finally, we used pollen metabarcoding to identify pollen from whole larval provisions to understand how much pollen bees used from plants outside of their host plant families to meet their nutritional needs, as well as pollen from individual forager bouts, to observe if bees maintained strict floral constancy or visited multiple plant genera per foraging bout. Whole larval provision surveys revealed a surprising range of host plant pollen use, ranging from ~5% to 70% of host plant pollen per provision. Samples from individual foraging trips contained pollen from multiple genera, suggesting that bees are using some form of foraging decision making. Overall, these results suggest that O. cornifrons have a wide nutritional niche breadth, but while pollen P:L ratio tolerance is broad, a tolerable P:L ratio alone is not enough to create a quality diet for O. cornifrons, and the plant species that make up these diets must also be carefully considered.

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Pollen preferences among the bee species visiting apple (Malus pumila) in New York

Cited by 24 publications

References 41 publications

Limited phenological and dietary overlap between bee communities in spring flowering crops and herbaceous enhancements

Limited phenological and dietary overlap between bee communities in spring flowering crops and herbaceous enhancements

Seasonal shifts and complementary use of pollen sources by two bees, a lacewing and a ladybeetle species in European agricultural landscapes

More than mesolectic: Characterizing the nutritional niche of Osmia cornifrons

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