Supporting Bees in Cities: How Bees Are Influenced by Local and Landscape Features

Ayers, Anthony C.; Rehan, Sandra M.

doi:10.3390/insects12020128

Cited by 97 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 150 publications

(284 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Another study carried out in Brazil demonstrated the importance of the urban environment in providing resources to small populations of the oil collecting bee Centris (Melacentris) collaris (Rocha-Filho et al 2018), indicating that some specialized floral resources may be found in urban environments and are essential for the maintenance of specialized bees. High floral abundance and diversity are the most important variables related to the maintenance of bees from different groups, offsetting the negative effects commonly associated with urbanization (Frankie et al 2013;Hülsmann et al 2015;Ayers and Rehan 2021). Such positive effects of floral resource availability have been described for cities in tropical countries such as Thailand (Tangtorwongsakul et al 2018;Stewart and Waitayachart 2020) and Costa Rica (Wojcik and McBride 2012), and is consistent with studies carried out in non-tropical regions (e.g., Ahrné et al 2009;Matteson and Langellotto 2010;Bates et al 2011;Hennig and Ghazoul 2011;Pardee and Philpott 2014;Hülsmann et al 2015).…”

Section: Insects (Bees)supporting

confidence: 79%

A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities

Maruyama¹,

Silva²,

Gomes³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pollinators provide essential ecosystem services worldwide, but dependence on biotic pollination is higher in the tropics, where urbanization is expected to impact biodiversity more severely. Here, we present a global review on urban pollinator studies with emphasis on the tropics. From the 308 published studies that included information on pollinator groups, only ~25 % were conducted in tropical regions, while ~65 % were carried out in the non-tropical northern hemisphere. This overall trend was similar for all the major insect pollinator groups, but not for vertebrates, which were overall less studied in both tropical and non-tropical regions. The effects of urbanization on tropical pollinators are diverse and complex and likely depend on the extent and type of urbanization, as well as the pollinator taxa studied. For both insect and vertebrate pollinators, the existing studies suggest that tropical cities can support generalist species tolerant of human activity, but the lack of studies hampers other general conclusions. The underrepresentation of pollinator studies in tropical cities undermines the value of urban biodiversity conservation in the most biodiverse regions of the world and highlights a missing opportunity. Since promoting urban biodiversity benefits both nature and people, it could be especially relevant in the Global South, where economic and social inequalities are severe and pollinator conservation may contribute to sustainability goals. In this context, initiatives that foster more international collaborations and research in the tropics are essential for a better understanding of the effects of urbanization and the value of pollinators in urban areas. Such knowledge can provide the basis for better urban planning strategies that contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of pollination services in tropical cities.

show abstract

Section: Insects (Bees)supporting

confidence: 79%

A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities

Maruyama¹,

Silva²,

Gomes³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We suspect the higher proportions of specialist bees at native nurseries are due in part to the presence of their corresponding native host plant species in native nurseries. Studies in other landscapes dominated by ornamental plants, such as urban areas, commonly detect fewer specialist bees when appropriate host plant taxa are lacking (Hernandez et al, 2009;Buchholz & Egerer, 2020;Ayers & Rehan, 2021). Indeed, we detected specialist bee species in the genera Diadasia, Micralictoides, and Ashmeadiella foraging on native ornamental cultivars belonging to their documented host families.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Wild bee functional diversity and plant associations in native and conventional plant nurseries

Cecala

Rankin

2021

Ecological Entomology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. An ongoing challenge in ecology is predicting how characteristics of communities correspond to habitat features. Examining variation in functional traits across species may reveal patterns not discernible from measures of mere abundance or richness. For beneficial insects like wild bees, functional trait-based approaches are often used to characterise communities in different agricultural habitats.2. However, no such approach has yet been applied in horticultural plant nurseries, which represent intensively managed artificial flowering plant assemblages. Certain nurseries mostly cultivate regionally native flowering plants, allowing one to test how differences between local plant assemblages may correlate with bee functional traits.3. We surveyed bee assemblages at native and conventional plant nurseries in southern California from spring through autumn over 2 years, while also documenting the native status of blooming plants in sampling plots. Bees were classified into different functional categories based on their diet breadth, nesting location, and social organisation.4. At native plant nurseries, we netted proportionally more specialist bee species and fewer generalist species than at conventional nurseries. Nesting location and social organisation of bee samples did not differ between nursery types. Meanwhile, landscape-level features were not associated with any observed functional trait metrics of bee collections. Furthermore, network-level specialisation of bee-plant interactions was higher at conventional nurseries.5. Our results suggest that a horticultural cultivation practice is quantifiably correlated with the functional distribution of resident bee assemblages. These results are important and encouraging to pollinator conservation efforts in nursery systems and other human-modified landscapes dominated by ornamental plants.

show abstract

“…Hymenopteran communities also seem to be sensitive to landscape urban conversion (Buczkowski and Richmond 2012; Geslin et al 2016; Corcos et al 2019; Theodorou et al 2020a). The amount of floral resources becomes scarcer under the pressure of urban fragmentation but also with soil imperviousness due to increasing pavement that makes nesting sites inaccessible for ground-nesting Hymenopteran species (Burkman and Gardiner 2014; Harrison and Winfree 2015; Geslin et al 2016; Wenzel et al 2020; Ayers and Rehan 2021). Particularly, some research has shown a decrease in the richness of urban bee communities as well as a decrease in their size along an increasing urbanization gradient (Ahrné et al 2009; Fortel et al 2014; Eggenberger et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nest aggregations of wild bees and apoid wasps in urban pavements: a “street life” to be promoted in urban planning

Noël

Keymeulen

Barbier

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last 10 years, knowledges of wild bees and apoid wasps’ community dynamics have gained interest in urban ecology focusing on the availability of floral resources in cities. Although understudied, the urban environment impacts the conditions of their nesting sites. Recent observations in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium) showed that urban pavements can be a novel nesting opportunity for Hymenoptera ground-nesting species such as wild bees and apoid wasps. Here, using citizen science, we investigated the richness of ground-nesting species living under urban pavements, the preferences of the sidewalk joint size related to ground-nesting species size and for sidewalk type or for soils texture under the pavements on the nesting site selection. A total of 22 species belonging to 10 Hymenoptera families of wild bees and digger wasps with their associated kleptoparasites were identified on 89 sites in Brussels. Sandstone setts or concrete slabs with an unbound joint size around 1 cm were found to be best suitable urban pavements for the ground-nesting species. The soil texture under the pavement was highly sandy among our samples. Finally, we also suggest engineering management guidelines to support bee and wasp species nesting under urban pavement in highly urbanized areas. Such observations pave the way for much research in the field of urban ecology to conceive multifunctional pavement promoting biodiversity.

show abstract

Supporting Bees in Cities: How Bees Are Influenced by Local and Landscape Features

Cited by 97 publications

References 150 publications

A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities

A global review of urban pollinators and implications for maintaining pollination services in tropical cities

Wild bee functional diversity and plant associations in native and conventional plant nurseries

Nest aggregations of wild bees and apoid wasps in urban pavements: a “street life” to be promoted in urban planning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About