scholarly journals Herbaceous perennial ornamental plants can support complex pollinator communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Erickson ◽  
H. M. Patch ◽  
C. M. Grozinger
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Ecological Community ◽  
Landscape Plant ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Herbaceous Perennial

AbstractHuman-designed landscapes can host diverse pollinator communities, and the availability of floral resources is central to supporting insect biodiversity in highly modified environments. However, some urban landscapes have relatively few pollinator-attractive plant species and management in urban environments rarely considers the function of these plants in generating and supporting a stable ecological community. Evaluations of 25 cultivars within five commercially popular herbaceous perennial ornamental plant genera (Agastache, Echinacea, Nepeta, Rudbeckia, and Salvia) revealed variation in the total and proportional abundance of visitors attracted. These varieties supported multiple pollinator functional groups, however bees were the primary visitors to in this system. Cultivars were assessed according to their function within a plant–pollinator network. Comparisons of artificial networks created with the six most attractive and six least attractive cultivars demonstrated that a planting scheme using the most attractive cultivars would attract nearly four times as many bee species, including several specialists and rare species. Plant diversity in the landscape was correlated with abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, demonstrating that community context shapes a plant’s relative attractiveness to pollinators. We conclude that herbaceous perennial cultivars can support an abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, however, planting schemes should take into consideration the effects of cultivar, landscape plant diversity, floral phenology, floral area, and contribution to a stable ecological community.

More Than Meets the Eye? The Role of Annual Ornamental Flowers in Supporting Pollinators

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Erickson ◽  
S Adam ◽  
L Russo ◽  
V Wojcik ◽  
H M Patch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Pollinator Visitation ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Suburban Areas ◽  
Dietary Breadth ◽  
Background Population ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Pollinator Populations

Abstract Ornamental flowers are commonly planted in urban and suburban areas to provide foraging resources for pollinator populations. However, their role in supporting broad pollinator biodiversity is not well established as previous studies have been conducted in urban landscapes with pollinator communities that are distinct from those in natural systems. We observed pollinator visitation patterns to five ornamental annual plant genera and their cultivars over multiple years at two semi-natural sites in Pennsylvania to understand their potential for supporting diverse pollinator communities. There was significant variation in visitor abundance and diversity by season and year for many annual ornamental cultivars. Within some genera, cultivars had similar visitor abundance, diversity, and main visitor taxa, while cultivars in other genera varied greatly in these measures. We observed only polylectic (pollen generalist) bee species visiting annual ornamentals, despite the presence of oligolectic (pollen specialist) bee species in the background population. We conclude that the attractiveness of annual ornamental plants likely depends on both cultivar characteristics and environmental context. While their role in supporting complex pollinator populations is limited both based on the number of and dietary breadth of the species they support, ornamental plants may nonetheless provide long-lasting supplemental foraging resources for the generalist pollinator communities characteristic of urban and suburban environments.

scholarly journals Joint Impacts of Drought and Habitat Fragmentation on Native Bee Assemblages in a California Biodiversity Hotspot

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Keng-Lou James Hung ◽  
Sara S. Sandoval ◽  
John S. Ascher ◽  
David A. Holway
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Fragmented Habitat ◽  
Native Bee

Global climate change is causing more frequent and severe droughts, which could have serious repercussions for the maintenance of biodiversity. Here, we compare native bee assemblages collected via bowl traps before and after a severe drought event in 2014 in San Diego, California, and examine the relative magnitude of impacts from drought in fragmented habitat patches versus unfragmented natural reserves. Bee richness and diversity were higher in assemblages surveyed before the drought compared to those surveyed after the drought. However, bees belonging to the Lasioglossum subgenus Dialictus increased in abundance after the drought, driving increased representation by small-bodied, primitively eusocial, and generalist bees in post-drought assemblages. Conversely, among non-Dialictus bees, post-drought years were associated with decreased abundance and reduced representation by eusocial species. Drought effects were consistently greater in reserves, which supported more bee species, than in fragments, suggesting that fragmentation either had redundant impacts with drought, or ameliorated effects of drought by enhancing bees’ access to floral resources in irrigated urban environments. Shifts in assemblage composition associated with drought were three times greater compared to those associated with habitat fragmentation, highlighting the importance of understanding the impacts of large-scale climatic events relative to those associated with land use change.

scholarly journals First Occurrence of a Rust Fungus on English Daisy (Bellis perennis) in North America

Plant Disease ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 562-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. Koike ◽  
M. Scholler ◽  
Arthur Herbaria ◽  
Kriebel Herbaria
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Rust Fungus ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
First Record ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Senecio Vulgaris ◽  
Common Groundsel

English daisy (Bellis perennis, family Asteraceae) is a flowering plant native to Europe. It is widely used as an ornamental in North America but is also a weed in lawns in the western and eastern United States. In December 2000, plants growing in urban landscapes in Monterey County, CA, were infected with rust. Orange aecia containing aeciospores that measured 14 to 18 × 12.5 to 15 μm developed profusely on leaves. Severely diseased leaves wilted and collapsed. Other spore states (pycnia, uredosori, and telia) were not observed. Based on the size and ornamentation of the aeciospores, reduced white peridium, apperance of the peridial cells, and arrangement of sori, we identified the pathogen as Puccinia lagenophorae Cooke (1,3), a rust fungus native to Australia and New Zealand that since 1960 has been introduced to other continents (2). On English daisy, the disease has been reported only in Australia and Europe (1). The pathogen also occurs on numerous other plants of the subfamily Asteroideae (family Asteraceae) (2). The occurrence of P. lagenophorae on English daisy follows the recent, first-time detection of the same pathogen on common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) in California (3). To test cross infectivity, a spore suspension of a rust isolate from common groundsel was prepared and applied to various ornamental plants known to be hosts of P. lagenophorae. Inoculated plants were kept in a humidity chamber for 48 h, then maintained in a greenhouse. After 9 to 14 days, aecia developed on English daisy, cineraria (S. cruentus), and common groundsel but did not develop on dusty miller (S. cineraria) or pot marigold (Calendula officinalis). In addition, a single telium, surrounded by aecia, was observed on one of the infected English daisy plants. The telium contained two-celled teliospores that measured 31 to 36.5 × 16 to 19 (-22) μm and one-celled mesospores that measured 22 to 34 × 13.5 to 16 μm. At point of attachment, the widths of the stalks measured 7 to 8.5 (-9.5) μm. Some of the spores had surface ridges. The morphological features of the telio- and mesospores agree with those described for P. lagenophorae. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first record of a rust fungus on English daisy in North America. The inoculation experiments indicated that the rusts on English daisy and common groundsel are not biologically separated, casting doubt on the taxonomic concept of Weber et al. (4) that considered the rust on English daisy to be a distinct species, P. distincta McAlpine (although they did not examine type material of either P. lagenophorae or P. distincta). References: (1) M. Scholler. Sydowia 49:174, 1997. (2) M. Scholler. J. Plant Dis. Prot. 105:239, 1998. (3) M. Scholler and S. T. Koike. Plant Dis. 85:335, 2001. (4) R. W. S. Weber et al. Mycol. Res. 102:1227, 1998.

Dietary choices in a generalist herbivore, the eastern cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus, in urban landscapes

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Mohammad A. Abu Baker ◽  
Sara E. Emerson ◽  
Jessica Gorman ◽  
Joel S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
College Campuses ◽  
High Protein ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Sylvilagus Floridanus ◽  
Generalist Herbivore ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Dietary Choices ◽  
Midwestern Usa

Abstract We tested for dietary choices of foods varying in nutrient composition by cottontail rabbits on two college campuses in midwestern USA. We quantified choices among pellets of varying nutritional quality at artificial food patches. Dietary choices differed between seasons and locations. Spring giving-up densities (GUDs: food left behind) did not show differences in food choices and were lower than summer GUDs. In Appleton, the cottontails favoured both high protein and fibre pellets, whereas the medium protein and fibre pellets were favoured in Chicago. The cottontails maintained their choice of high protein, high fibre pellets at three spatial scales. The cottontails varied food intake to balance their protein, salt and fibre needs at different times and locations. Studying dietary choices and the effect of resource quality on foraging responses by urban wildlife provides a useful tool to study ecological interactions and can help minimize damage in urban environments such as parks.

Plant diversity increases the abundance and diversity of soil fauna: A meta-analysis

Geoderma ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 411 ◽  
pp. 115694
Author(s):  
Yakun Zhang ◽  
Sai Peng ◽  
Xinli Chen ◽  
Han Y.H. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Soil Fauna ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

The ecological and evolutionary consequences of systemic racism in urban environments

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6510) ◽  
pp. eaay4497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Schell ◽  
Karen Dyson ◽  
Tracy L. Fuentes ◽  
Simone Des Roches ◽  
Nyeema C. Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Ecology ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Global Environmental Change ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Emergent Structure ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Social Components ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences

Urban areas are dynamic ecological systems defined by interdependent biological, physical, and social components. The emergent structure and heterogeneity of urban landscapes drives biotic outcomes in these areas, and such spatial patterns are often attributed to the unequal stratification of wealth and power in human societies. Despite these patterns, few studies have effectively considered structural inequalities as drivers of ecological and evolutionary outcomes and have instead focused on indicator variables such as neighborhood wealth. In this analysis, we explicitly integrate ecology, evolution, and social processes to emphasize the relationships that bind social inequities—specifically racism—and biological change in urbanized landscapes. We draw on existing research to link racist practices, including residential segregation, to the heterogeneous patterns of flora and fauna observed by urban ecologists. In the future, urban ecology and evolution researchers must consider how systems of racial oppression affect the environmental factors that drive biological change in cities. Conceptual integration of the social and ecological sciences has amassed considerable scholarship in urban ecology over the past few decades, providing a solid foundation for incorporating environmental justice scholarship into urban ecological and evolutionary research. Such an undertaking is necessary to deconstruct urbanization’s biophysical patterns and processes, inform equitable and anti-racist initiatives promoting justice in urban conservation, and strengthen community resilience to global environmental change.

Assessing the conservation value of a human-dominated island landscape: Plant diversity in Hawaii

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 1765-1781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Goldman ◽  
Liba Pejchar Goldstein ◽  
Gretchen C. Daily
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Conservation Value ◽  
Landscape Plant

scholarly journals Noncrop Habitat Use by Wild Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in a Mixed-Use Agricultural Landscape

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 502-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Du Clos ◽  
Francis A Drummond ◽  
Cynthia S Loftin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Lowbush Blueberry ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Bee Communities ◽  
Bee Abundance

Abstract Homogeneous, agriculturally intense landscapes have abundant records of pollinator community research, though similar studies in the forest-dominated, heterogeneous mixed-use landscape that dominates the northeastern United States are sparse. Trends of landscape effects on wild bees are consistent across homogeneous agricultural landscapes, whereas reported studies in the northeastern United States have not found this consistency. Additionally, the role of noncrop habitat in mixed-use landscapes is understudied. We assessed wild bee communities in the mixed-use lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) production landscape of Maine, United States at 56 sites in eight land cover types across two regional landscapes and analyzed effects of floral resources, landscape pattern, and spatial scale on bee abundance and species richness. Within survey sites, cover types with abundant floral resources, including lowbush blueberry fields and urban areas, promoted wild bee abundance and diversity. Cover types with few floral resources such as coniferous and deciduous/mixed forest reduced bee abundance and species richness. In the surrounding landscape, lowbush blueberry promoted bee abundance and diversity, while emergent wetland and forested land cover strongly decreased these measures. Our analysis of landscape configuration revealed that patch mixing can promote wild bee abundance and diversity; however, this was influenced by strong variation across our study landscape. More surveys at intra-regional scales may lead to better understanding of the influence of mixed-use landscapes on bee communities.

scholarly journals Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 4964
Author(s):  
Ingo Kowarik ◽  
Leonie K. Fischer ◽  
Dave Kendal
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Conservation Policies

Urbanization is a major driver of environmental change and is closely linked to the future of biodiversity. Cities can host a high richness of plants and animals, and this urban biodiversity supports multiple regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. Developing biodiversity-friendly cities is thus inextricably linked to sustainable urban development and human wellbeing. The contributions to this Special Issue on “Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development” in the journal Sustainability illustrate the role of urban environments as pressures on biodiversity, and envision pathways towards developing more biodiverse urban environments that are accepted and supported by people. Contributions reveal promising opportunities for conserving biodiversity within many urban landscapes. The insights from this Special Issue can support urban conservation policies and their implementation in the development of sustainable cities.

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