The effect of repeated, lethal sampling on wild bee abundance and diversity

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.

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Native wildflower plantings support wild bee abundance and diversity in agricultural landscapes across the United States

Ecological Applications ◽

10.1890/14-1748.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 25 (8) ◽

pp. 2119-2131 ◽

Cited By ~ 90

Author(s):

Neal M. Williams ◽

Kimiora L. Ward ◽

Nathaniel Pope ◽

Rufus Isaacs ◽

Julianna Wilson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Wild Bee ◽

Abundance And Diversity ◽

Bee Abundance

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The best wildflowers for wild bees

Journal of Insect Conservation ◽

10.1007/s10841-019-00180-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (5-6) ◽

pp. 819-830 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rachel N. Nichols ◽

Dave Goulson ◽

John M. Holland

Keyword(s):

Native Bees ◽

Convolvulus Arvensis ◽

Wild Bees ◽

Pollinator Abundance ◽

Wild Bee ◽

Anthyllis Vulneraria ◽

Important Food Source ◽

Abundance And Diversity ◽

The Uk ◽

Species Being

Abstract Governmental agri-environment schemes (AES) aim to improve pollinator abundance and diversity on farmland by sowing wildflower seed mixes. These often contain high proportions of Fabaceae, particularly Trifolium (clovers), which are attractive to some bumblebee species, but not to most of the ~ 240 solitary bee species in the UK. Here we identify wildflowers that are attractive to a greater range of wild bee species. Forty-five wildflower species being farmed for commercial seed production on a single farm were surveyed for native bees. Bee walks were conducted through discrete wildflower areas from April until August in 2018. The results indicate that including a range of Apiaceae, Asteraceae, and Geraniaceae in seed mixes would cater for a wide diversity of bee species. A total of 14 wildflower species across nine families attracted 37 out of the 40 bee species recorded on the farm, and accounted for 99.7% of all visitations. Only two of these 14 species are included in current AES pollinator mixes. Unexpectedly, few visits were made by bumblebees to Trifolium spp. (0.5%), despite their being considered an important food source for bumblebees, while Anthyllis vulneraria and Geranium pratense were highly attractive. For solitary bees, Crepis capillaris, Sinapsis arvensis, Convolvulus arvensis and Chaerophyllum temulum were amongst the best performing species, none of which are usually included in sown flower mixes. We suggest that the standard ‘pollinator’ mixes used in AES might be updated to include some of these wildflower species, and trialled as seed mixes on farmland.

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Changes in the Summer Wild Bee Community Following a Bark Beetle Outbreak in a Douglas-fir Forest

Environmental Entomology ◽

10.1093/ee/nvaa119 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 49 (6) ◽

pp. 1437-1448 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gabriel G Foote ◽

Nathaniel E Foote ◽

Justin B Runyon ◽

Darrell W Ross ◽

Christopher J Fettig

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Species Richness ◽

Bark Beetle ◽

Tree Mortality ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Douglas Fir ◽

Wild Bee ◽

Bee Community ◽

Bee Communities ◽

Bee Abundance

Abstract The status of wild bees has received increased interest following recent estimates of large-scale declines in their abundances across the United States. However, basic information is limited regarding the factors affecting wild bee communities in temperate coniferous forest ecosystems. To assess the early responses of bees to bark beetle disturbance, we sampled the bee community of a Douglas-fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.), forest in western Idaho, United States during a Douglas-fir beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), outbreak beginning in summer 2016. We resampled the area in summer 2018 following reductions in forest canopy cover resulting from mortality of dominant and codominant Douglas-fir. Overall, results from rarefaction analyses indicated significant increases in bee diversity (Shannon’s H) in 2018 compared to 2016. Results from ANOVA also showed significant increases in bee abundance and diversity in 2018 compared to 2016. Poisson regression analyses revealed percent tree mortality from Douglas-fir beetle was positively correlated with increases in total bee abundance and species richness, where community response variables displayed a cubic trend with percent tree mortality. Percent reduction in canopy cover from 2016 to 2018 was also correlated with bee species richness and diversity. These findings suggest that wild bee communities may benefit from changes in forest structure following bark beetle outbreaks.

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Effect of meadow regeneration on bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) abundance and diversity in southern Ontario, Canada

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/tce.2013.42 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 145 (6) ◽

pp. 655-667 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Amy C. Rutgers-Kelly ◽

Miriam H. Richards

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

First Year ◽

Southern Ontario ◽

Landfill Sites ◽

Bee Diversity ◽

Bee Community ◽

Abundance And Diversity ◽

And Control ◽

Pan Traps ◽

Bee Abundance

AbstractTo investigate how bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) communities repopulate habitat following severe disturbances, we compared assemblages in new, regenerating landfill sites planted in 2003, recent landfill sites planted in 2000, and control meadows relatively undisturbed for >40 years. All sites were identically sampled using pan traps and sweep netting, from early May to late September 2003, equalising collection effort among sites. In addition, we carried out five-minute aerial net samplings wherever sites contained large patches of wildflowers. We predicted that abundance and diversity of bees would be highest in recent sites and lowest in new sites. This prediction was partially supported: bees were most abundant in recent sites followed by control, then new sites, but species richness was highest (82 species) in recent sites, followed by new sites (67 species), then control (66 species). A randomisation analysis showed that there were more species than expected in new sites and fewer than expected in control sites. Differences in blossom availability likely explain differences in bee abundance and diversity among habitat regeneration levels. Overall, our results suggest that the bee community recolonised newly available sites immediately in the first year and that bee diversity and abundance increased for at least three years, subsequently declining between three and 40 years.

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Wild Bee Abundance and Pollination Service in Cultivated Pumpkins: Farm Management, Nesting Behavior and Landscape Effects

Journal of Economic Entomology ◽

10.1603/029.102.0214 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 102 (2) ◽

pp. 563-573 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

H. Esther Julier ◽

T'ai H. Roulston

Keyword(s):

Farm Management ◽

Nesting Behavior ◽

Pollination Service ◽

Wild Bee ◽

Landscape Effects ◽

Bee Abundance

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WILD BEE POLLINATOR DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE IN ORCHARD AND UNCULTIVATED HABITATS IN THE OKANAGAN VALLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent119735-7 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 119 (7-8) ◽

pp. 735-745 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Cynthia D. Scott-Dupree ◽

Mark L. Winston

Keyword(s):

Fruit Crops ◽

Wild Bees ◽

Osmia Lignaria ◽

Flower Visitation ◽

Wild Bee ◽

Tree Fruit ◽

Floral Visitation ◽

Abundance And Diversity ◽

Fruit Orchards ◽

Okanagan Valley

AbstractWild bee pollinators were collected in tree-fruit orchards and uncultivated habitats in the Okanagan Valley. Higher abundance and diversity of wild bee pollinators were found at uncultivated sites than on tree-fruit crops. Wild bees were not abundant enough in orchard habitats to provide adequate tree-fruit pollination. Variable flower visitation patterns by polylectic bees in orchard and uncultivated habitats make it difficult to predict floral visitation patterns. Therefore, orchardists cannot rely on a substantial and predictable contribution to pollination of fruit crops by wild bee species. Research into the use of wild bees as managed pollinators for tree-fruit crops in the Okanagan Valley may have potential. Future studies should consider three wild bee species collected in Okanagan Valley orchards, Bombus terricola occidentalis Greene, Bombus bifarius nearcticus Handlirsch, and Osmia lignaria propinqua Cresson, for pollination management.

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