Attributes and references to honey bees (Insecta; Hymenoptera; Apidae) and their products in some Asian and Australian societies’ folkloristic domains

Background References to insects in myths, stories, and idioms can be found in almost any culture, but with regard to references involving honey bee species in the Asia-Australian region, little information is available. Such references to bees can be highly informative by revealing attitudes of admiration, fear, ignorance, or even revulsion towards these insects. Results The subject is briefly reviewed and examples of references to bees of selected cultural communities are given. Although folkloristic references to honey bees were found to be mostly positive highlighting fearlessness, cleverness, and industriousness of the bees, some also touch upon their ability to cause pain. Conclusions Owing to the decreasing contacts and increasing alienization regarding insects generally, a plea is made to collect whatever information is still available about references to bees in songs, myths, stories, proverbs, and idioms and to compare such uses from different regions, e.g., North and South Korea. This would support other fields of research aiming to discover and to describe cultural relationships, migrations, and contacts between different peoples of the Asian/Australian region.

Morphological variables restrict flower choice of Lycaenid butterfly species: implication for pollination and conservation

Background Butterflies make an important part for plant-pollinator guild. These are nectar feeder or occasionally pollen feeder and thus proboscis of the butterfly species are considered as one of the most important variable in relation to the collection of food from plants. In butterfly-plant association, nectar source is principally determined by quality of nectar, corolla length, and nectar quantity. For the butterfly, nectar uptake is determined by proboscis length because flowers with long corolla restrict butterfly species containing shorter proboscis. Empirical studies proved that butterfly species with high wing loading visit clustered flowers and species with low wing loading confined their visit to solitary or less nectar rich flowers. The present study tries to investigate the flower preference of butterfly species from Lycaenidae family having very short proboscis, lower body length, lower body weight and wing span than the most species belonging from Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Papilionidae, and Hesperiidae. Results Butterflies with shorter proboscis cannot access nectar from deeper flower. Although they mainly visit on less deeper flower to sucking nectar, butterflies with high wing loading visits clustered flowers to fulfill their energy requirements. In this study, we demonstrated flower choice of seven butterfly species belonging to Lycanidiae family. The proboscis length maintains a positive relationship with body length and body weight. Body length maintains a positive relationship with body weight and wing span. Wing span indicate a strong positive relationship with body weight. This study proved that these seven butterfly species namely Castalius rosimon (CRN), Taracus nara (TNA), Zizinia otis (ZOT), Zizula hylax (ZHY), Jamides celeno (JCE), Chilades laius (CLA), and Psuedozizeeria maha (PMA) visit frequently in Tridax procumbens (TPR), Ocimum americanum (OAM) and Syndrella nodiflora (SNO). The species do not visit Lantana camara (LCA) and Catharanthus roseus (CRO) plants. Conclusion The present study proved that butterfly species visits frequently in Tridax procumbens (TPR), Ocimum americanum (OAM) but less frequently in Syndrella nodiflora (SNO). So, that study determined the butterfly species helps in pollination of these herbs that in turn helps the conservation of these butterfly species.

Spatial distribution of halophytes and environment factors in salt marshes along the eastern Yellow Sea

Background Salt marshes provide a variety of ecosystem services; however, they are vulnerable to human activity, water level fluctuations, and climate change. Analyses of the relationships between plant communities and environmental conditions in salt marshes are expected to provide useful information for the prediction of changes during climate change. In this study, relationships between the current vegetation structure and environmental factors were evaluated in the tidal flat at the southern tip of Ganghwa, Korea, where salt marshes are well-developed. Results The vegetation structure in Ganghwa salt marshes was divided into three groups by cluster analysis: group A, dominated by Phragmites communis; group B, dominated by Suaeda japonica; and group C, dominated by other taxa. As determined by PERMANOVA, the groups showed significant differences with respect to altitude, soil moisture, soil organic matter, salinity, sand, clay, and silt ratios. A canonical correspondence analysis based on the percent cover of each species in the quadrats showed that the proportion of sand increased as the altitude increased and S. japonica appeared in soil with a relatively high silt proportion, while P. communis was distributed in soil with low salinity. Conclusions The distributions of three halophyte groups differed depending on the altitude, soil moisture, salinity, and soil organic matter, sand, silt, and clay contents. Pioneer species, such as S. japonica, appeared in soil with a relatively high silt content. The P. communis community survived under a wider range of soil textures than previously reported in the literature; the species was distributed in soils with relatively low salinity, with a range expansion toward the sea in areas with freshwater influx. The observed spatial distribution patterns may provide a basis for conservation under declining salt marshes.

Major environmental factors and traits of invasive alien plants determining their spatial distribution

Background As trade increases, the influx of various alien species and their spread to new regions are prevalent and no longer a special problem. Anthropogenic activities and climate changes have made the distribution of alien species out of their native range common. As a result, alien species can be easily found anywhere, and they have nothing but only a few differences in intensity. The prevalent distribution of alien species adversely affects the ecosystem, and a strategic management plan must be established to control them effectively. To this end, hot spots and cold spots were analyzed according to the degree of distribution of invasive alien plants, and major environmental factors related to hot spots were found. We analyzed the 10,287 distribution points of 126 species of alien plants collected through the national survey of alien species by the hierarchical model of species communities (HMSC) framework. Results The explanatory and fourfold cross-validation predictive power of the model were 0.91 and 0.75 as AUC values, respectively. The hot spots of invasive plants were found in the Seoul metropolitan area, Daegu metropolitan city, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, southwest shore, and Jeju island. Generally, the hot spots were found where the higher maximum temperature of summer, precipitation of winter, and road density are observed, but temperature seasonality, annual temperature range, precipitation of the summer, and distance to river and sea were negatively related to the hot spots. According to the model, the functional traits accounted for 55% of the variance explained by the environmental factors. The species with higher specific leaf areas were more found where temperature seasonality was low. Taller species preferred the bigger annual temperature range. The heavier seed mass was only preferred when the max temperature of summer exceeded 29 °C. Conclusions In this study, hot spots were places where 2.1 times more alien plants were distributed on average than non-hot spots (33.5 vs 15.7 species). The hot spots of invasive plants were expected to appear in less stressful climate conditions, such as low fluctuation of temperature and precipitation. Also, the disturbance by anthropogenic factors or water flow had positive influences on the hot spots. These results were consistent with the previous reports about the ruderal or competitive strategies of invasive plants instead of the stress-tolerant strategy. The functional traits are closely related to the ecological strategies of plants by shaping the response of species to various environmental filters, and our result confirmed this. Therefore, in order to effectively control alien plants, it is judged that the occurrence of disturbed sites in which alien plants can grow in large quantities is minimized, and the river management of waterfronts is required.

Northward expansion trends and future potential distribution of a dragonfly Ischnura senegalensis Rambur under climate change using citizen science data in South Korea

Background Citizen science is becoming a mainstream approach of baseline data collection to monitor biodiversity and climate change. Dragonflies (Odonata) have been ranked as the highest priority group in biodiversity monitoring for global warming. Ischnura senegalensis Rambur has been designated a biological indicator of climate change and is being monitored by the citizen science project “Korean Biodiversity Observation Network.” This study has been performed to understand changes in the distribution range of I. senegalensis in response to climate change using citizen science data in South Korea. Results We constructed a dataset of 397 distribution records for I. senegalensis, ranging from 1980 to 2020. The number of records sharply increased over time and space, and in particular, citizen science monitoring data accounted for the greatest proportion (58.7%) and covered the widest geographical range. This species was only distributed in the southern provinces until 2010 but was recorded in the higher latitudes such as Gangwon-do, Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-do (max. Paju-si, 37.70° latitude) by 2020. A species distribution model showed that the annual mean temperature (Bio1; 63.2%) and the maximum temperature of the warmest month (Bio5; 16.7%) were the most critical factors influencing its distribution. Future climate change scenarios have predicted an increase in suitable habitats for this species. Conclusions This study is the first to show the northward expansion in the distribution range of I. senegalensis in response to climate warming in South Korea over the past 40 years. In particular, citizen science was crucial in supplying critical baseline data to detect the distribution change toward higher latitudes. Our results provide new insights on the value of citizen science as a tool for detecting the impact of climate change on ecosystems in South Korea.

Honey bees and their brood: a potentially valuable resource of food, worthy of greater appreciation and scientific attention

Despite the consumption of bee brood in several parts of the world, particularly in the tropical areas, the practice has received comparatively little attention. We have reviewed all the available information on the nutrient composition and functional properties of different developmental stages of honey bee workers belonging to different species and subspecies. Noticing the competent nutrient composition of, in particular, honey bee brood, pupae, and prepupae, we suggest that they could be a potential source of human nutrition as well as animal feed. Moreover, drone brood is an ideal candidate for use as a food or as food ingredient. However, to analyze the functional properties of different honey bee species remains a task for further analysis.

PollMap: a software for crop pollination mapping in agricultural landscapes

Background Ecosystem service mapping is an important tool for decision-making in landscape planning and natural resource management. Today, pollination service mapping is based on the Lonsdorf model (InVEST software) that determines the availability of nesting and floral resources for each land cover and estimates pollination according to the foraging range of the desired species. However, it is argued that the Lonsdorf model has significant limitations in estimating pollination in a landscape that can affect the results of this model. Results This paper presents a free software, named PollMap, that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. PollMap estimates the pollination service according to a modified version of the Lonsdorf model and assumes that only cells within the flight range of bees are important in the pollination mapping. This software is produced for estimating and mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes. The main assumption of this software is that in the agricultural landscapes, which are dominated by forest and agriculture ecosystems, forest patches serve only as a nesting habitat for wild bees and the surrounding fields provide floral resources. Conclusion The present study provided new software for mapping crop pollination in agricultural landscapes that does not have the limitations of the Lonsdorf model. We showed that the use of the Lonsdorf model for pollination mapping requires attention to the limitations of this model, and by removing these limitations, we will need new software to obtain a reliable mapping of pollination in agricultural landscapes.

Dust and sandstorm: ecosystem perspectives on dryland hazards in Northeast Asia: a review

Background A review of the literature was carried out to study dust and sandstorm (DSS) in terms of its ecosystem processes and relationship to other dryland disasters in Northeast Asia. Drylands are ecosystems that include grasslands, semi-deserts, and deserts, and these types of ecosystems are vulnerable due to their low primary productivity that depends on a small amount of precipitation. Results Drought, dust, desertification, and winter livestock disasters (called dzud) are unique natural disasters that affect the region. These disasters are related in that they share major causes, such as dryness and low vegetation cover that combine with other conditions, wind, cold waves, livestock, and land-surface energy, to dramatically impact the ecosystem. Conclusions The literature review in this study illustrates the macroscopic context of the spatial and temporal patterns of DSS according to geography, climate, and vegetation growth in the drylands of Northeast Asia. The effects of ocean climates and human activities were discussed to infer a possible teleconnection effect of DSS and its relations to desertification and dzud.

Current status of alert alien species management for the establishment of proactive management systems in Korea

Background Some of the introduced alien species introduced settle, multiply, and spread to become invasive alien species (IAS) that threaten biodiversity. To prevent this, Korea and other countries legally designate and manage alien species that pose a risk to the environment. Moreover, 2160 alien species have been introduced in South Korea, of which 1826 animals and 334 plants are designated. The inflow of IAS can have negative effects such as ecosystem disturbance, habitat destruction, economic damage, and health damage to humans. To prevent damage caused by the inflow of IAS in advance, species that could potentially pose a risk to the environment if introduced in South Korea were designated as alert alien species (AAS). Results The designation criteria were in accordance with the “Act on the Conservation and Use of Biological Diversity” and the “Regulations on the Ecological Risk Assessment of AAS and IAS” by the National Institute of Ecology. The analysis result of risk and damage cases indicated that mammals affect predation, competition, human economic activity, virus infection, and parasite infection. Birds have been demonstrated to affect predation, competition, human economic activity, and health. It was indicated that plants intrude on the ecosystem by competing with native species with their high-population density and capacity to multiply and cause allergic inducement. Interestingly, 300 species, including 25 mammals, 7 birds, 84 fishes, 28 amphibians, 22 reptiles, 1 insect, 32 spiders, 1 mollusk, 1 arthropod, and 99 plants, are included in the list of AAS. Conclusions AAS designation plays a role in preventing the reduction of biodiversity by IAS in South Korea and preserving native species. Moreover, it is determined to provide considerable economic benefits by preventing socio-economic losses and ecological damage.

Changes in nocturnal insect communities in forest-dominated landscape relevant to artificial light intensity

Background Artificial light at night has recently been identified as a major factor adversely affecting global insect diversity. Here, we compared the insect diversity in Gwangneung Forest Biosphere Reserve, specifically in the Korea National Arboretum (with no artificial light at night), with that of three nearby urban sites with a gradient of artificial light at night (five locations at each site). We analyzed the effects of the artificial night lighting index, mean annual temperature, and field light intensity (lux) at night on the insect community structure. Results The urban sites generally exhibited higher species richness and abundance as well as clear indicator species compared with the control site. The size distribution of the collected insects markedly differed between the control and the three urban sites. The abundance of herbivorous and omnivorous insects increased and decreased, respectively, with the increase in light intensity. Species richness of herbivorous and omnivorous insects was likely correlated with the field light intensity at night and artificial night lighting index, respectively. Conclusions This study demonstrates the association between nighttime environment and marked changes in insect community structure and revealed consequent transition of ecosystem services by changes in trophic group composition.