Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ∼18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014. We then developed habitat selection models to identify remotely sensed land-cover and land-use features that influence apiary site selection by Dakota beekeepers. Our study demonstrates a continual increase in biofuel crops, totaling 1.2 Mha, around registered apiary locations in North and South Dakota. Such crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in this region. Furthermore, our analysis reveals how grasslands that beekeepers target when selecting commercial apiary locations are becoming less common in eastern North and South Dakota, changes that may have lasting impact on pollinator conservation efforts. Our study highlights how land-use change in the NGP is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping. Our models can be used to guide future conservation efforts highlighted in the US national pollinator health strategy by identifying areas that support high densities of commercial apiaries and that have exhibited significant land-use changes.apiary selection models | Apis mellifera | land use | land-cover trends | pollinators A nimal pollination service is critical for sustaining ecosystem health and human well-being (1, 2). In many terrestrial systems, plant-pollinator interactions provide the basic framework for all other trophic interactions. Globally, about one-third of crop production depends on animal pollination (3). US agricultural production relies heavily on managed and native insects for pollination services, with an estimated economic value of $15 billion annually (2). Reliance on insects for pollination services is growing even as populations of native and managed pollinators exhibit concurrent declines (4, 5). For example, in 2013−2014, total US honey bee colony losses were 34%, but beekeepers on average lost 51% of their colonies (6). Declines in managed honey bees and native bees put significant pressure on global food supplies, plant-pollinator networks, agricultural producers, and ecosystem function (7,8).Proposed reasons for the declines include parasites, diseases, agro-chemical use, forage availability, and land-use change (9, 10). Much of the research investigating anthropogenic disturbance effects on managed and native pollinators focuses on pesticides and less so on habitat fragmentation, land-use, and loss of forage. Although a paucity of data exists for most parts of the world, recent research indicates that land use influences honey ...
Societal dependence on insects for pollination of agricultural crops has risen amidst concerns over pollinator declines. Habitat loss and lack of forage have been implicated in the decline of both managed and native pollinators. Land use changes in the Northern Great Plains of the US, a region supporting over 1 million honey bee colonies annually, have shifted away from historical grassland ecosystems bees rely on for forage toward landscapes dominated by corn, soybeans, and other row crops. We investigated how land use impacts honey bee colony population size during the growing season and subsequent colony population size for almond pollination in central California the following February. We provide estimates of how land use affects beekeeper economics by linking summer habitat with pollination service payments and later production of new colonies. Our results demonstrate that a greater presence of non-bee foraged agricultural crops surrounding apiaries in the summer results in smaller colonies by the end of the growing season. Apiaries with colonies exhibiting smaller population size in the autumn were also smaller during almond pollination the following spring; impacting the beekeeper with a reduced per-colony rental fee for pollination services and reduced potential for creating new spring colonies, based on prior growing season land use. This study highlights the downstream effects of factors driving land use decisions on the ability of beekeepers to provide robust honey bee colonies to support the pollination industry on a national scale. It also demonstrates the direct linkages between habitat in the Northern Great Plains, bee health, and pollination services rendered elsewhere in the US.
Birds are essential components of most ecosystems and provide many services valued by society. However, many populations have undergone striking declines as their habitats have been lost or degraded by human activities. Terrestrial grasslands are vital habitat for birds in the North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), but grassland conversion and fragmentation from agriculture and energy-production activities have destroyed or degraded millions of hectares. Conservation grasslands can provide alternate habitat. In the United States, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest program maintaining conservation grasslands on agricultural lands, but conservation grasslands in the PPR have declined by over 1 million ha since the program’s zenith in 2007. We used an ecosystem-services model (InVEST) parameterized for the PPR to quantify grassland-bird habitat remaining in 2014 and to assess the degradation status of the remaining grassland-bird habitat as influenced by crop and energy (i.e., oil, natural gas, and wind) production. We compared our resultant habitat-quality ratings to grassland-bird abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to confirm that ratings were related to grassland-bird abundance. Of the grassland-bird habitat remaining in 2014, about 19% was degraded by crop production that occurred within 0.1 km of grassland habitats, whereas energy production degraded an additional 16%. We further quantified the changes in availability of grassland-bird habitat under various land-cover scenarios representing incremental losses (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) of CRP grasslands from 2014 levels. Our model identified 1 million ha (9%) of remaining grassland-bird habitat in the PPR that would be lost or degraded if all CRP conservation grasslands were returned to crop production. Grassland regions world-wide face similar challenges in maintaining avian habitat in the face of increasing commodity and energy production to sate the food and energy needs of a growing world population. Identifying ways to model the impacts of the tradeoff between food and energy production and wildlife production is an important step in creating solutions.
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