Can green roofs provide habitat for urban beeds (Hymenoptera: Apidae)?

Colla, Sheila R.; Willis, E. O.; Packer, Laurence

doi:10.15365/cate.2142009

Cited by 81 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This was also revealed in our study, because fine substrates as well as substrate depth, affected the diversity of ground nesting wild bees on green roofs. Like in other studies (Brenneisen 2005;Colla et al 2009;Tonietto et al 2011), we found Lasioglossum and Halictus species in high abundance (340 individuals) and species richness (20 species) compared to Andrena species with only few or single individuals per species. Two explanations seem reasonable for this observation: Firstly, Andrena species occurrence is more scattered because the females breed solitary.…”

Section: Wild Bee Traitssupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Similar wild bee communities have been reported on green roofs and ground level habitats in Toronto (Colla et al 2009) and Chicago (Tonietto et al 2011) but higher wild bee diversity on ground sites was related to higher entomophilous plant diversity. The habitat quality of green roofs for wild bees was highlighted by observations of locally and/or nationally rare species (Kadas 2006) and of wild bee species newly recorded on green roofs (Ksiazek et al 2014;MacIvor et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Similarly, authors from Chicago reported higher wild bee diversity and abundance on ground level habitats than on green roofs (Tonietto et al 2011). Green roofs and ground level habitats in Toronto (Colla et al 2009) and Switzerland (Brenneisen 2005) comprised similar wild bee diversity. However, these comparisons have little informative value because of the different sample sizes and study designs realised in these studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From an ecological point of view, green roofs have high potential to restore habitats for plants and animals in cities (Oberndorfer et al 2007;Carter and Butler 2008;Dunnett and Kingsbury 2008). During the last decade, studies on plants (Landolt 2001;Köhler 2005), birds (Gedge 2003;Baumann 2006;Fernandez-Canero and Gonzalez-Redondo 2010) and various invertebrate taxa like Araneae (Brenneisen 2003;Kadas 2006), Collembola (Schrader and Böning 2006), Coleoptera (Kadas 2006) and Hymenoptera (Brenneisen 2003;Brenneisen 2005;Kadas 2006;Colla et al 2009;MacIvor and Lundholm 2010;Tonietto et al 2011;Ksiazek et al 2014;MacIvor et al 2014) underpinned the importance of green roofs to contribute to biodiversity and nature conservation in cities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

2018

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Green roofs are potentially valuable habitats for plants and animals in urban areas. Wild bees are important pollinators for crops and wild plants and may be enhanced by anthropogenic structures, but little is known about wild bees on green roofs in cities. This study investigates the effects of green roof qualities (floral resources, substrate character and depth, roof height and age) on wild bee diversity, abundance and traits (nesting type, sociality, pollen specialisation, body size) on green roofs in Vienna. Nine green roofs were sampled monthly between March and September 2014 by a semi quantitative approach. Wild bees were collected in pre-defined sub-areas for the same amount of time and floral resources were recorded. Over all green roofs, 992 individuals belonging to 90 wild bee species were observed. Wild bee diversity and abundance was strongly positively affected by increasing forage availability and fine substrates. Wild bees on roofs were characteristically solitary, polylectic and 8.3-11.2 mm. Regarding nesting type, the percentage of above-ground nesting bees was higher compared to the common species composition in Middle Europe. Ground-nesting wild bees were mainly eusocial, smaller (6.4-9.6 mm) and positively affected by roofs with fine substrates. During June, when forage availability by wildflowers on roofs was Blow^(5-15% flower coverage), flowering Sedum species were an important forage resource. We conclude that wild bee diversity and abundance on green roofs are enhanced by floral resources. Furthermore, the installations of areas with finer and deeper substrates benefit ground nesting and eusocial wild bees.

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Section: Wild Bee Traitssupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

2018

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“…However, there is also a tendency, through international use of the same few preferred plant species in construction of green roofs (and green walls), to broadly homogenise these areas as 'global habitats'. Such areas have attracted attention as resources suitable for urban bees and honey production (Colla et al 2009 ) but, more widely, are viewed as having considerable benefi ts for urban wildlife conservation. Potential for extending the principle is enormous: Kadas ( 2006 ) recapitulated Jones' ( 2002 ) estimate that Greater London contains 24-26,000 ha of roof space, for example.…”

Section: Novel Habitats: Green Roofs and Green Wallsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Providing Habitats for Urban Insects

New

2015

Insect Conservation and Urban Environments

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The proportion of impervious surfaces at the landscape scale structures wild bee assemblages in a densely populated region

Geslin

Féon

Folschweiller

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

131

115

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Given the predicted expansion of cities throughout the world, understanding the effect of urbanization on bee fauna is a major issue for the conservation of bees. The aim of this study was to understand how urbanization affects wild bee assemblages along a gradient of impervious surfaces and to determine the influence of landscape composition and floral resource availability on these assemblages. We chose 12 sites with a proportion of impervious surfaces (soil covered by parking, roads, and buildings) ranging from 0.06% to 64.31% within a 500 m radius. We collected using pan trapping and estimated the landscape composition of the sites within a 500 m radius and the species richness of plant assemblages within a 200 m radius. We collected 1104 bees from 74 species. The proportion of impervious surfaces at the landscape scale had a negative effect on wild bee abundance and species richness, whereas local flower composition had no effect. Ground‐nesting bees were particularly sensitive to the urbanization gradient. This study provides new evidences of the impact of urbanization on bee assemblages and the proportion of impervious surfaces at the landscape scale emerged as a key factor that drives those assemblages.

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Can green roofs provide habitat for urban beeds (Hymenoptera: Apidae)?

Cited by 81 publications

References 30 publications

Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities

Providing Habitats for Urban Insects

The proportion of impervious surfaces at the landscape scale structures wild bee assemblages in a densely populated region

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