Quantitative pollen requirements of solitary bees: Implications for bee conservation and the evolution of bee–flower relationships

Müller, Andreas; Diener, Stefan; Schnyder, Simone; Stutz, Katharina; Sédivy, Claudio; Dorn, Silvia

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.023

Cited by 222 publications

(218 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Since the adequate availability of pollen appears to be the greatest structuring force of bee communities (GATHMANN et al, 1994), the large species are more inclined to local extinction than the smaller species due to the quantity of pollen they require (MÜLLER et al, 2006). FRANKIE et al (2005) observed a decrease in the population of large bees (greater than 12mm) as a result of El Niño and La Niña, which altered the climate in Costa Rica, affecting the availability of pollen, nectar, and oil in the area studied.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Composition and diversity of bees (Hymenoptera) attracted by Moericke traps in an agricultural area in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, Brasil

Souza

Campos

2008

Iheringia, Sér. Zool.

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ABSTRACT. The composition and diversity of bees in an agricultural area in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, Brazil, were studied from May 2003 to June 2004, using Moericke traps. The collection site, an area with 58.08 hectares, is characterized by grain production and direct planting, with 70% of the surrounding area planted with sugar cane. During the study, 456 bees were collected, distributed among 20 genera, pertaining to the families Andrenidae (4.8%), Apidae (40.8%) and Halictidae (54.4%). Specimens of genera Dialictus (38%) and Diadasia (30%) predominated in this area. The species diversity, assessed using the Shannon and Simpson indices, were H'=1.88 and 1/ D= 4.15, respectively, and the Evenness index was 0.61.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Composition and diversity of bees (Hymenoptera) attracted by Moericke traps in an agricultural area in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, Brasil

Souza

Campos

2008

Iheringia, Sér. Zool.

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“…Within the United Kingdom, the National Pollinator Strategy is a 10‐year plan to support pollinating insects which strongly emphasizes enhancing the availability of floral foraging resources across urban and rural landscapes (DEFRA, 2014). It is vital that bees and other pollinating insects have access to floral foraging resources throughout the adult flight season to meet their energetic requirements and maximize reproductive output (Müller et al., 2006; Vaudo, Tooker, Grozinger, & Patch, 2015). However, wildflower foraging resources have declined across much of the British countryside over the last century, a trend which is thought to have been a major contributor to long‐term declines in bee populations (Baude et al., 2016; Brown & Paxton, 2009; Goulson, Lye, & Darvill, 2008; Vanbergen, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flower preferences and pollen transport networks for cavity‐nesting solitary bees: Implications for the design of agri‐environment schemes

Gresty

Clare

Devey

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Floral foraging resources are valuable for pollinator conservation on farmland, and their provision is encouraged by agri‐environment schemes in many countries. Across Europe, wildflower seed mixtures are widely sown on farmland to encourage pollinators, but the extent to which key pollinator groups such as solitary bees exploit and benefit from these resources is unclear. We used high‐throughput sequencing of 164 pollen samples extracted from the brood cells of six common cavity‐nesting solitary bee species (Osmia bicornis, Osmia caerulescens, Megachile versicolor, Megachile ligniseca, Megachile centuncularis and Hylaeus confusus) which are widely distributed across the UK and Europe. We documented their pollen use across 19 farms in southern England, UK, revealing their forage plants and examining the structure of their pollen transport networks. Of the 32 plant species included currently in sown wildflower mixes, 15 were recorded as present within close foraging range of the bees on the study farms, but only Ranunculus acris L. was identified within the pollen samples. Rosa canina L. was the most commonly found of the 23 plant species identified in the pollen samples, suggesting that, in addition to providing a nesting resource for Megachile leafcutter bees, it may be an important forage plant for these species. Higher levels of connectance and nestedness were characteristic of pollen transport networks on farms with abundant floral resources, which may increase resilience to species loss. Our data suggest that plant species promoted currently by agri‐environment schemes are not optimal for solitary bee foraging. If a diverse community of pollinators is to be supported on UK and European farmland, additional species such as R. canina should be encouraged to meet the foraging requirements of solitary bees.

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“…Bees are the most important insects in the sunflower pollination process . Unlike other insects that visit flowers only for their own food, bees visit a greater number of flowers to fulfill the needs of their colony (Müller et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey bee visitation to sunflower: effects on pollination and plant genotype

Chambó

Garcia

Oliveira

et al. 2011

Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.)

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Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an allogamic plant, which needs insects on flowering, especially the honeybees for seed production. Collecting nectar and pollen by honeybees in agricultural crops is essential to apiculture, as well as a better understanding of plant biology. The foraging behavior of Africanized Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera, Apidae) and its efficiency of pollination on seed yield of sunflower genotypes (open pollination and restricted pollination) were evaluated. There were peaks of visits by A. mellifera for nectar collection on the 2 nd and 3 rd flowering days between 7h00 and 8h30. The average density of A. mellifera during increased visitation ranged from 2.27 to 2.94 bees per capitulum. Nectar collecting bees were more frequent (2.28 bees per capitulum) than pollen collecting (0.40 bees per capitulum). On the 3 rd flowering day, Helio 360 and Aguará hybrids had higher (p ≤ 0.05) number of bee visits per flower head than the other genotypes. Seed yield was 43 % higher (p ≤ 0.05) from sunflower plants that were visited by pollinator-insects compared with plants restricted to pollinators.

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Quantitative pollen requirements of solitary bees: Implications for bee conservation and the evolution of bee–flower relationships

Cited by 222 publications

References 25 publications

Composition and diversity of bees (Hymenoptera) attracted by Moericke traps in an agricultural area in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, Brasil

Composition and diversity of bees (Hymenoptera) attracted by Moericke traps in an agricultural area in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, Brasil

Flower preferences and pollen transport networks for cavity‐nesting solitary bees: Implications for the design of agri‐environment schemes

Honey bee visitation to sunflower: effects on pollination and plant genotype

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