The impact of mass-flowering crops on bee pathogen dynamics

Tuerlings, Tina; Buydens, Louella; Smagghe, Guy; Piot, Niels

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.05.001

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 109 publications

(166 reference statements)

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“…Although mass‐flowering crops can increase the abundance of generalist pollinators (Westphal et al, 2003), when grown extensively at the landscape scale, they tend to negatively affect the taxonomic richness and abundance of pollinators, particularly bees (Shaw et al, 2020; Todd et al, 2016). Short term benefits of abundant floral resources provided by mass‐flowering crops are diminished by agrochemical toxicity (Henry et al, 2012; Stanley et al, 2015) and an increase in pathogen prevalence (Tuerlings et al, 2022). Spontaneously established or sown wildflower strips in close proximity to mass‐flowering crops offer diverse nectar and pollen resources pre‐ and post‐crop flowering (Maurer et al, 2022), while also providing nesting and overwintering habitats (Holland et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest and grassland habitats support pollinator diversity more than wildflowers and sunflower monoculture

Vujanović

Losapio

Mesaroš

et al. 2023

Ecological Entomology

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1. Intensively managed agricultural landscapes often lack suitable habitats to support diverse wildlife, particularly harming pollinator communities. Besides mass flowering crops, remnant patches of natural and semi-natural vegetation may play a key role in maintaining and conserving biodiversity. Yet, the effects of different natural habitats, including forests and grasslands, on different pollinator communities are poorly understood at the landscape scale.2. We examined the abundance, richness, and diversity of wild bees and hoverflies, two key pollinator groups, across a land-use gradient spanning forest edges, grassland, wildflower strips, and sunflower monoculture. We also examined the distribution of hoverfly larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting traits across the above-mentioned land-use gradient. Finally, we evaluated the impact of landscape structure (forest, grassland, and water cover in the surrounding landscape) on pollinator community composition.3. Our results indicate that forest and grassland habitats supported a higher abundance and greater richness of pollinators than wildflower strips and sunflower monocultures. Furthermore, hoverflies were more sensitive to habitat and floristic homogenization than wild bees. Sunflower and wildflower habitats also hosted a lower diversity of larvae trophic guilds and wild bee nesting guilds as compared to forests and grasslands. 4. Our study suggests that conserving and restoring forest and grassland habitats within agricultural mosaics may serve as the main 'refuge' for wild pollinators.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest and grassland habitats support pollinator diversity more than wildflowers and sunflower monoculture

Vujanović

Losapio

Mesaroš

et al. 2023

Ecological Entomology

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“…It has been hypothesised that mass‐flowering crops support larger and more diverse pollinator communities in the landscape by increasing reproduction or colony growth (Holzschuh et al., 2013; Westphal et al., 2009), attracting flower visitors ( concentration effect ) to the crop and facilitating their movement into nearby habitats ( spillover effect ) (Holzschuh et al., 2016). However, mass‐flowering crops can also negatively affect pollinator abundance by exposing individuals to pesticides applied to the crops (Knapp et al., 2022) or via pathogens (Tuerlings et al., 2022), and by resource competition with managed honeybee hives placed nearby crops to boost crop pollination (Page & Williams, 2022). Increasing mass‐flowering crop cover in the landscape can lead to pollinator dilution in crops during bloom and potentially alleviate competitive pressure from crop‐adapted species in non‐crop habitats as these species move away from non‐crop habitats to forage in mass‐flowering crops (Fijen et al., 2019; Page & Williams, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early‐season mass‐flowering crop cover dilutes wild bee abundance and species richness in temperate regions: A quantitative synthesis

Riggi,

Raderschall,

Fijen

et al. 2023

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Pollinators benefit from increasing floral resources in agricultural landscapes, which could be an underexplored co‐benefit of mass‐flowering crop cultivation. However, the impacts of mass‐flowering crops on pollinator communities are complex and appear to be context‐dependent, mediated by factors such as crop flowering time and the availability of other flower resources in the landscape. A synthesis of research is needed to develop management recommendations for effective pollinator conservation in agroecosystems. By combining 22 datasets from 13 publications conducted in nine temperate countries (20 European, 2 North American), we investigated if mass‐flowering crop flowering time (early or late season), bloom state (during or after crop flowering) and extent of non‐crop habitat cover in the landscape moderated the effect of mass‐flowering crop cover on wild pollinator abundance and species richness in mass‐flowering crop and non‐crop habitats. During bloom, wild bee abundance and richness are negatively related to mass‐flowering crop cover. Dilution effects were predominant in crop habitats and early in the season, except for bumblebees, which declined with mass‐flowering crop cover irrespective of habitat or season. Late in the season and in non‐crop habitats, several of these negative relationships were either absent or reversed. Late‐season mass‐flowering crop cover is positively related to honeybee abundance in crop habitats and to other bee abundance in non‐crop habitats. These results indicate that crop‐adapted species, like honeybees, move to forage and concentrate on late‐season mass‐flowering crops at a time when flower availability in the landscape is limited, potentially alleviating competition for flower resources in non‐crop habitats. We found no evidence of pollinators moving from mass‐flowering crop to non‐crop habitats after crop bloom. Synthesis and applications: Our results confirm that increasing early‐season mass‐flowering crop cover dilutes wild pollinators in crop habitats during bloom. We find that dilution effects were absent late in the season. While mass‐flowering crop cultivation alone is unlikely to be sufficient for maintaining pollinators, as part of carefully designed diverse crop rotations or mixtures combined with the preservation of permanent non‐crop habitats, it might provide valuable supplementary food resources for pollinators in temperate agroecosystems, particularly later in the season when alternative flower resources are scarce.

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“…Indeed, in the ongoing human-driven landscape homogenisation (i.e., diminishing resource quality) and natural habitat destruction (i.e., diminishing resource quantity [17]), bee populations face serious challenges to find suitable feeding and nesting resources [18][19][20]. Besides, human activities also influence natural bee-pathogen dynamics, either increasing or decreasing pathogen prevalence, typically through the global trade of commercial pollinators [21] and landscape modification [22]. Such human-disturbed host-pathogen dynamics also contribute to bee population decline [23], since bees suffer from taxonomically diverse pathogens and parasites [24] that play crucial roles in shaping their communities [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree-dimensional resources: hedgerow and orchard pollen for bumble bees

Gekière,

Michel,

Semay

et al. 2023

Comptes Rendus. Chimie

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Intensive landscape modifications have led to the loss of floral resources, partly in early spring when bumble bee queens need suitable pollen to establish their brood. Adequate floral resources are also crucial to mitigate parasite infection, a stress compromising reproductive success. Among early blooming trees, willows represent an important and highly suitable pollen resource. Alas, riparian areas and their associated willows have been declining. In this study, we found that hedgerow and orchard pollen were at least as suitable as willow pollen for bumble bee survival and microcolony development. Moreover, orchard pollen seemed an interesting candidate to help reduce parasite infection, but unlikely due to its flavonoids. Such non-willow trees could then be favoured in agri-environmental schemes implemented in bee conservation strategies, but pollen chemicals underlying beneficial effects remain to be determined.

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The impact of mass-flowering crops on bee pathogen dynamics

Cited by 4 publications

References 109 publications

Forest and grassland habitats support pollinator diversity more than wildflowers and sunflower monoculture

Forest and grassland habitats support pollinator diversity more than wildflowers and sunflower monoculture

Early‐season mass‐flowering crop cover dilutes wild bee abundance and species richness in temperate regions: A quantitative synthesis

Tree-dimensional resources: hedgerow and orchard pollen for bumble bees

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