The Importance of Field-Margin Location for Maintenance of Food Niches for Pollinators

Denisow, Bożena; Wrzesień, Małgorzata

doi:10.1515/jas-2015-0002

Cited by 18 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This ob-servation is in agreement with earlier reports showing the predominance of perennials in vegetation developed on people-made habitats (e.g. Denisow & Wrzesień, 2015). In the opinion of many authors, perennials provide multi-seasonal sources of nectar and pollen, they bloom over a long period, i.e.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Calamagrostis epigejos, Bromus tectorum, Artemisia vulgaris. These are highly competitive species, which are recognised as restricting the diversity of flowering bee species, for example on field margins (Denisow & Wrzesień, 2015). Using the multivariate ordination models and Ellenberg's indicator values adapted for Polish conditions by Zarzycki et al (2002), we documented heterogeneity of the flora across railway embankments by both traffic volume and microhabitats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

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Railway embankments - a refuge areas for food flora, and pollinators in agricultural landscape

Wrzesień

Jachuła

Denisow

2016

Journal of Apicultural Science

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A b s t r a c t In a modern agricultural landscape the assurance of food resources is a key issue in the maintaince and control of food niche for pollinators. In the present study we evaluated bee forage flora composition and diversity within railway embankments located in the agricultural landscape, SE Poland. We also analysed the abundance of pollinators that use food resources along railway embankments and recognized insect visitors preference for selected plant species. Railway embankments represent valuable refuge areas for bee forage flora (307 species, i.e. 76.1% of total flora) and pollinators (in total 4172 insect visits from 9 taxonomic groups). However, the richness and abundance of bee forage flora significantly differed between types of the railway distinguished by traffic volume. The highest diversity of bee forage flora is noted along the railway with intermediate traffic volume. Approx. 25% and 40% less bee forage species was identified along railways with low and high traffic volume. Likewise, bee forage flora differed considerably between microhabitat types, i.e. top vs. slope vs. bottom of the embankment. Providing support (e.g. mowing) seems to be an important management type in order to strengthen the native bee forage flora particularly on railway embankments along low and high traffic volume tracks. Such activity is crucial to counteract the spread of aggressive non-forage species (e.g. Calamagrostis epigejos, Artemisia vulgaris, Phragmites communis) and invasive species (e.g. Bunias orientalis, Solidago gigantea).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Railway embankments - a refuge areas for food flora, and pollinators in agricultural landscape

Wrzesień

Jachuła

Denisow

2016

Journal of Apicultural Science

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“…In this study, we used the Ellenberg's indicator values (soil moisture, N content, pH) to assess the habitat conditions that are associated with particular types of plant communities. These indicators are widely used to describe habitat conditions and changes and are considered by many authors to be the most important factors determining wet grassland species composition [53,[61][62][63][64]. Presumably, the changes in moisture conditions documented for our study area induced changes in the vegetation and encouraged the development of plant communities of the Filipendulion alliance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Conservation status and trends in the transformation of Molinia meadows in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site, SE Poland

2017

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The aim of this study was to provide a phytosociological and ecological characterization of meadow communities in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site (SE Poland), assess the trends in their transformation, and indicate the major threats impacting on their conservation. The study was conducted in 2015-2016. Three types of meadow communities were distinguished (alliances Molinion, Arrhenatherion, Filipendulion), due to the absence of the species characteristic for associations. The species richness noted per relevé differed significantly between the types of meadows (Kruskal-Wallis test: H = 21.65, p < 0.05). The highest floristic biodiversity (H' = 2.99) was noted for the meadow patches classified as in the Molinion alliance and the lowest (H' = 2.50) was found for the patches from the Filipendulion alliance. Mean values of the ecological indicators (F, R, N) differed between the meadow communities. The greatest disparity was noted for the mean values of the soil moisture indicator (from 6.42 to 7.45). Patches classified in the Filipendulion alliance were developed on the wettest soil substratum, whereas the patches classified in the Arrhenatherion alliance were predominant on a relatively dry substratum. The abandonment of traditional management practices (grazing, mowing) has contributed to transformation of the Molinia meadows, disappearance of characteristic species and succession of shrubs. The Molinia meadow habitat should be conserved by improvement of protection measures (appropriate mowing regime and removal of biomass) to conserve a high species richness and the rare and protected plant species.

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“…The large share of Asteraceae among the high-value bee plants was revealed in our inventory. Similarly, Asteraceae predominated among the nectar and pollen plants in road verges in Denmark [18] and on field margins in Poland [22]. Asteraceae are recognized as valuable bee plants due to the high value of nectar and pollen [26].…”

Section: Food Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First and foremost, the biggest problem is the lack of good data on bee flora distributions and abundance. In spite of the growing interest in the role and function of linear structures [15,22,23], the bee forage flora on railway embankments and road verges remains insufficiently explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and abundance of bee forage flora across an agricultural landscape – railway embankments vs. road verges

Wrzesień

Denisow

2016

Acta Soc Bot Pol

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In this study, we evaluated if railway embankments and road verges create refuge habitats for bee flora across agricultural landscape. The survey was conducted in 2009-2012, in the Lublin Province, SE Poland. Data on the bee forage flora were obtained while making floristic charts along 60 transect plots × 300 m, with a total length of 18 000 m, for each type of linear structure. Forage bee flora was compared with respect to species richness, diversity, and evenness indices. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to characterize relationship between species composition and environmental variables. The bee forage species richness and abundance were significantly greater on railway embankments than on road verges. The composition of species varied considerably; the number of bee forage species common to both habitats was only approximately 38% in entire data set. Most good-value bee forage species were recorded along the embankments of railways with an intermediate traffic volume. Bee forage species diversity benefits from the location of habitat elements (forests or meadows), primarily if the distance is <50 m. The lack of dense patches of valuable bee forage species in the road verges was related to the high density of non-nectariferous graminoids. Our results demonstrate how the value of man-made areas in an agricultural ecosystem can vary with respect to floral resources across the landscape, suggesting that it is inappropriate to generalize about agricultural systems as a whole without first addressing differences among habitats.

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The Importance of Field-Margin Location for Maintenance of Food Niches for Pollinators

Cited by 18 publications

References 31 publications

Railway embankments - a refuge areas for food flora, and pollinators in agricultural landscape

Railway embankments - a refuge areas for food flora, and pollinators in agricultural landscape

Conservation status and trends in the transformation of Molinia meadows in the Łąki w Komborni Natura 2000 site, SE Poland

Distribution and abundance of bee forage flora across an agricultural landscape – railway embankments vs. road verges

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