Bombus terrestris in a mass‐flowering pollinator‐dependent crop: A mutualistic relationship? (article)
dc.contributor.author | Knapp, J | |
dc.contributor.author | Becher, MA | |
dc.contributor.author | Rankin, C | |
dc.contributor.author | Twiston-Davies, G | |
dc.contributor.author | Osborne, JL | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-01-03T11:30:51Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2018-12-18 | |
dc.description.abstract | Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) rely on an abundant and diverse selection of floral resources to meet their nutritional requirements. In farmed landscapes, mass‐flowering crops can provide an important forage resource for bumblebees, with increased visitation from bumblebees into mass‐flowering crops having an additional benefit to growers who require pollination services. This study explores the mutualistic relationship between Bombus terrestris L. (buff‐tailed bumblebee), a common species in European farmland, and the mass‐flowering crop courgette (Cucurbita pepo L.) to see how effective B. terrestris is at pollinating courgette and in return how courgette may affect B. terrestris colony dynamics. By combining empirical data on nectar and pollen availability with model simulations using the novel bumblebee model Bumble‐BEEHAVE, we were able to quantify and simulate for the first time, the importance of courgette as a mass‐flowering forage resource for bumblebees. Courgette provides vast quantities of nectar to ensure a high visitation rate, which combined with abundant pollen grains, enables B. terrestris to have a high pollination potential. While B. terrestris showed a strong fidelity to courgette flowers for nectar, courgette pollen was not found in any pollen loads from returning foragers. Nonetheless, model simulations showed that early season courgette (nectar) increased the number of hibernating queens, colonies, and adult workers in the modeled landscapes. Synthesis and applications. Courgette has the potential to improve bumblebee population dynamics; however, the lack of evidence of the bees collecting courgette pollen in this study suggests that bees can only benefit from this transient nectar source if alternative floral resources, particularly pollen, are also available to fulfill bees’ nutritional requirements in space and time. Therefore, providing additional forage resources could simultaneously improve pollination services and bumblebee populations. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 18 December 2018 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1002/ece3.4784 | |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | NE/J014893/1 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.grantnumber | CP118 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/35327 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Wiley for European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) | en_GB |
dc.relation.url | https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.823 | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | en_GB |
dc.subject | Bombus terrestris | en_GB |
dc.subject | Cucurbita | en_GB |
dc.subject | mass‐flowering crop | en_GB |
dc.subject | pollen diet | en_GB |
dc.subject | pollination | en_GB |
dc.subject | pollinator populations | en_GB |
dc.title | Bombus terrestris in a mass‐flowering pollinator‐dependent crop: A mutualistic relationship? (article) | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2019-01-03T11:30:51Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 2045-7758 | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.description | The dataset associated with this article is in ORE at https://doi.org/10.24378/exe.823 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Ecology and Evolution | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2018-11-05 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2018-11-05 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2019-01-02T16:46:45Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | AM | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2019-01-03T11:30:58Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.