Open AccessJournal Article
Distribution and forage use of exotic bumblebees in South Island, New Zealand
Dave Goulson,Michael E Hanley +1 more
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Results provide support for the hypothesis that the loss of flower-rich meadows, particularly those containing populations of Fabaceae species with long corollae, is responsible for the decline of bumblebee species across Europe.Abstract:
The rapid decline in bumblebee populations within Europe has been linked to habitat loss through agricultural intensification, and a consequential reduction in the availability of preferred forage plants. The successful introduction of four European Bombus species to the South Island of New Zealand from England (in 1885 and 1906) provides an opportunity to determine how important different forage plants (also introduced from the U.K.) are to two severely threatened European bumblebee species (Bombus ruderatus and B. subterraneus). In January 2003 we conducted a survey of bumblebee populations across 70 sites in the central and southern South Island, recording which plant species were being used as pollen and nectar sources for each Bombus species. All four bumblebee species showed a clear preference for plants of European origin. Only B. terrestris, the most polylectic species, was recorded feeding on native plant species. The longer-tongued bumblebees, B. hortorum, B. ruderatus, and B. subterraneus, foraged predominantly on just two plant species; Trifolium pratense for both nectar and pollen, and Echium vulgare for nectar. These plant species are now declining in abundance in the U.K. Our results provide support for the hypothesis that the loss of flower-rich meadows, particularly those containing populations of Fabaceae species with long corollae, is responsible for the decline of bumblebee species across Europe. Comparison with earlier bumblebee surveys suggests that long-tongued bumblebees may also be in decline in New Zealand, particularly B. subterraneus which is now very localised and scarce.read more
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Causes of rarity in bumblebees
TL;DR: Overall, Fabaceae appear to be the major pollen source for most bumblebee species, but long-tongued, late emerging species such as Bombus ruderatus, Bombus humilis and Bombus subterraneus specialize heavily in gathering pollen from Fabaceae, and this group of bumblebees species have all declined.
Journal ArticleDOI
Multiple stressors on biotic interactions: how climate change and alien species interact to affect pollination
Oliver Schweiger,Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,Riccardo Bommarco,Thomas Hickler,Philip E. Hulme,Stefan Klotz,Ingolf Kühn,Mari Moora,Anders Nielsen,Ralf Ohlemüller,Theodora Petanidou,Simon G. Potts,Petr Pyšek,Jane C. Stout,Martin T. Sykes,Thomas Tscheulin,Montserrat Vilà,Gian-Reto Walther,Catrin Westphal,Catrin Westphal,Marten Winter,Marten Winter,Martin Zobel,Josef Settele +23 more
TL;DR: It is found that both climate change and alien species will ultimately lead to the creation of novel communities, and certain interactions may no longer occur while there will also be potential for the emergence of new relationships.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quantifying and comparing bumblebee nest densities in gardens and countryside habitats
Juliet L. Osborne,Andrew P. Martin,Chris R. Shortall,A. D. Todd,Dave Goulson,Mairi E. Knight,Roddy J. Hale,Roy A. Sanderson +7 more
TL;DR: The National Bumblebee Nest Survey (NBPS) as discussed by the authors was a structured survey carried out by 719 volunteers in the UK during early summer 2004, where the surveyors used a defined protocol to record the presence or absence of bumblebee nests in prescribed areas of gardens, short grassland, long grassland and woodland, and along woodland edge, hedgerows and fence lines.
Journal ArticleDOI
Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees
Pierre Rasmont,Markus Franzén,Thomas Lecocq,Alexander Harpke,Stuart K. Roberts,Jacobus C. Biesmeijer,Leopoldo Castro,Björn Cederberg,Libor Dvorak,Úna Fitzpatrick,Yves Gonseth,Eric Haubruge,Gilles Mahé,Aulo Manino,Denis Michez,Johann Neumayer,Frode Ødegaard,Juho Paukkunen,T. Pawlikowski,Simon G. Potts,Menno Reemer,Josef Settele,Jakub Straka,Oliver Schweiger +23 more
TL;DR: In this paper, maps depicting potential risks of climate change for bumble bees are shown together with informative summary statistics, ecological background information and a picture of each European species, thanks to the EU FP7 project STEP, the authors gathered over one million bumblebee records from all over Europe.
Journal ArticleDOI
Breeding system, pollinator choice and variation in pollen quality in British herbaceous plants
TL;DR: How the close relationship between pollen quality and bumblebee attraction may have important benefits for plant reproductive success is discussed, and how the disruption of this mutualism can have detrimental consequences for plant and pollinator alike is shown.
References
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Phenological differences in pollinator visitation, pollen deposition and seed set in the sticky catchfly, Viscaria vulgaris
TL;DR: Late-produced seeds germinated less well than early ones, with a success similar to self-fertilized seeds, suggesting a higher proportion of self-pollination among lateproduced seeds.
Journal Article
An assessment of the contribution of honey bees (apis mellifera) to weed reproduction in new zealand protected natural areas
TL;DR: Although honey bees may be important pollinators of some weeds, they probably do not contribute substantially to weed problems.