1,721,163 research outputs found
Landscape composition modifies pollinator densities, foraging behavior and yield formation in faba beans
No full textWildlife-friendly management practices promote pollinators and pollination services in agricultural landscapes. Wild bee densities are driven by landscape composition, as they benefit from an increased availability of nesting and foraging resources at landscape scale. However, effects of landscape composition on bee foraging decisions and consequences for crop pollination have rarely been studied. We investigated, how landscape composition affects bee densities and foraging behavior in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) fields and how this impacts faba bean yield. We recorded densities and nectar robbing behavior of honeybees, long- tongued and short-tongued bumblebees in faba bean fields in eleven landscapes with varying landscape composition (e.g. land cover of oilseed rape, faba bean and semi-natural habitats). Moreover, we assessed yield components of faba beans via pollinator exclusion experiments. Increasing covers of faba bean and semi-natural habitats positively influenced bumblebee densities, while high oilseed rape covers negatively affected short-tongued bumblebee densities in bean fields. Increased faba bean covers enhanced the proportion of nectar-robbing short-tongued bumblebees. The number of beans per pod was increased by insect pollination, while the number of pods was decreased; these effects however depended on variety. Landscape composition interacted with bee densities in shaping yield components in V. faba. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering landscape management to maximize crop yields, as shown for the case of faba beans. The composition of agricultural landscape can modulate bee densities in crop fields, bees` foraging behavior and pollination services
Foraging trip duration of bumblebees in relation to landscape-wide resource availability
No full textEffects of mass-flowering resources on minor crop pollination services: Facilitation or competition?
No full textStable pollinator communities in different white clover populations suggest potential win-win scenarios for crop yield and biodiversity
Full text linkhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschunghttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 German Research Foundatio
Effects of mass-flowering resources on minor crop pollination services: Facilitation or competition?
No full textContrasting effects of past and present mass-flowering crop cultivation on bee pollinators shaping yield components in oilseed rape
No full textThe cultivation of mass-flowering crops (MFC) can promote pollinators by providing floral resources. However, there is missing knowledge about the effect of MFC cultivation history on bees and their pollination services in agricultural landscapes. We investigated how bee densities in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) (OSR) fields were affected by past (cultivation area of the preceding three years) and current MFC area coverages in the surrounding landscape. Moreover, we analyzed how insect pollination, its possible interaction with the plants` pod numbers and MFC covers influence yield components of individual OSR plants and calculated yields (t/ha). To test this, we conducted pollinator surveys and a pollinator exclusion experiment in one oilseed rape field in 17 agricultural landscapes in Germany. We found that wild bee densities were positively affected by past MFC covers and negatively impacted by current OSR covers, indicating enhanced pollinator populations due to previous MFC cultivation and contemporary pollinator dilution. In contrast, honeybees showed opposite responses to past and present MFC cultivation. Furthermore, seed weight per plant of open pollinated plants was positively correlated with past MFC covers. Pollinator exclusion decreased the seed number per pod and increased thousand-seed weight, while yields were unaffected. Pod number interacted with insect pollination in shaping yields, such that pollinator exclusion led to a steeper increase of yield with higher pod numbers. Insect pollination compensated for low pod numbers by increasing the plants` seed number per pod and ultimately yields. Our findings demonstrate a beneficial effect of high MFC covers in the past on bee densities and potentially yield components in the current year. Our study highlights the need for further research on how past and present landscape composition in terms of MFC cultivation interactively affect pollinator communities and their pollination services in agricultural landscapes
Bumblebees experience landscapes at different spatial scales: possible implications for coexistence
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