Abstract
Simple SummarySouthern Poland represents one of the most diverse habitats for bumblebees (Bombus sp.); however, little is known about the abundance and distribution of many insect species in this region. Bumblebees are important for crop and wildflower pollination in different temperate latitudes because many plant species are only pollinated by them. Studies were conducted in natural and semi-natural habitats in southern Poland during the years 2003–2006 and compared with material collected from 2017–2020. During this eight-year-long study, more than 6214 bumblebee specimens of 25 species were found in the Małopolska Upland. The most frequently observed bumblebee species were: Bombus pascuorum, B. lapidarius, B. pratorum, and B. lucorum. The low-numbered bumblebees were: Bombus humilis, B. pomorum, B. veteranus, B. muscorum, and B. semenoviellus. There were also four rarely found species: Bombus confuses, B. ruderatus, B. soroeensis, and B. jonellus.Bumblebees are an important insect group occurring in different land ecosystems, but the number of these species has declined dramatically across Poland as well as in Europe in recent years. The fragmentation of bumblebee habitats influences the abundance and richness in community composition and trophic and competitive interactions. During the years 2003–2006 and 2017–2020, we studied the diversity and distribution of bumblebee species in two natural (boron-mixed Vaccinio-Piceetea and riparian forest Querco-Fagetea) and two semi-natural (segetal-ruderal Stellarietea mediae ruderal Artemisietea vulgaris) habitats in southern Poland. For that, we evaluated how habitats as well as local flowering communities influenced bumblebees’ abundance, richness, and community composition in 16 sites (which are located in four parks). Bumblebee communities responded to environmental factors in different ways according to the type of habitat. Vegetation factors were the most important drivers of bumblebee community structures. Forests showed the lowest bumblebee abundance, richness, and diversity, and the highest dominance levels of these parameters were found in the open ruderal-segetal habitats. The meadows from the Molinio arrhenatheretea class were characterized by bumblebee communities with a more complex structure. Species diversity was positively correlated with open ruderal-segetal habitats, and negatively with mixed forest cover, while abundance was positively correlated with forest cover. Studies like this are necessary to anticipate the impact of habitat fragmentation on bumblebee decline.
Highlights
Bumblebees play an important role as pollinators of many crop plants and wildflowers
These sites were located in four parks: Swietokrzyski National Park (SNP), Cisowsko-Orłowinski Landscape Park (COLP), Checinsko-Kielecki Landscape Park (ChKLP), and Nadnidzianski Landscape Park (NLP)
We registered a total of 1370 bumblebee specimens in Cisowsko-Orłowinski Landscape Park and 498 specimens in Swietokrzyski National Park between 2003–2006
Summary
Bumblebees play an important role as pollinators of many crop plants and wildflowers. More than 250 species are known within the genus Bombus to occur on all continents except. In Central Europe, 40 species have been described, while in Poland, there are 37 bumblebee species, including 10 species of cuckoo bees (Psithyrus), and 4 species are sporadically encountered or regionally extinct [4,5,6]. Many bumblebee species are still poorly known [7,8,9], and the causes of extinction of bumblebees have been debated for over 60 years [3,9,10]. All bumblebee species are protected throughout Poland, but their numbers are decreasing every year [4]
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