Pollinating animals in the urban environment

Abstract

Urban environments contain habitats for flowering plants and their pollinating animal species. It is, however, unclear how the urban matrix influences plant-pollinator processes. We recorded plant diversity, floral abundance, flower visitor diversity and plot visits at 89 plant patches within the city of Zürich. The urban matrix surrounding each site was analyzed for the landscape metrics edge density and the extent of green area up to 200 m radius. The correlation between edge density and bee diversity and visitation frequency varied over the entire spatial range, while the correlation for syrphid diversity and visitation frequency levelled off at 80 m radius. In contrast, the correlations with green area were more consistent, with bee diversity levelling off after 100 m, while syrphid diversity and visits continued to increase. The variation in the correlation of bee visits was partly accounted for by the large contribution of honeybees. Plant diversity significantly affected bee diversity and visits, and syrphid visits. Floral abundance had a positive effect on bee visits and bee diversity. Syrphid diversity had a negative interaction with floral abundance and green area. The extent of green area increased bee diversity and visits, and syrphid visits, while edge density reduced visitation by bees. This study showed that plant diversity and floral abundance in urban environments promote pollinating flower visitors. The extent of green area and edge density are important urban mosaic attributes that affect pollinator abundance and visitation frequency at multiple scales.