Population Growth and Insecticide Residues of Honey Bees in Tropical Agricultural Landscapes

Damayanti Buchori,Windra Priawandiputra,Midzon Johannis,Dewi Sartiami,Akhmad Rizali

doi:10.3390/d12010001

Damayanti Buchori, Windra Priawandiputra + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/d12010001

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Journal: Diversity	Publication Date: Dec 18, 2019
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Bogor Agricultural University, University of Brawijaya

Abstract

Global decline of pollinators, especially bees, has been documented in many countries. Several causes such as land-use change and agricultural intensification are reported to be the main drivers of the decline. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of land use on honey bee and stingless bee populations. Research was conducted in Bogor and Malang to compare between two different geographical areas. Managed bees such as honey bees (Apis cerana and A. mellifera) and stingless bees (Tetragonula laeviceps) were investigated to examine the effect of agricultural intensification. Field experiments were conducted by placing beehives in selected habitats (i.e., beekeeper gardens, forests areas, and agriculture areas). Population growth and neonicotinoid residue analysis of bees in different hive locations were measured to study the effect of habitat type. Population growth of bees represents the forager abundance and colony weight. Based on the analysis, we found that habitat type affected forager abundance and colony weight of honey bees (p < 0.05), although the patterns were different between species, region, as well as season. Forests could support the stingless bee colony better than agriculture and home garden habitats. Insecticide (neonicotinoid) was barely recorded in both honey bees and stingless bees.

Highlights

In the agroecosystem, pollinators are a pivotal component of biodiversity that provide an important ecosystem service through crop pollination [1] and increasing fruit set [2]
We found that habitat type and affected the forager abundance and colony weight bees (P < 0.05), the patterns different between and colony weight of bees
We found that habitat type and season affected the forager abundance and colony weight of bees (p < 0.05), the patterns were different between species and region

Summary

Introduction

Pollinators are a pivotal component of biodiversity that provide an important ecosystem service through crop pollination [1] and increasing fruit set [2]. Pollinators can be used as indicators of ecosystem health because of their sensitiveness to environmental stressors [3], for instance, the negative impacts of pesticide application [4]. There is growing concern relating to declines found in pollinators around the world [5]. In Europe and the US, a decline in wild bee species richness has been recorded, where the declining trends are in the abundance of honey bees (Apis mellifera) and a small number of wild pollinators [6]. Investigation needs to be undertaken into the scale, magnitude, and causes of the decline and the effects on pollination services

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