Plant Pollinator Research Articles

Trends and gaps in the study of fire effects on plant–animal interactions in Brazilian ecosystems

AbstractPlant–animal interactions are pervasive in terrestrial ecosystems. They hold relevant ecological information for guiding biodiversity conservation and restoration practices. Despite plant–animal interactions being particularly sensitive to disturbance, the knowledge about how fire, a remarkable driver of changes in ecosystem structure and functioning, affects these relationships is still limited. In this sense, the assessment of how studies investigate the fire effects on plant–animal interactions through a systematic review proves to be relevant to guide future research agenda. In this study, we reviewed studies regarding the effects of fire on plant–animal interactions conducted in Brazil, which hosts many different fire‐prone and fire‐sensitive ecosystems and harbours several plant and animal species. Supported by an integrative database, we summarized the main goals, methodologies, and taxonomic groups used in studies addressing the effects of fire on plant–animal interactions and pointed out some shortfalls that future research should avoid and gaps that they shall fulfil. In sum, 39 studies published from 1995 to 2022 met our criteria of inclusion in the database. Most of them were conducted in Cerrado and mainly evaluated ant–plant or plant–pollinator interactions. In addition, studies were generally designed with inappropriate experimental approaches that commonly disregard relevant fire attributes that are important drivers of ecosystem structure and functioning. Altogether, our review shows that studies evaluating this topic present a geographic and taxonomic bias, which overlooks particular plant–animal interactions, and that we still have a superficial understanding of fire effects on plant–animal interactions in Brazilian ecosystems.

Flower-Insect Timed Counts (FIT Count): Protocol Adaptation and Preliminary Results in Brazil

FIT Count (Flower-Insect Timed Counts) is a citizen science initiative that seeks to monitor flower visitation by diverse pollinator groups, including bumblebees, stingless bees, honeybees, flies, hummingbirds, among others. The protocol entails determining a 50 x 50 cm plot area around a target plant species, photographing the plant and conducting a standardized 10-minute survey on this area to estimate the frequency of flower visits by different pollinator groups. Conducting FIT Counts in different habitats and locations produces data on the temporal and spatial dynamics of these interactions (Carvell 2022, UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme 2018). FIT Count methodology was originally developed by the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (PoMS) and has been used in the United Kingdom since 2017, with over 8,500 counts conducted to date. In 2021, the FIT Count application (app) was launched in the United Kingdom, and became available in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and some other European countries in 2022. After installation, users may select in which country the observations will be conducted and their preferred language, either English or the main native language of participating countries. The adaptation of the application for use by Brazilian citizen scientists involved not only the translation of the interface, but also relied on the expertise of a local team who helped select which plant species and pollinator groups would be appropriate and representative of biodiversity within the country (Fig. 1). The application is supported by a website that features a dedicated page for each country. Users can download the app on Google Play or App Store (Fig. 2). To allow the participation of non-experts, who generally are not familiar with taxonomy or species identification, the flower visitors are identified in general categories such as bumblebees and carpenter bees (grouped together), flies, and others (see Fig. 1), representing the main functional groups of pollinators. If a flower visitor cannot be identified, it should be classified as "other insect" or marked as "I don't know". Including the possibility of uncertainty in flower visitor identification was a suggestion of the Brazilian team for quality assurance during data collection. Currently, 834 flower visits have been counted by 15 participants, who performed 109 FIT Counts across Brazil as a pilot testing phase of the app. Two training workshops were held to disseminate the app, and an illustrated guide was published to help participants identify flower types and flower visitor groups (Koffler 2022). Nineteen plant species were monitored, but most flower-visits counted were on basil (Ocimum basillicum, n = 47) and false heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia, n = 33). The mean number of flower visitors per FIT Count was 8 (min = 0, max = 45). While most visits were performed by honeybees, participants also recorded visits by beetles, butterflies or moths, small insects, solitary bees, wasps and other insects. Next steps include assessing data quality and promoting strategic partnerships to further disseminate this citizen science initiative. For instance, quality control measures may include assessing whether participants perform the protocol steps according to instructions and whether plants and flower visitors are correctly identified and counted. Also, we are exploring the prospective implementation of the Darwin Core standard (Darwin Core Task Group 2009) along with the Plant-Pollinator Interactions vocabulary (Salim 2022) to standardize data description.

Existing flower preference metrics disagree on best plants for pollinators: which metric to choose?

Abstract When planting flowers for pollinator conservation, determining what flowers to plant is challenging because flower establishment can be time‐consuming and resource‐intensive. To alleviate this challenge, researchers have proposed methods to mathematically determine from plant–pollinator interaction data which flower species pollinators prefer, which can be defined as the likelihood that a flower species will be chosen by pollinators when offered on an equal basis with other flower species. We compared the flower lists produced by five sensible, peer‐reviewed preference metrics calculated from the same dataset and examined how each metric controls for flower abundance and relates to number of pollinator visits. We found little correlation between the ranked flower lists returned by each preference metric and that the metrics varied in the extent to which they controlled for abundance and provided different information than number of visits. The discordance among calculated flower preference lists is partially due to the different way each metric controls for abundance and suggests that these preference metrics need to be empirically tested and that more research is needed into the factors that impact pollinator floral preference. We discourage the use of three preference metrics (confidence interval, resource use and mass action hypothesis metrics), caution against the use of one (centrality metric) and recommend the use of the preference index metric due to its insensitivity to insufficient sampling, ease of use and the fact that it is not correlated with the number of pollinator visits.

AVIATION AT THE SERVICE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE USSR: BACKGROUND

The Soviet Union was the first country where chemical pollination and aerial sowing of agricultural crops were carried out at the state level. (Research purpose) The research purpose is a full review of the history of the aviation in the national economy of the USSR for almost 70 years; description of the aircraft for pollination of plants and control of harmful insects – "Humpback Horse", AP, An-2SH, M-15, light helicopters "Mi" and "Ka". (Materials and methods) Wrote a paper based on the collection and analysis of archival documents and memoir literature on this topic. (Results and discussion) They showed the fallacy of the decision on the use of jet aircraft for agricultural tasks. This idea arose in connection with the desire to switch everywhere to the use of kerosene instead of more expensive aviation gasoline, but the features of the turbojet engine turned out to be incompatible with the tasks of agricultural aircraft. They noted that the An–2 biplane was the most successful at the cost of use - from 1.2 rubles per hectare, which is noticeably cheaper compared to the M-15 and helicopters. It took about 10 years to create the aircraft, and it was used in agricultural aviation for more than 40 years. (Conclusions). We made a diagram of the aviation processing of fields and forests in 1932-1990 based on the results of the reports of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Three stages in the history of aviation agricultural work were identified: 1932-1952 – the stage of limited use due to insufficient funding, 1953-1985 - the stage of rapid growth in the volume of aircraft work; 1986-1990 – a sharp twofold decline in indicators due to the general economic crisis in the country, rising prices for chemicals and fuel, as well as the obsolescence of the fleet.

Urban Pollination Ecology

Pollination is an essential component of plant reproduction that is transformed by the novel environmental conditions in cities. We summarize patterns of urban plant reproduction and trace the mechanisms by which urban environments influence pollination, beginning at the level of the individual plant. We then progress through several processes unique to animal-pollinated plants, including plant–pollinator signaling, community-level effects, and emergent plant–pollinator interaction networks. Last, we review pollen movement and plant spatial mating networks. Despite a global signal of reduced pollination in urban, animal-pollinated plants, effects vary among studies, and the extent of pollen dispersal through a city remains difficult to predict. We highlight recent progress, as well as areas where new research will help crystallize our understanding of urban pollination. These advances have the potential to spur exciting new insights into network dynamics and pollen movement, and may ultimately inform the sustainable design of urban conservation and ecosystem services.

Can macroplastics affect riparian vegetation blooming and pollination? First observations from a temperate South-European river

Since plastics are a global growing concern that persists in nature, they threaten ecosystem conservation and human health. Particularly, pollination is one of the most important ecological services being pivotal to the ecosystem’s long-term functioning and human welfare. However, pollination is threatened by pesticides, urbanisation, habitat loss, and contaminants. As interactions between plastics and biota or ecosystem service remain neglected, the major challenge would be to research it. Our achievement was a first attempt to assess the effects of macroplastics on riparian vegetation and the ecosystem service of pollination. Here, (i) while investigating macroplastics entrapped by riparian vegetation, (ii) we propose the new field observation of the flower’s coverage by macroplastics. Then, (iii) we indirectly assessed the possible interaction between macroplastic litter and the ecosystem service of pollination. Finally, (iv) we performed a meta-analysis search to understand better how many studies were carried out on this topic. To achieve our aim, surveys of riverine macroplastic litter entrapped in riparian vegetation were carried out in the urban tract of the Aniene River. To assess if pollination was possibly reduced by macroplastics covering flowers, we observed the visitation of pollinators on flowers. Overall, we observed that flowers of riparian vegetation were covered by macroplastics, preventing them from being pollinated by insects, and pollination success (i.e., successful pollination) was potentially reduced to 81.4% by a factor of 18.6%. Our research highlights that macroplastics on vegetation indicate a new stress to plant reproduction, reducing blooming (i.e., flowering or flower production) and pollination. These recent observations urge new studies to evaluate how macroplastic litter accumulates and might affect ecosystem services in long-term research. Our findings could be of particular concern as pollination in agricultural crops and riverine habitats is central to human welfare as an ecosystem service. Considering that most global food crops depend on pollination by insects, crops and fruits (e.g., coffee, cocoa, apples) would not be present without the essential ecosystem service of pollination. Our findings highlight for the first time a new threat (i.e., macroplastic litter) to the blooming with possible implications for the pollination process.

Floral nectar production: what cost to a plant?

Floral nectar production is central to plant pollination, and hence to human wellbeing. As floral nectar is essentially a solution in water of various sugars, it is likely a valuable plant resource, especially in terms of energy, with plants experiencing costs/trade-offs associated with its production or absorption and adopting mechanisms to regulate nectar in flowers. Possible costs of nectar production may also influence the evolution of nectar volume, concentration and composition, of pollination syndromes involving floral nectar, and the production of some crops. There has been frequent agreement that costs of floral nectar production are significant, but relevant evidence is scant and difficult to interpret. Convincing direct evidence comes from experimental studies that relate either enhanced nectar sugar production (through repeated nectar removal) to reduced ability to produce seeds, or increased sugar availability (through absorption of additional artificial nectar) to increased seed production. Proportions of available photosynthate allocated by plants to nectar production may also indicate nectar cost. However, such studies are rare, some do not include treatments of all (or almost all) flowers per plant, and all lack quantitative cost-benefit comparisons for nectar production. Additional circumstantial evidence of nectar cost is difficult to interpret and largely equivocal. Future research should repeat direct experimental approaches that relate reduced or enhanced nectar sugar availability for a plant with consequent ability to produce seeds. To avoid confounding effects of inter-flower resource transfer, each plant should experience a single treatment, with treatment of all or almost all flowers per plant. Resource allocation by plants, pathways used for resource transfer, and the locations of resource sources and sinks should also be investigated. Future research should also consider extension of nectar cost into other areas of biology. For example, evolutionary models of nectar production are rare but should be possible if plant fitness gains and costs associated with nectar production are expressed in the same currency, such as energy. It should then be possible to understand observed nectar production for different plant species and pollination syndromes involving floral nectar. In addition, potential economic benefits should be possible to assess if relationships between nectar production and crop value are evaluated.

Low extinction risk in the flower fly fauna of northeastern North America

IntroductionFlower flies (Diptera: Syrphidae; also known as hoverflies) are important pollinators of wild and cultivated plants. Other pollinators such as bees have declined, and many flower flies in Europe and Chile have been documented to be threatened with extinction. The status of other flower fly faunas is currently unknown.Aims/MethodsWe assessed the rangewide conservation status of flower flies that occur in Northeastern North America where there is a diverse fauna of 323 native species. Over 150,000 records, drawn from a locality database compiled for a recently published field guide, additional museum records, recent field surveys, and citizen science records, informed the assessments.ResultsWe found that a minimum of 11 species are at risk of rangewide extinction, 267 have lower extinction risk, and 45 had insufficient data to assess. Our best estimate is that 4.0% of species are at risk, assuming data-insufficient species are at risk at the same rate as data sufficient species. The range for this estimate is 3.4–17.3% at risk, assuming that none or all data-insufficient species are at risk, respectively.DiscussionFactors causing extinction risk in the fauna we studied are poorly known, although habitat destruction likely explains the decline in one species. While at-risk species mostly have saprophagus or brood parasitic larvae, trophic relationships are confounded by phylogeny (the subfamilies Eristalinae and Microdontinae account for most saprophagus or brood parasitic species). The broad geographical ranges of most species likely contributed to the low rate of imperilment.Implications for insect conservationThe small percentage of at-risk flower flies in northeastern North America bodes well for the health of ecosystems there. The results contrast with the situation in Europe, underscoring geographic heterogeneity in flower fly conservation status.

Analysis of host plant availability and use by 2 species of soldier beetles (Coleoptera: Cantharidae) using community-gathered digital specimens

Abstract Digital specimens collected by community members are a largely untapped source of entomological data. By mining and curating data from photo observations uploaded to online community data repositories, researchers can utilize this wealth of information to address questions about predator–prey interactions, phenotypic variation within species, plant–pollinator interactions, and a host of other topics. We mined data from photo observations on the community science website iNaturalist to investigate patterns in host plant availability and affiliation by 2 species of soldier beetles, Chauliognathus marginatus (F.) and Chauliognathus pensylvanicus (De Geer). Chauliognathus marginatus was observed with white flowers more than expected based on their potential availability, while C. pensylvanicus was observed with yellow flowers over all other flower colors and more than expected based on their potential availability. Communities of flowers available to, and observed with, C. marginatus and C. pensylvanicus differed significantly at the family and genus levels. To our knowledge, this is the first study to utilize a dataset mined and curated from community science photo observations to address species-specific behavior and ecology questions. With appropriate study design and analytical methods, these types of data could prove invaluable in future investigations of a variety of entomological and ecological questions.

Pollinator competition and the structure of floral resources

The mutualism between plants and pollinators is built upon the trophic ecology of flowers and florivores. Yet the ecology of flowers‐as‐food is left implicit in most studies of plant–pollinator ecology, and it has been largely neglected in mainstream trophic ecology. This deficit is especially evident in an emerging issue of basic and applied significance: competition between pollinators for floral resources. In this synthesis, we start by exploring the notion of floral resource limitation upon which most studies concerning competition between pollinators are tacitly predicated. Both theoretical and empirical lines of evidence indicate that floral resource limitation must be understood as a complex ecological contingency; the question is not simply whether but when, where and in what regions of floral trait space resources are limiting. Based on this premise, we propose a framework for understanding floral resource availability in terms of temporal, spatial and functional structure. While this framework is conceptually intuitive, it is empirically and analytically demanding. We review existing methods for measuring and summarizing the multi‐dimensional structure of floral resources, highlight their strengths and weaknesses, and identify opportunities for future methods development. We then discuss the causal relationships linking floral resource structure to species coexistence, plant–pollinator community dynamics, and exogenous drivers like climate, land use, and episodic disturbances. In its role as both cause and effect, floral resource structure mediates the relationship between behavioral ecology, landscape ecology, and coexistence theory with respect to flowers and florivores. Establishing floral resource structure as an object of study and application will both shed light on basic questions of coexistence and guide management decisions concerning contentious issues such as the compatibility of apiculture with wild pollinator conservation and the appropriate use of floral enhancements in agri‐environment schemes.

Multiple interaction networks reveal that Lepidoptera larvae and adults prefer various host plants for diet and pollination.

Plant-Lepidoptera interactions are often studied using the pollination or herbivore networks only. Lepidoptera species are involved in two types of plant-insect interactions because they are herbivores as larvae and pollinators as adults. The study of entangled networks is critical, since the interaction of different networks can affect the overall network and community stability. Here, we studied the interaction of plants and Lepidoptera on the Yongxing Island, South China Sea. A plant-lepidopteran pollination network and a plant-lepidopteran herbivore network were built by using data from flower-pollinator and leaf-herbivore interactions. We then combined the two networks into a single network. We measured plant composition similarity within each sub-network and across sub-networks for Lepidoptera species. Our findings indicate that the plant-Lepidoptera pollination network and the herbivory network share significant proportions of Lepidoptera but small proportions of plant assemblages. The pollination network had higher nestedness and connectance than the herbivore network. Agrius convolvuli was the most specialized species, while Zizina otis had the highest species strength in the pollination network. Most Lepidoptera species were highly specialized in the herbivore network and their importance positively correlated across the two networks. Furthermore, there was no dietary composition similarity between the two networks for most Lepidoptera species. Our findings highlight the visible structural difference between the pollination and the herbivore networks. Adult Lepidoptera selects different plants for oviposition and feeding, a strategy that may benefit their reproduction and survival by sustaining adequate resources for their two life stages and the diversity of both plants and insects in oceanic island communities.

Making plant–pollinator data collection cheaper for restoration and monitoring

Abstract Wildflower plantings are a key tool for wild bee conservation, and plant–bee interaction data are frequently used in seed mix design to ensure that plantings provide sufficient resources for a diversity of bees. Plant–bee interaction data are also used in monitoring programmes to measure the success of bee‐supporting habitat. However, collecting plant–bee interaction data can be expensive and these data are not used by many seed mix design practitioners and monitoring programmes. Therefore, a crucial question is how does the conservation value of seed mixes vary as a function of the intensity of the data collection effort underpinning their design? We leverage a plant–bee interaction data set to ask how bee richness is expected to change when informed by different scenarios of reduced data collection effort and cost. From the original, large data set, we created subsets of data by randomly reducing (1) the number of specimens sampled, (2) the number of sites sampled, (3) the number of sampling days per site and (4) using data from a single, representative taxon (bumble bees). We ask whether seed mixes designed from these reduced data sets support comparable bee richness to the full data set, and for any reduction in cost. Reductions in the number of specimens sampled and the number of sampling days per site yield seed mixes that support comparable bee richness to the full data set. Reductions in the number of sites yielded seed mixes that support lower bee richness than the full data set. Using bumble bee interaction data only yields seed mixes that support lower bee richness than the full data set, especially when few plants are included in the mixes. Synthesis and applications. We recommend prioritizing broad spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage of plant–bee interaction data to guide cost‐effective seed mix design. Our results also provide guidance for practitioners designing programmes to monitor bee richness in restored habitat because plant–bee interaction data may be made cheaper by collecting fewer specimens per sampling event or collecting on fewer dates per site (as long as coverage of the full bee flight season is maintained).

Body mass decline in a Mediterranean community of solitary bees supports the size shrinking effect of climatic warming.

The long-known, widely documented inverse relationship between body size and environmental temperature ("temperature-size rule") has recently led to predictions of body size decline following current climatic warming ("size shrinking effect"). For keystone pollinators such as wild bees, body shrinking in response to warming can have significant effects on pollination processes but there is still little direct evidence of the phenomenon because adequate tests require controlling for confounding factors linked to climate change (e.g., habitat change). This paper assesses the shrinking effect in a community of solitary bees from well-preserved habitats in the core of a large nature reserve experiencing climatic warming without disturbances or habitat changes. Long-term variation in mean body mass was evaluated using data from 1704 individual bees (137 species, 27 genera, 6 families) sampled over 1990-2023. Climate warmed at a fast rate during this period, annual mean of daily maximum temperature increasing 0.069°C/year on average during 2000-2020. Changes in bee body mass verified expectations from the size shrinking effect. The mean individual body mass of the community of solitary bees declined significantly, irrespective of whether the analysis referred to the full species sample or only to the subset of species that were sampled in both the old (1990-1997) and recent (2022-2023) periods. On average, body mass declined ~0.7%·year-1 , or an estimated average cumulative reduction of ~20 mg per individual bee from 1990 to 2023. Proportional size reduction was greatest among large-bodied species, ranging from around -0.6%·year-1 for the smallest species to -0.9%·year-1 for the largest ones. Declining rate was steeper for cavity-nesting than ground-nesting species. The pollination and mating systems of bee-pollinated plants in the study region are probably undergoing significant alterations as a consequence of supra-annual decline in bee body mass.

Morphological trait evolution inSolanum(Solanaceae): Evolutionary lability of key taxonomic characters

AbstractSolanumis one of the world's largest and economically most important plant genera, including 1245 currently accepted species and several major and minor crops (e.g., tomato, potato, brinjal eggplant, scarlet eggplant, Gboma eggplant, lulo, and pepino). Here we provide an overview of the evolution of 25 key morphological traits for the major and minor clades of this giant genus based on stochastic mapping using a well‐sampled recently published phylogeny ofSolanum. The most evolutionarily labile traits (showing >100 transitions across the genus) relate to plant structure (growth form and sympodial unit structure), herbivore defence (glandular trichomes), pollination (corolla shape and colour), and dispersal (fruit colour). Ten further traits show evolutionary lability with 50–100 transitions across the genus (e.g., specialised underground organs, trichome structure, leaf type, inflorescence position and branching, stamen heteromorphism). Our results reveal a number of highly convergent traits inSolanum, including tubers, rhizomes, simple leaves, yellow corollas, heteromorphic anthers, dioecy, and dry fruits, and some unexpected pathways of trait evolution that could be explored in future studies. We show that informally named clades ofSolanumcan be morphologically defined by trait combinations providing a tool for identification and enabling predictive phylogenetic placement of unsampled species.

A Systematic review of flower-visiting insect community research on agricultural crops in Indonesia

Evolutionary forces have developed many types of insect-plant interactions over millennia, ranging from herbivory, which causes damage, to mutualism between plant pollinators. Pollinators are a very important part of the natural history of plant evolution. Plants have evolved distinguished characteristics of flowers that attract many types of insects. Other than pollinators, flower-visiting insects also consist of various insect groups. The aim of this research was to assess the breadth and depths of research on flower-visiting insects. The research was conducted using secondary data derived from various databases for the past 20 years that were accessed and searched with keywords related to flower-visiting insects. Overall, 135 articles were screened from various databases. Over 42% of research was done by focusing on the diversity of flower-visiting insects, while 19% focused on effectiveness toward productivity, 14% on the landscape, and the rest focused on behavior, pesticide, etc. Fifty-two percent of the research was mostly done on horticultural crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, while 44% was done on plantation plants-mostly dominated by oil palm research. From the biodiversity aspect, there were 8 orders of flower-visiting insects consisting of 54 families, 186 genera, and 186 species of insects. The flower-visiting insects that were found mostly belong to Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. Over 50% of flower-visiting insects are pollinators, while the rest are herbivores, predators, and parasitoids. Forty-eight percent of the pollinators studied are hymenopterans. Our results also found that 35 genera of pollinators are identified as generalist pollinators, while 3 genera are specialist pollinators, such as Elaeidobius (oil palm), Forcipomyia (cocoa), and Nodocnemis (snake fruit). Data analysis showed that pollinators are positively correlated with productivity and quality of crops. Increase in productivity due to pollinators range from 27% in coffee to 1900% in zucchini.

What evidence exists on the use of pollinator tools in agricultural landscapes: A systematic map protocol

Abstract The widespread decline of insect pollinators poses a conservation concern and threatens both the pollination of wild plants and crops. Primary drivers of pollinator decline are habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, which to a large extent result from agricultural intensification. Numerous tools have been developed to aid decision‐making relating to insect pollinators and pollination in agricultural landscapes. These tools provide valuable information for understanding the drivers of insect population changes in agricultural areas and projecting future population trends in response to various actions. However, there is currently no comprehensive list of available tools, and their usability (ease of use and acceptability for conducting tasks) for decision‐making purposes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand what tools have been designed, their commonalities and their suitability for different decision context, to ensure the effectiveness of pollinator‐friendly management and conservation actions. In this study, we present a systematic map methodology that will collate and catalogue relevant tools relating to insect pollinators and/or pollination in agricultural landscapes. We will conduct searches in bibliographic databases such as ‘Web of Science Core Collection’ and ‘Scopus’ using a tested search string. Additionally, we will manually search grey literature using web‐based engines (Google Scholar and ProQuest) and websites. After removing duplicates, the search results will be screened sequentially based on predetermined eligibility criteria, including title, abstract, and full text. The extracted data will provide metadata for mapping the usability of the tools, utilising descriptive tables, statistics and figures. Usability will be assessed across three categories: the tool itself, the user and the user‐context. The results from this mapping exercise can support researchers in synthesising progress in terms of pollinator‐related tools, and direct research and development efforts to bridge the identified gaps and shortcomings. It will also have significant implications for managers, stakeholders and policymakers, by providing guidance on existing tools and supporting informed tool choices.

The Effect of Honeybee for Increasing of Sunflower Productivity

This research was conducted at the fields in college of agricultural engineering sciences,/University of Duhok Kurdistan region-Iraq 2020-2021 during two seasons spring and fall, to determine the role of honeybees on the productivity of sunflower oil. selected two sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) varieties; Flame variety and Peredovik variety were cultivated. The results showed the superiority of pollinators’ treatment of cultivar Flame which gave higher value in some characteristics total Sunflowers head weight for both seasons, total productivity wet weight for both seasons, total productivity dry weight for both seasons, reached 797.6 gm.,5000 gm, and 3900gm., respectively. And so, its superiority in the high physical characteristics of sunflower productivity during the fall season reached; a percentage of oil ratio of 57%, oils density of 0.82, refractive index1.3713, oils viscosity of 6.62, and protein percentage of 30.44%. The significant differences between cultivars, and both two seasons, and significant differences between pollinator plants compared to non-pollinators of sunflower productivity by insects, refer to insects role especially honeybees in the amount of sunflowers productivity, and their characteristics.

Floral visitors of the muricizeiro Byrsonima verbascifolia (L.) rich in the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil

The muric tree (Byrsonima verbascifolia (L.) Rich) is a native fruit plant used by humans for various purposes, from edible fruits to the medicinal uses of its leaves, bark, and fruits. Bees are the main pollinators of wild and cultivated plants, and without pollination, there is no formation of fruits and seeds, so floral visitors perform ecosystem services in exchange for pollen, nectar, and oil. Muricizeiro offers pollen and oils to its floral visitors, which attracts several species of native bees to its inflorescences, mainly Centris and Epicharis bees, specialists in oil collection. Thus, the presence of muric trees close to the planting area can contribute to the pollination of the cultivated plants. The objective of this study was to survey floral visitors to muricizeiro in São Cristóvão. The work was carried out in the Emília Maria settlement in São Cristóvão, Sergipe, where the floral visiting bees of muricizeiro were captured with an entomological net, for ten days, in the morning and afternoon. Twelve bee species belonging to the Apidae and Halictidae families were collected, with the most abundant species being Euglossa chalybeata (38.41%) and Eulaema nigrita (25.42%). The presence of Eulaema nigrita is related to environmental changes during the implementation of agriculture. The specimens were deposited in the entomological collection of the IFS/Campus São Cristóvão.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) decrease the fitness of plants they pollinate.

Most flowering plants require animal pollination and are visited by multiple pollinator species. Historically, the effects of pollinators on plant fitness have been compared using the number of pollen grains they deposit, and the number of seeds or fruits produced following a visit to a virgin flower. While useful, these methods fail to consider differences in pollen quality and the fitness of zygotes resulting from pollination by different floral visitors. Here we show that, for three common native self-compatible plants in Southern California, super-abundant, non-native honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) visit more flowers on an individual before moving to the next plant compared with the suite of native insect visitors. This probably increases the transfer of self-pollen. Offspring produced after honeybee pollination have similar fitness to those resulting from hand self-pollination and both are far less fit than those produced after pollination by native insects or by cross-pollination. Because honeybees often forage methodically, visiting many flowers on each plant, low offspring fitness may commonly result from honeybee pollination of self-compatible plants. To our knowledge, this is the first study to directly compare the fitness of offspring resulting from honeybee pollination to that of other floral visitors.

Non‐neonicotinoid pesticides impact bumblebee activity and pollen provisioning

Abstract Bees are essential pollinators of crops and wild plants and their ability to forage and pollinate are key aspects of their behaviour. Bee populations are under threat, with the use of insecticides a contributing factor. Most research has focused on neonicotinoid insecticides and bee mortality, and little is known about impacts on bee foraging and delivery of pollination services. However, other insecticide classes, such as organophosphates and pyrethroids, are increasingly used globally, but little is known about how these widely used substances may impact bees, particularly non‐honeybees. We exposed bumblebee Bombus terrestris colonies to field‐relevant doses of a pyrethroid (lambda‐cyhalothrin) and an organophosphate (dimethoate) and investigated sublethal effects on behaviour at the individual and colony level, in addition to pollination service delivery under semi‐field conditions. We show, for the first time, that exposure to these chemicals impacts the activity and pollen provisioning of bumblebee Bombus terrestris audax colonies, while no short‐term effects on flower handling behaviour or pollination service delivery were detected. We found that colonies exposed to dimethoate were less active, with 67% fewer bees leaving the colony to forage than control colonies, and of those that returned, 92% fewer returned pollen provisions to the nest. Colonies exposed to lambda‐cyhalothrin did not differ in activity; however, 62% fewer of these bees returned with pollen provisions. Policy implications. These findings give important insights into how exposure to different classes of insecticides could impact bumblebee activity and their provision of pollen required for colony development. With a focus on neonicotinoids in terms of policy changes regarding insecticides and bees, we show that other insecticide classes should also be re‐examined in relation to their potential risks for pollinators. We confirm the need to improve risk assessment of insecticides to assess sublethal effects, include non‐honeybee species in risk assessment processes and also consider key behaviours such as foraging and interactions with plants.