Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Olivia M. Bernauer, Simon M. Tierney, James M. Cook
Summary: This study investigates the regional variation in native insects that visit and pollinate apple crops in Australia and evaluates their pollination efficiency and impact on fruit set. The research finds that introduced honey bees are the main visitors of apple flowers, but many insects do not carry apple pollen. Additionally, bees deposit more pollen during pollination compared to other insect taxa. Fruit set experiments confirm the importance of pollination for apple production, as insufficient pollination leads to lower fruit set. Pollination services are primarily provided by honey bees in one region, but in another region, native stingless bees also play a significant role.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
N. Leclercq, L. Marshall, T. Weekers, P. Basu, D. Benda, D. Bevk, R. Bhattacharya, P. Bogusch, A. Bontsutsnaja, L. Bortolotti, N. Cabirol, E. Calderon-Uraga, R. Carvalho, S. Castro, S. Chatterjee, M. De La Cruz Alquicira, J. R. de Miranda, T. Dirilgen, A. Dorchin, K. Dorji, B. Drepperr, S. Flaminio, J. Gailis, M. Galloni, H. Gaspar, M. W. Gikungu, B. A. Hatteland, I. Hinojosa-Diaz, L. Hostinska, B. G. Howlett, K. -L J. Hung, L. Hutchinson, R. O. Jesus, N. Karklina, M. S. Khan, J. Loureiro, X. Men, J. -M Molenberg, S. Mudri-Stojnic, P. Nikolic, E. Normandin, J. Osterman, F. Ouyang, A. S. Oygarden, L. Ozolina-Poles, N. Ozolss, A. Parra Saldivar, R. J. Paxton, T. Pitts-Singer, K. Poveda, K. Prendergast, M. Quaranta, S. F. J. Ready, S. Reinhardt, M. Rojas-Oropezaj, C. Ruiz, M. Rundlofar, A. Sade, C. Sandberg, F. Sgolastra, S. F. Shah, M. A. Shebl, V. Soon, D. A. Stanleym, J. Straka, P. Theodorou, E. Tobajas, J. L. Vaca-Uribe, A. Veraaz, C. A. Villagra, M. -K Williams, M. Wolowski, T. J. Woodn, Z. Yan, Q. Zhang, N. J. Vereecken
Summary: An essential prerequisite to safeguard pollinator species is characterisation of the multifaceted diversity of crop pollinators and identification of the drivers of pollinator community changes across biogeographical gradients. In this study, the researchers investigated diversity drivers for bee species in commercial apple orchards across different countries and biomes. The study revealed dissimilarity among biogeographical zones but also shared traits due to habitat filtering caused by intensive crop production. The presence of herbaceous, uncultivated open areas and organic management practices were associated with increased wild bee diversity.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maureen L. L. Page, Neal M. M. Williams
Summary: Introduced species can have cascading effects on ecological communities, but their indirect impacts are rarely studied. This study investigated the indirect effects of honey bee introductions on pollination and found that increased honey bee abundance indirectly decreased pollination by reducing nectar and pollen availability and competitively excluding native bee visits.
Article
Ecology
Maureen L. Page, Neal M. Williams
Summary: Human-mediated species introductions provide real-time experiments in studying how communities respond to interspecific competition. This study investigates the impact of introduced honey bees on native bees' visitation patterns, pollen diets, and floral resource availability. The results show that honey bee competition leads to decreased floral resources and alters native bees' visitation behavior, highlighting the importance of floral resource preservation in mitigating negative impacts of honey bee competition.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Young-Nam Kim, Brett Robinson, Stephane Boyer, Hongtao Zhong, Keum-Ah Lee, Yong Bok Lee, Nicholas Dickinson
Summary: Exotic lumbricid earthworms in New Zealand have replaced native megascolecid species in agricultural pastures, where native earthworms are now limited to small fragments of native vegetation. New pasture replacement methods have provided an opportunity for native earthworms to colonise pastures. Reclaiming native earthworm habitat is critical for protecting diversity and sustaining New Zealand's unique soil ecosystem services, but there have been no studies related to this. A mesocosm experiment found that both native and exotic earthworms modified the physicochemical properties of sheep-grazed pasture soil, but the impacts of native species were significantly different in some aspects. This coexistence of native and exotic earthworm communities in agricultural pastures appears to be realistic and beneficial for conservation and dairy production. Further research may reveal additional benefits to soil quality attributable to native earthworms.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Joshua J. Puhlick, Ivan J. Fernandez, Jay W. Wason
Summary: The presence of European earthworms in Northern Maine forests could disrupt ecosystem dynamics by altering soil properties and reducing carbon stocks. Areas with earthworms had significantly lower soil carbon stocks, and management actions should be taken to prevent the introduction of earthworms into unaffected areas.
Article
Ecology
Scott R. Mitchel, Sandra J. DeBano, Mary M. Rowland, Skyler Burrows
Summary: This study conducted over two years in a riparian restoration project in the Pacific Northwest revealed the importance of shrubs, particularly willow, wax currant, and black hawthorn, for the diversity of bees in spring. Planting bee-friendly shrubs can not only provide forage for a diverse community of pollinators but also improve stream health by shading and stabilizing banks, achieving multiple restoration goals with limited funding.
RESTORATION ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Agustin Saez, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Marcelo A. Aizen, Carolina L. Morales, Anna Traveset, Grecia S. de Groot, Reto Schmucki
Summary: Phenological overlap between crop flowering and pollinators significantly affects pollination and fruit production, highlighting the importance of considering the seasonal aspect of plant-pollinator mutualism in crop management.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Alyssa B. Stewart, Carolina Diller, Michele R. Dudash, Charles B. Fenster
Summary: The evolution of floral traits is linked to selection for increased pollination efficiency. Our study found that four floral character states are important in promoting precise pollen placement on different pollinators.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Giovanni Tamburini, Guillermo Aguilera, Erik Ockinger
Summary: Managing agricultural landscapes is crucial for balancing production goals and environmental challenges. Grasslands outperform crop fields in providing ecosystem services multifunctionality. Increased grassland cover in the landscape positively influences the provision of multiple ecosystem services.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Benito Cortes-Rivas, Cecilia Smith-Ramirez, Victor Hugo Monzon, Jose Neiva Mesquita-Neto
Summary: Chile is the most important global producer of fresh blueberries during wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere. Some native bee species in Chile, especially those with sonication behavior like Cadeguala occidentalis, can provide efficient pollination service to highbush blueberry crops.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST ENTOMOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Mohsen Jamali, Esmaeil Bakhshandeh, Mohammad Yaghoubi Khanghahi, Carmine Crecchio
Summary: This study examined the potential environmental impacts of wheat residues burning on soil quality in Iran and Italy over the last 50 years. The results showed an increase in global warming potential in Iran and a decrease in Italy, with nitrogen being the main component of nutrient losses in both countries.
Article
Plant Sciences
A. Costa, M. More, A. N. Sersic, A. A. Cocucci, M. E. Drewniak, J. V. Izquierdo, A. Coetzee, A. Pauw, A. Traveset, V. Paiaro
Summary: Invasive plants with different pollination environments and abiotic conditions in native and non-native ranges provide ideal systems to study the role of ecological factors in flower colour variation. We studied the corolla reflectance of Nicotiana glauca in native populations, populations from South Africa, and the Balearic island of Mallorca. We found that flower colour variation was greater among regions than within them, with flower colour being more similar between South America and South Africa, which share birds as pollinators. Differences in corolla colour among populations were partially associated with differences in temperature.
Article
Entomology
Scott Nacko, Mark Hall, Robert Spooner-Hart, James Cook, Olivia Bernauer, Markus Riegler
Summary: The study found that Australian stingless bees do not make significant contributions to the pollination of cucumber and watermelon crops, while other native flower visitors, including halictid bees, may play an important role.
JOURNAL OF APICULTURAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jacob M. Cecala, Erin E. Wilson Rankin
Summary: The impact of horticultural management practices on bee reproduction, particularly for solitary bees, remains poorly understood. Our study revealed that lower irrigation levels led to decreased floral rewards in untreated plants, while higher irrigation levels reduced the amount of imidacloprid entering nectar. However, higher irrigation did not mitigate the negative effects of imidacloprid on bee foraging and reproduction.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)