Effects of urbanization on pollination services

在美国，城市农业正在增加，蔬菜和水果通常种植在私人和社区花园以及更大面积的空地上。这些小规模的农业努力可能有助于城市的可持续发展，并可以为那些生活在缺乏新鲜农产品的低收入市中心社区的人提供粮食安全。尽管都市农业具有潜在的社会、营养和生态效益，但人们对支持这种努力的授粉服务知之甚少。城市花园中种植的许多作物受益于昆虫授粉，或依赖于昆虫授粉，尤其是蜜蜂。然而，尽管研究发现一些蜜蜂在花卉种类繁多的城市栖息地普遍存在，但随着城市化程度的提高，蜜蜂的多样性或丰度也被证明是减少的。因此，由于当地对花卉资源的管理(例如，沿城市街区的花卉种植)以及更大空间尺度上的开发强度，传粉者群落在城市景观中可能会有所不同；这些因素可能会影响整个城市景观中的授粉服务。为了确定授粉服务如何在城市景观中分布，这项研究将(A)评估传粉者的变化及其在城市发展梯度上对花卉资源的反应，以及(B)确定这些生物变化如何影响授粉服务的一致性和规模。这项研究将在美国第三大城市伊利诺伊州芝加哥进行。除了对传粉者群落进行抽样外，这项研究还将使用皮卡车后部的试验性“移动花园”来直接量化全市的授粉服务。对城市授粉服务的评估将增加对城市生态系统潜在可持续性的了解。这些知识可以应用于提高城市农业的产量，潜在地有助于人口稠密社区的粮食安全。该项目将通过参与研究来培训本科生和研究生，并教育芝加哥居民传粉者的重要性。最后，这项研究将在邻里街区和景观尺度上向城市规划者通报影响授粉生态系统服务的生态属性。

Urban agriculture is increasing in the United States, with vegetables and fruits often grown in private and community gardens as well as larger tracts of vacant land. These small-scale agricultural efforts may contribute to urban sustainability and can provide food security for those living in low-income inner city neighborhoods with limited access to fresh produce. Despite the potential social, nutritional, and ecological benefits of urban agriculture, little is known about the pollination services that support such efforts. Many crops grown in urban gardens benefit from or are dependent on pollination by insects, especially bees. However, while studies have found some bees to be prevalent in florally-diverse urban habitats, bee diversity or abundance also have been shown to decrease with increasing urbanization. Therefore, pollinator communities may vary across the urban landscape due to local management of floral resources (e.g., flower plantings along city blocks) as well as development intensity at larger spatial scales; these factors may then influence pollination services across the urban landscape. To determine how pollination services are distributed across the urban landscape, this research will (a) evaluate changes in pollinators and their response to floral resources across a gradient of urban development, and (b) determine how these biotic changes affect the consistency and magnitude of pollination services. The research will take place in Chicago, IL, the third largest city in the United States. In addition to sampling pollinator communities, this study will use an experimental "mobile garden" on the back of a pick-up truck to quantify directly pollination services across the city. An assessment of pollination services in cities will increase understanding of the potential sustainability of urban ecosystems. This knowledge can be applied to increasing yield in urban agriculture, potentially contributing to food security in densely populated neighborhoods. This project will train undergraduate and graduate students through participation in research and educate Chicago residents about the importance of pollinators. Finally, the research will inform urban planners about the ecological attributes, at both neighborhood-block and landscape scales, that affect the ecosystem service of pollination.