Investigating the impact of habitat structure on queen and worker bumblebees in the field

这项研究将揭示熊蜂行为和生态学的基本方面，以展示栖息地结构如何影响熊蜂在蜂群周期的不同阶段。熊蜂是野花和农作物的主要授粉媒介，但它们的数量在全球范围内正在下降。尽管熊蜂在某些方面已得到充分研究，但其生态学的基本方面仍然未知。在本提案中，我们计划填补其中一些空白，以便我们能够采取最有效的措施来扭转颓势。我们有四个具体目标。首先，对春季筑巢蜂王的扩散知之甚少，因此我们将确定筑巢蜂王的精细空间遗传结构和行为，并将其与农业景观中筑巢和觅食栖息地的分布联系起来。其次，尽管新的遗传方法可以估计工蜂的觅食范围，但我们不知道工蜂和蜂群如何利用与其栖息地的精细结构相关的空间；因此，我们将量化工人的空间分布和栖息地结构来确定这种关系。第三，一些熊蜂物种有长舌头，因此是花管（花冠）较深的野花和农作物最有效的传粉者。英国最长舌头的熊蜂物种 Bombus hortorum 仍然很常见，但与之密切相关的 B. ruderatus 却很稀有。我们将直接在同一景观中比较这两个物种的空间遗传结构，以阐明这种差异的生物学原因。第四，由于我们的研究将在已经制定了为熊蜂提供饲料的针对性措施（农业环境计划）的地点进行，因此我们将能够利用我们的结果来模拟这些措施对熊蜂觅食范围和巢穴密度的影响。为了实现我们的目标，我们将研究 B. lapidarius、B. pascuorum、B. terrestris B. hortorum 和 B. ruderatus 五个物种，选择代表适当范围的生态和行为差异。我们将在一个独特的实地环境中使用遗传、生态和建模方法的新颖组合：英国的一个农业景观（2100公顷），其中建立了针对昆虫传粉媒介的标准化农业环境选项块，作为正在进行的景观规模实验的一部分。我们的方法将包括对蜂王和工蜂进行系统性非致死性 DNA 采样，然后进行微卫星基因分型以及同胞关系重建（将个体分组为家族），以确定蜂王和工蜂的空间遗传分布。我们还将使用先进的标记技术（例如射频识别（RFID）、坑标签）来补充我们对蚁后的基因调查，特别是将蚁后空间的使用与小型哺乳动物的分布联系起来（据信蚁后会利用其巢穴筑巢，并且作为正在进行的研究的一部分，已经对其进行了监测）。最后，我们已经使用高分辨率多光谱扫描仪和实地调查来描述研究景观。由此产生的有关栖息地组成和结构的详细信息，与我们有关大黄蜂空间利用的数据相结合，将使我们能够准确地模拟栖息地结构对蜜蜂的影响。因此，总体而言，该项目非常符合昆虫传粉媒介倡议的要求。首先，由于这项研究是在我们已经确定了栖息地结构特征并建立了实验性农业环境计划的地点进行的，因此它将有助于加深我们对农业和土地利用变化对大黄蜂行为和蜂群动态影响的理解。其次，它将使用新的工具和数据分析来发现与传粉昆虫从分子水平到种群水平下降相关的熊蜂生态学的基本方面。

This research will unravel fundamental aspects of bumblebee behaviour and ecology to show how habitat structure affects bumblebees at different stages in their colony cycle. Bumblebees are key pollinators of wildflowers and crops but their populations are declining worldwide. Although bumblebees have been well-studied in some respects, fundamental aspects of their ecology remain unknown. In this proposal we plan to fill some of these gaps so that we can implement the most effective measures to reverse declines. We have four specific objectives. First, little is known about the dispersal of nest-founding queens in spring, so we will determine the fine-scale spatial genetic structure and behaviour of nest-founding queens and relate this to the distribution of nesting and foraging habitats across an agricultural landscape. Second, although new genetic methods have permitted estimates of the foraging ranges of worker bees, we do not know how workers and colonies use space in relation to the fine-scale structure of their habitat; we will therefore quantify both workers' spatial distribution and habitat structure to determine this relationship. Third, some bumblebee species have long tongues and so are the most effective pollinators of wildflowers and crops in which the floral tube (corolla) is deep. The UK's longest-tongued bumblebee species, Bombus hortorum, remains common but the closely related B. ruderatus is scarce. We will compare the spatial genetic structure of these two species directly in the same landscape in order to elucidate the biological reasons for this difference. Fourth, because our study will take place at a site where targeted measures to provide forage for bumblebees (agri-environment schemes) have already been established, we will be able to use our results to model the impacts of these measures on bumblebee foraging range and nest density. To meet our objectives, we will study the five species B. lapidarius, B. pascuorum, B. terrestris B. hortorum and B. ruderatus, chosen to represent an appropriate range of ecological and behavioural differences. We will use a novel combination of genetic, ecological and modelling methods in a unique field setting: an agricultural landscape (2100ha) in England in which blocks of standardised agri-environment options targeted at insect pollinators have been established as part of an ongoing landscape-scale experiment. Our methods will consist of systematic nonlethal sampling of queens and workers for DNA, followed by microsatellite genotyping coupled with sibship reconstruction (grouping of individuals into families) to determine the spatial genetic distribution of queens and workers. We will also use advanced marking techniques (e.g. radio-frequency identification (RFID), pit-tags) to supplement our genetic investigations of queens and specifically to relate queen space use to the distribution of small mammals (whose nests queens are believed to exploit for nesting and which are already being monitored as part of ongoing studies). Finally, we have already characterized the study landscape using both high-resolution multi-spectral scanners and field surveys. The resulting detailed information on habitat composition and structure, when integrated with our data on bumblebee space use, will allow us accurately to model the impact of habitat structure on the bees. Overall, therefore, this project matches the requirements of the Insect Pollinators Initiative very well. First, because the study is taking place at a site where we have already characterized habitat structure and in which an experimental agri-environment scheme is established, it will serve to advance our understanding of the effects of agriculture and land-use change on bumblebee behaviour and colony dynamics. Second, it will use new tools and data analysis to discover fundamental aspects of bumblebee ecology relevant to pollinator declines from molecular to population levels.