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

调查栖息地结构对野外蜂王和工蜂的影响

• 批准号: BB/I000720/2
• 负责人: Seirian Sumner
• 金额: $ 7.38万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FI000720%2F2
• 关键词: Investigating; impact; habitat; structure; queen

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.

这项研究将揭示大黄蜂行为和生态学的基本方面，以显示栖息地结构如何影响大黄蜂在其殖民地周期的不同阶段。大黄蜂是野花和农作物的主要授粉者，但它们的数量在全球范围内正在下降。虽然熊蜂在某些方面已经得到了很好的研究，但它们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，以便我们能够实施最有效的措施来扭转下降趋势。我们有四个具体目标。首先，鲜为人知的是分散的筑巢皇后在春天，所以我们将确定的细尺度的空间遗传结构和行为的筑巢皇后，并将其与分布的筑巢和觅食栖息地在整个农业景观。第二，虽然新的遗传学方法已经允许估计工蜂的觅食范围，我们不知道工蜂和蜂群如何利用与其栖息地的精细尺度结构相关的空间;因此，我们将量化工蜂的空间分布和栖息地结构，以确定这种关系。第三，一些大黄蜂物种有长长的舌头，它们也是野花和作物最有效的授粉者，因为这些植物的花冠很深。英国最长舌的熊蜂种类，熊蜂hortorum，仍然很常见，但密切相关的B。ruderatus是稀缺的。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，因为我们的研究将在一个已经建立了为大黄蜂提供饲料的有针对性的措施（农业环境计划）的地点进行，我们将能够利用我们的研究结果来模拟这些措施对大黄蜂觅食范围和巢密度的影响。为了达到我们的目的，我们将研究这五个物种B。lapidarius，B. pascuorum，B. terrestris B. hortorum和B. ruderatus，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现场环境中使用遗传，生态和建模方法的新组合：英格兰的农业景观（2100公顷），其中针对昆虫传粉者的标准化农业环境选项块已被建立为正在进行的小型实验的一部分。我们的方法将包括系统的非致死性抽样的皇后和工人的DNA，其次是微卫星基因分型加上亲缘关系重建（分组的个人到家庭），以确定空间遗传分布的皇后和工人。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遗传调查，特别是将蚁后空间使用与小型哺乳动物的分布联系起来（蚁后被认为是用于筑巢的巢穴，并且已经被监测作为正在进行的研究的一部分）。最后，我们已经使用高分辨率多光谱扫描仪和实地调查对研究景观进行了表征。由此产生的栖息地组成和结构的详细信息，当与我们的大黄蜂空间使用的数据相结合时，将使我们能够准确地模拟栖息地结构对蜜蜂的影响。因此，总的来说，该项目非常符合昆虫授粉者倡议的要求。首先，因为这项研究是在一个我们已经确定了栖息地结构特征的地点进行的，并且在这个地点建立了一个实验性的农业环境计划，它将有助于我们进一步了解农业和土地使用变化对大黄蜂行为和群体动态的影响。其次，它将使用新的工具和数据分析，以发现大黄蜂生态学的基本方面，从分子到种群水平的传粉者下降。

项目成果

Fine-scale spatial genetic structure of common and declining bumble bees across an agricultural landscape.

• DOI: 10.1111/mec.12823
• 发表时间: 2014-07
• 期刊: Molecular ecology
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: Dreier S;Redhead JW;Warren IA;Bourke AF;Heard MS;Jordan WC;Sumner S;Wang J;Carvell C
• 通讯作者: Carvell C

Effects of habitat composition and landscape structure on worker foraging distances of five bumblebee species

栖息地组成和景观结构对五种熊蜂工蜂觅食距离的影响

• DOI: 10.1890/15-0546.1
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Ecological Applications
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Redhead J

Spatial genetic structure and behaviour of common and declining bumblebees across an agricultural landscape.

农业景观中常见和衰退的熊蜂的空间遗传结构和行为。

• 发表时间: 2014
• 期刊: International meeting of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects
• 作者: Dreier, S.