Bumblebee conservation in agricultural landscapes - the role of landscape structure and the Environmental Land Management Scheme

农业景观中的熊蜂保护 - 景观结构的作用和环境土地管理计划

• 批准号: 2729523
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2729523
• 关键词: Bumblebee; conservation; agricultural; landscapes; role

This PhD project will examine the role of landscape structure, networks ofhabitats and the competition between managed and wild pollinators on wildbumblebee conservation in agricultural landscapes. This research willexamine the broad research question: "What is the effect of landscapestructure on bumblebee populations?" Answering this question will inform howcurrent Environmental Land Management Schemes and internationalrecommendations for pollinator conservation can be more effective in helpingmaintain and restore bumblebee populations. The research will be set in acollection of nature reserves and a farm level experimental landscape inCambridgeshire, the United Kingdom, where field surveys and experimentsinvolving lab-reared bumblebees and honeybees will take place. Using lab-reared Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) from wild-caught queens,colony fitness will be investigated alongside bumblebee use of variedlandscape features such as, woodlands, bare soil, and hedgerows.Bumblebee resource use will be tracked by following their movement throughthe landscape, via pollen analysis, and a novel eDNA analysis method. Inaddition, indicators of colony fitness, including foraging success and colonysize, will be measured. Data will be collated to shape networks ofbumblebees, forage plants, and landscape feature interactions to drawconclusions on habitat resilience and robustness. This data will reveal thescale of habitat restoration that is needed in agricultural landscapes. Tocomplement this, competition with other pollinators, such as managedhoneybees, will be examined through replicated field experiments withbumblebees and honeybee hives in varying stocking densities. The outcomesof this research will fill a research gap on wild pollinator landscape use, andthe competition between wild and managed pollinators, and it will be utilisedto produce policy-relevant recommendations for evidence-based landmanagement policies at national and regional scales.

这个博士项目将研究景观结构的作用，栖息地网络和管理和野生传粉者之间的竞争对野生熊蜂保护农业景观。这项研究将提出一个广泛的研究问题：“蜜蜂的结构对大黄蜂种群有什么影响？“回答这个问题将告诉我们，目前的环境土地管理计划和国际上对传粉者保护的建议如何能更有效地帮助维持和恢复大黄蜂的种群。这项研究将在英国剑桥郡的一个自然保护区和一个农场级实验景观中进行，在那里将进行实地调查和实验，涉及实验室饲养的熊蜂和蜜蜂。使用实验室饲养的Buff-tailed熊蜂（熊蜂terrestris）从野生捕获的皇后，殖民地健身将被调查，以及熊蜂使用variedlandscape features，如，林地，裸露的土壤，和hedgerows.Bumblebee资源使用将跟踪他们的运动通过景观，通过花粉分析，和一种新的eDNA分析方法。此外，还将测量群体适应性指标，包括觅食成功率和群体大小。将整理数据，以形成熊蜂，饲料植物和景观特征相互作用的网络，从而得出栖息地恢复力和鲁棒性的结论。这些数据将揭示农业景观所需的栖息地恢复规模。为了补充这一点，与其他传粉者，如管理蜜蜂的竞争，将通过复制的现场实验与熊蜂和蜜蜂蜂箱在不同的放养密度。这项研究的成果将填补野生传粉者景观利用的研究空白，以及野生传粉者和管理传粉者之间的竞争，它将被用来产生政策相关的建议，以证据为基础的土地管理政策在国家和区域范围。