Mass-flowering crops: cost or benefit to bumblebees and wild flower pollination?

大量开花的作物：大黄蜂和野花授粉的成本还是收益？

• 批准号: BB/E000932/1
• 负责人: David Goulson
• 金额: $ 35.34万
• 依托单位: University of Stirling
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FE000932%2F1
• 关键词: Mass; flowering; crops; cost; benefit

There is a widespread perception that pollinators are in decline, and that this threatens both natural plant communities and agricultural productivity. Although this decline has recently been questioned, most authorities agree that some important pollinator groups, notably bumblebees, have declined in both abundance and range in Europe. There are also well documented declines in abundance of many plant species in the UK, particularly perennial herbs such as cowslips and red clover. The cultivation of mass-flowering crops (primarily oilseed rape and field beans) in the UK has been arguably the most dramatic change to the floral landscape for centuries. Recent work by the applicants shows that, when in bloom, the amount of pollen and nectar provided by these crops greatly exceeds that provided by all other insect-visited flowering plants combined in arable landscapes. We still have a poor understanding, however, of the impact that this brief glut of floral resources has on pollinator populations or on the reproduction of wildflowers. There is disagreement as to whether mass-flowering crops are of benefit to populations of bumblebees (they provide a lot of resources, but colony success requires a continuous supply of food throughout spring and summer, and some bee species avoid shallow flowers like oilseed rape). Mass-flowering crops are also likely to affect pollination and hence seed set in wildflowers of arable ecosystems. But it is unclear whether wildflowers will suffer adverse affects from competition with the crop for pollinators or through stigma-clogging with pollen from such crops, or conversely whether they will benefit from a boost to local pollinator populations. The answer will depend on the phenology and floral similarity of crop and wildflower. Wild flower population processes and their pollinators' population dynamics in farmland have never been considered together in a single project. This project aims to capitalise on previous BBSRC-funded work by the applicants, to assess how the amount and landscape-scale spatial distribution of mass-flowering crops affect pollinator populations (particularly bumblebees) and reproduction of wildflowers, using a three-pronged approach: A. Studies of the effects of oilseed rape and field beans on bumblebee colony survival, focussing on two contrasting bee species, the longer tongued B. pascuorum and the shorter-tongued B. lapidarius. Molecular approaches pioneered by the applicants will be used to detect nests through the season (Goulson@Stirling). B. Studies of the effects of these same mass-flowering crops on pollinator visitation and seed-set in five target wildflower species, chosen to provide a range of phenologies and flower morphologies (Osborne@Rothamsted) Ci) Expansion, development and testing of an existing GIS-based forage map and associated model to predict how the distribution and phenology of forage in arable landscapes determines pollinator abundance, and in particular which areas act as sinks for bumblebees, and which act as sources (net exporters of queens) (Sanderson@Newcastle) Cii) Use of the same forage map to develop new spatially-articulate models to examine the broader, landscape scale effects of mass-flowering crops on pollinator visitation to, and seed set in, wildflower populations In combination, this work will enable us to evaluate the likely ecological consequences of growing mass-flowering crops on pollinators and wildflowers, and will substantially increase our ability to predict and manipulate the impacts of agricultural practices on farmland biodiversity. The project is of direct relevance to policy makers producing schemes for arable and countryside stewardship, for example those advising on field margin management. Practices that encourage large bumblebee populations will in turn boost pollination of crops and wild plants, underpinning the sustainability of a diverse flora on unfarmed agricultural land.

人们普遍认为传粉媒介正在减少，这威胁到自然植物群落和农业生产力。尽管这种下降最近受到质疑，但大多数权威机构都认为，欧洲一些重要的传粉媒介群体，尤其是大黄蜂，其数量和范围均有所下降。英国许多植物物种的丰富度也有所下降，特别是多年生草本植物，如黄花九轮草和红三叶草。英国大规模开花作物（主要是油菜和蚕豆）的种植可以说是几个世纪以来花卉景观最显着的变化。申请人最近的工作表明，在开花时，这些作物提供的花粉和花蜜的量大大超过耕地中所有其他昆虫出没的开花植物提供的花粉和花蜜的量。然而，我们对这种短暂的花卉资源过剩对传粉昆虫种群或野花繁殖的影响仍然知之甚少。关于大量开花的作物是否对大黄蜂种群有益存在分歧（它们提供了大量资源，但蜂群的成功需要整个春季和夏季持续供应食物，并且一些蜜蜂品种避免像油菜这样的浅花）。大量开花的作物也可能影响授粉，从而影响耕地生态系统野花的结籽。但目前尚不清楚野花是否会因与农作物争夺授粉媒介或因此类农作物的花粉堵塞柱头而遭受不利影响，或者相反，它们是否会受益于当地授粉媒介数量的增加。答案将取决于作物和野花的物候和花的相似性。野花种群过程及其在农田中的传粉者种群动态从未在单个项目中一起考虑。该项目旨在利用申请人之前 BBSRC 资助的工作，评估大规模开花作物的数量和景观尺度空间分布如何影响传粉昆虫种群（特别是熊蜂）和野花的繁殖，采用三管齐下的方法：A. 研究油菜和菜豆对熊蜂群生存的影响，重点关注两种对比鲜明的蜂种，即长舌 B. pascuorum 和短舌 B. lapidarius。申请人首创的分子方法将用于在整个季节检测巢穴（Goulson@Stirling）。 B. 研究这些相同的大规模开花作物对五种目标野花物种传粉媒介访问和结籽的影响，选择提供一系列物候和花朵形态 (Osborne@Rothamsted) Ci) 扩展、开发和测试现有的基于 GIS 的牧草地图和相关模型，以预测耕地景观中牧草的分布和物候如何决定传粉媒介丰度，特别是哪些区域充当汇 熊蜂，作为来源（蜂王的净出口者）（Sanderson@Newcastle）Cii）使用相同的饲料图来开发新的空间清晰模型，以检查大规模开花作物对传粉者访问和野花种群中种子的更广泛的景观尺度影响总而言之，这项工作将使我们能够评估种植大规模开花作物可能产生的生态后果 传粉媒介和野花，并将大大提高我们预测和操纵农业实践对农田生物多样性影响的能力。该项目与制定耕地和农村管理计划的政策制定者直接相关，例如就田间利润管理提供建议的政策制定者。鼓励大量熊蜂繁殖的做法反过来将促进农作物和野生植物的授粉，从而支撑未耕种农业土地上多样化植物群的可持续性。

项目成果

Data from: Estimation of bumblebee queen dispersal distances using sibship reconstruction method.

数据来自：使用同胞关系重建方法估计大黄蜂蜂王扩散距离。

• DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1113
• 发表时间: 2010
• 期刊: Dryad
• 作者: Lepais O

Bombus pascuorum and B. lapidarius microsatellite data.xls.

Bombus pascuorum 和 B. lapidaius 微卫星数据.xls。

• DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1113/1
• 发表时间: 2009
• 期刊: Dryad
• 作者: Lepais O

Seasonal complementary in pollinators of soft-fruit crops

• DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2016.11.007
• 发表时间: 2017-03-01
• 期刊: BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY
• 影响因子: 3.8
• 作者: Ellis, Ciaran R.;Feltham, Hannah;Goulson, Dave
• 通讯作者: Goulson, Dave

Causes of colony mortality in bumblebees

熊蜂群体死亡的原因

• DOI: 10.1111/acv.12363
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: Animal Conservation
• 影响因子: 3.4
• 作者: Goulson D

Molecular tools and bumble bees: revealing hidden details of ecology and evolution in a model system.

分子工具和熊蜂：揭示模型系统中隐藏的生态和进化细节。

• DOI: 10.1111/mec.13198
• 发表时间: 2015
• 期刊: Molecular ecology
• 影响因子: 4.9
• 作者: Woodard SH