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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？

基本信息

批准号：
BB/E001491/1
负责人：
Juliet Osborne
金额：
$ 36.1万
依托单位：
Rothamsted Research
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%2FE001491%2F1
关键词：
Mass flowering crops cost benefit

项目摘要

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。虽然这种下降最近受到质疑，但大多数权威人士都认为，欧洲一些重要的传粉群体，特别是大黄蜂，在数量和范围上都有所下降。在英国，许多植物物种的丰富度也有很好的记录，特别是多年生草本植物，如黄花九轮草和红三叶草。英国大量开花作物（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戏剧性的变化。申请人最近的工作表明，在开花时，由这些作物提供的花粉和花蜜的量大大超过由可耕地景观中所有其他昆虫访问的开花植物组合提供的量。然而，我们仍然对这种短暂的花卉资源过剩对传粉者种群或野花繁殖的影响知之甚少。对于大量开花的作物是否有利于大黄蜂的种群存在分歧（它们提供了大量的资源，但殖民地的成功需要在整个春季和夏季持续供应食物，一些蜜蜂物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，从而影响可耕地生态系统中野花的结实。但目前还不清楚野花是否会因与作物争夺传粉者或因这些作物的花粉堵塞柱头而受到不利影响，或者相反，它们是否会从当地传粉者数量的增加中受益。答案将取决于作物和野花的物候和花卉相似性。农田中野生花卉种群过程和传粉者种群动态从来没有在一个项目中被考虑在一起。该项目旨在利用申请人先前由BBSRC资助的工作，评估大量开花作物的数量和大规模空间分布如何影响授粉者种群（特别是熊蜂）和野花的繁殖，使用三管齐下的方法：研究油菜和蚕豆对熊蜂群体生存的影响，重点是两种不同的蜜蜂物种，长舌B。pascuorum和短舌头的B。lapidarius。申请人开创的分子方法将用于整个季节的巢穴检测（Goulson@斯特林）。B。研究这些相同的大量开花作物对授粉者访问和五个目标野花物种的种子结实的影响，选择这些目标野花物种以提供一系列的物候和花形态（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，以预测牧草在可耕地景观中的分布和物候如何决定传粉者的丰度，特别是哪些区域是大黄蜂的汇，哪些区域是大黄蜂的源（皇后区净出口商）（Sanderson@纽卡斯尔）Cii）使用相同的牧草地图来开发新的空间清晰模型，以检查大量开花作物对授粉者访问野花种群和在野花种群中结籽的更广泛的景观尺度效应。这项工作将使我们能够评估种植大量开花作物对传粉媒介和野花可能产生的生态后果，并将大大提高我们预测和控制农业做法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决策者直接相关，例如就土地边际管理提供咨询的决策者。鼓励大黄蜂种群的做法反过来又会促进农作物和野生植物的授粉，从而巩固未耕种农田上多样化植物群的可持续性。