Dataset Information

Invasive plants as potential food resource for native pollinators: A case study with two invasive species and a generalist bumble bee.

ABSTRACT: It is now well established that invasive plants may induce drifts in the quantity and/or quality of floral resources. They are then often pointed out as a potential driver of bee decline. However, their impact on bee population remains quite unclear and still controversial, as bee responses are highly variable among species. Here, we compared the amino acid composition of pollen from three native and two invasive plant species included in diets of common pollinators in NW Europe. Moreover, the nutritional intake (i.e., pollen and amino acid intakes) of Bombus terrestris colonies and the pollen foraging behaviour of workers (i.e., visiting rate, number of foraging trips, weight of pollen loads) were considered. We found significant differences in pollen nutrients among the studied species according to the plant invasive behaviour. We also found significant differences in pollen foraging behaviour according to the plant species, from few to several foraging trips carrying small or large pollen loads. Such behavioural differences directly impacted the pollen intake but depended more likely on plant morphology rather than on plant invasive behaviour. These results suggest that common generalist bumble bees might not always suffer from plant invasions, depending on their behavioural plasticity and nutritional requirements.

SUBMITTER: Drossart M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5701216 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Invasive plants as potential food resource for native pollinators: A case study with two invasive species and a generalist bumble bee.

Drossart Maxime M Michez Denis D Vanderplanck Maryse M

Scientific reports 20171124 1

It is now well established that invasive plants may induce drifts in the quantity and/or quality of floral resources. They are then often pointed out as a potential driver of bee decline. However, their impact on bee population remains quite unclear and still controversial, as bee responses are highly variable among species. Here, we compared the amino acid composition of pollen from three native and two invasive plant species included in diets of common pollinators in NW Europe. Moreover, the n ...[more]

PMID: 29176720

Similar Datasets

Project description:Bees are important plant pollinators in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Managed and wild bees have experienced high average annual colony losses, population declines, and local extinctions in many geographic regions. Multiple factors, including virus infections, impact bee health and longevity. The majority of bee-infecting viruses are positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Bee-infecting viruses often cause asymptomatic infections but may also cause paralysis, deformity or death. The severity of infection is governed by bee host immune responses and influenced by additional biotic and abiotic factors. Herein, we highlight studies that have contributed to the current understanding of antiviral defense in bees, including the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), the Eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) and bumble bee species (Bombus spp.). Bee antiviral defense mechanisms include RNA interference (RNAi), endocytosis, melanization, encapsulation, autophagy and conserved immune pathways including Jak/STAT (Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription), JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinases) and the NF-?B mediated Toll and Imd (immune deficiency) pathways. Studies in Dipteran insects, including the model organism Drosophila melanogaster and pathogen-transmitting mosquitos, provide the framework for understanding bee antiviral defense. However, there are notable differences such as the more prominent role of a non-sequence specific, dsRNA-triggered, virus limiting response in honey bees and bumble bees. This virus-limiting response in bees is akin to pathways in a range of organisms including other invertebrates (i.e., oysters, shrimp and sand flies), as well as the mammalian interferon response. Current and future research aimed at elucidating bee antiviral defense mechanisms may lead to development of strategies that mitigate bee losses, while expanding our understanding of insect antiviral defense and the potential evolutionary relationship between sociality and immune function.

Project description:BackgroundUnderstanding connections between biodiversity and ecosystem services can be enhanced by shifting focus from species richness to functional trait-based approaches, that when paired with comparative phylogenetic methods can provide even deeper insights. We investigated the functional ecology and phylogenetic diversity of pollination services provided by hymenopteran insects visiting apple flowers in orchards surrounded by either 'natural' or 'disturbed' landscapes in New South Wales, Australia. We assessed whether morphological and behavioural traits (hairiness, body size, glossa length, pollen load purity, and probability of loose pollen) exhibited non-random phylogenetic patterns. Then, explored whether bees, the primary pollinators in this system, filled unique or overlapping functional entities (FEs). For each landscape, we calculated phylogenetic diversity and used FEs to assess functional richness, evenness, and diversion.ResultsA phylogenomic matrix based on ultraconserved elements (UCEs; 1,382,620 bp from 1,969 loci) was used to infer a fully-resolved and well-supported maximum likelihood phylogeny for 48 hymenopteran morphospecies. There was no significant difference in species richness between landscape categories. Pollinator communities at natural sites had higher phylogenetic complexity (X = 2.37) and functional divergence (x̄ = 0.74 ± 0.02 s.e.) than disturbed sites (X = 1.65 and x̄ = 0.6 ± 0.01 s.e.). Hairiness showed significant phylogenetic clustering (K = 0.94), whereas body size, glossa length, and loose pollen showed weaker non-random phylogenetic patterns (K between 0.3-0.5). Pollen load purity showed no association with phylogeny. The assemblage of 17 bee morphospecies comprised nine FEs: eight FEs consisted of native bees with three containing 65% of all native bee taxa. The introduced honey bee (Apis mellifera) occupied a unique FE, likely due to its different evolutionary history. Both landscape types supported six FEs each with three overlapping: two native bee FEs and the honey bee FE.ConclusionsBee hairiness was the only functional trait to exhibit demonstrable phylogenetic signal. Despite differences in species richness, and functional and phylogenetic diversity between orchard landscape types, both maintained equal bee FE numbers. While no native bee taxon was analogous to the honey bee FE, four native bee FEs shared the same hairiness level as honey bees. Health threats to honey bee populations in Australia will likely disrupt pollination services to apple, and other pollination-dependent food crops, given the low level of functional redundancy within the investigated pollinator assemblages.

Project description:Supergeneralists, defined as species that interact with multiple groups of species in ecological networks, can act as important connectors of otherwise disconnected species subsets. In Brazil, there are two supergeneralist bees: the honeybee Apis mellifera, a non-native species, and Trigona spinipes, a native stingless bee. We compared the role of both species and the effect of geographic and local factors on networks by addressing three questions: 1) Do both species have similar abundance and interaction patterns (degree and strength) in plant-bee networks? 2) Are both species equally influential to the network structure (nestedness, connectance, and plant and bee niche overlap)? 3) How are these species affected by geographic (altitude, temperature, precipitation) and local (natural vs. disturbed habitat) factors? We analyzed 21 plant-bee weighted interaction networks, encompassing most of the main biomes in Brazil. We found no significant difference between both species in abundance, in the number of plant species with which each bee species interacts (degree), and in the sum of their dependencies (strength). Structural equation models revealed the effect of A. mellifera and T. spinipes, respectively, on the interaction network pattern (nestedness) and in the similarity in bee's interactive partners (bee niche overlap). It is most likely that the recent invasion of A. mellifera resulted in its rapid settlement inside the core of species that retain the largest number of interactions, resulting in a strong influence on nestedness. However, the long-term interaction between native T. spinipes and other bees most likely has a more direct effect on their interactive behavior. Moreover, temperature negatively affected A. mellifera bees, whereas disturbed habitats positively affected T. spinipes. Conversely, precipitation showed no effect. Being positively (T. spinipes) or indifferently (A. mellifera) affected by disturbed habitats makes these species prone to pollinate plant species in these areas, which are potentially poor in pollinators.

Dataset Information

Invasive plants as potential food resource for native pollinators: A case study with two invasive species and a generalist bumble bee.

Publications

Invasive plants as potential food resource for native pollinators: A case study with two invasive species and a generalist bumble bee.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets