Dataset Information

Warmer temperatures advance flowering in a spring plant more strongly than emergence of two solitary spring bee species.

ABSTRACT: Climate warming has the potential to disrupt plant-pollinator interactions or to increase competition of co-flowering plants for pollinators, due to species-specific phenological responses to temperature. However, studies focusing on the effect of temperature on solitary bee emergence and the flowering onset of their food plants under natural conditions are still rare. We studied the effect of temperature on the phenology of the two spring bees Osmia cornuta and Osmia bicornis, by placing bee cocoons on eleven grasslands differing in mean site temperature. On seven grasslands, we additionally studied the effect of temperature on the phenology of the red-list plant Pulsatilla vulgaris, which was the first flowering plant, and of co-flowering plants with later flowering. With a warming of 0.1°C, the abundance-weighted mean emergence of O. cornuta males advanced by 0.4 days. Females of both species did not shift their emergence. Warmer temperatures advanced the abundance-weighted mean flowering of P. vulgaris by 1.3 days per 0.1°C increase, but did not shift flowering onset of co-flowering plants. Competition for pollinators between P. vulgaris and co-flowering plants does not increase within the studied temperature range. We demonstrate that temperature advances plant flowering more strongly than bee emergence suggesting an increased risk of pollinator limitation for the first flowers of P. vulgaris.

SUBMITTER: Kehrberger S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6590824 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Warmer temperatures advance flowering in a spring plant more strongly than emergence of two solitary spring bee species.

Kehrberger Sandra S Holzschuh Andrea A

PloS one 20190624 6

Climate warming has the potential to disrupt plant-pollinator interactions or to increase competition of co-flowering plants for pollinators, due to species-specific phenological responses to temperature. However, studies focusing on the effect of temperature on solitary bee emergence and the flowering onset of their food plants under natural conditions are still rare. We studied the effect of temperature on the phenology of the two spring bees Osmia cornuta and Osmia bicornis, by placing bee co ...[more]

PMID: 31233540

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Project description:Solitary bees in seasonal environments must align their life-cycles with favorable environmental conditions and resources; the timing of their emergence is highly fitness relevant. In several bee species, overwintering temperature influences both emergence date and body weight at emergence. High variability in emergence dates among specimens overwintering at the same temperatures suggests that the timing of emergence also depends on individual body conditions. However, possible causes for this variability, such as individual differences in body size or weight, have been rarely studied. In a climate chamber experiment using two spring-emerging mason bees (Osmia cornuta and O. bicornis), we investigated the relationship between temperature, emergence date, body weight, and body size, the last of which is not affected by overwintering temperature. Our study showed that body weight declined during hibernation more strongly in warm than in cold overwintering temperatures. Although bees emerged earlier in warm than in cold overwintering temperatures, at the time of emergence, bees in warm overwintering temperatures had lower body weights than bees in cold overwintering temperatures (exception of male O. cornuta). Among specimens that experienced the same overwintering temperatures, small and light bees emerged later than their larger and heavier conspecifics. Using a simple mechanistic model we demonstrated that spring-emerging solitary bees use a strategic approach and emerge at a date that is most promising for their individual fitness expectations. Our results suggest that warmer overwintering temperatures reduce bee fitness by causing a decrease in body weight at emergence. We showed furthermore that in order to adjust their emergence dates, bees use not only temperature but also their individual body condition as triggers. This may explain differing responses to climate warming within and among bee populations and may have consequences for bee-plant interactions as well as for the persistence of bee populations under climate change.

Dataset Information

Warmer temperatures advance flowering in a spring plant more strongly than emergence of two solitary spring bee species.

Publications

Warmer temperatures advance flowering in a spring plant more strongly than emergence of two solitary spring bee species.

Similar Datasets

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