Dataset Information

A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning.

ABSTRACT: Central place foraging pollinators tend to develop multi-destination routes (traplines) to exploit patchily distributed plant resources. While the formation of traplines by individual pollinators has been studied in detail, how populations of foragers use resources in a common area is an open question, difficult to address experimentally. We explored conditions for the emergence of resource partitioning among traplining bees using agent-based models built from experimental data of bumblebees foraging on artificial flowers. In the models, bees learn to develop routes as a consequence of feedback loops that change their probabilities of moving between flowers. While a positive reinforcement of movements leading to rewarding flowers is sufficient for the emergence of resource partitioning when flowers are evenly distributed, the addition of a negative reinforcement of movements leading to unrewarding flowers is necessary when flowers are patchily distributed. In environments with more complex spatial structures, the negative experiences of individual bees on flowers favour spatial segregation and efficient collective foraging. Our study fills a major gap in modelling pollinator behaviour and constitutes a unique tool to guide future experimental programs.

SUBMITTER: Dubois T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8351995 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning.

Dubois Thibault T Pasquaretta Cristian C Barron Andrew B AB Gautrais Jacques J Lihoreau Mathieu M

PLoS computational biology 20210728 7

Central place foraging pollinators tend to develop multi-destination routes (traplines) to exploit patchily distributed plant resources. While the formation of traplines by individual pollinators has been studied in detail, how populations of foragers use resources in a common area is an open question, difficult to address experimentally. We explored conditions for the emergence of resource partitioning among traplining bees using agent-based models built from experimental data of bumblebees for ...[more]

PMID: 34319987

Similar Datasets

Project description:Cities are socioecological systems that filter and select species, therefore establishing unique species assemblages and biotic interactions. Urban ecosystems can host richer wild bee communities than highly intensified agricultural areas, specifically in resource-rich urban green spaces such as allotments and family gardens. At the same time, urban beekeeping has boomed in many European cities, raising concerns that the fast addition of a large number of managed bees could deplete the existing floral resources, triggering competition between wild bees and honeybees. Here, we studied the interplay between resource availability and the number of honeybees at local and landscape scales and how this relationship influences wild bee diversity. We collected wild bees and honeybees in a pollination experiment using four standardized plant species with distinct floral morphologies. We performed the experiment in 23 urban gardens in the city of Zurich (Switzerland), distributed along gradients of urban and local management intensity, and measured functional traits related to resource use. At each site, we quantified the feeding niche partitioning (calculated as the average distance in the multidimensional trait space) between the wild bee community and the honeybee population. Using multilevel structural equation models (SEM), we tested direct and indirect effects of resource availability, urban beekeeping, and wild bees on the community feeding niche partitioning. We found an increase in feeding niche partitioning with increasing wild bee species richness. Moreover, feeding niche partitioning tended to increase in experimental sites with lower resource availability at the landscape scale, which had lower abundances of honeybees. However, beekeeping intensity at the local and landscape scales did not directly influence community feeding niche partitioning or wild bee species richness. In addition, wild bee species richness was positively influenced by local resource availability, whereas local honeybee abundance was positively affected by landscape resource availability. Overall, these results suggest that direct competition for resources was not a main driver of the wild bee community. Due to the key role of resource availability in maintaining a diverse bee community, our study encourages cities to monitor floral resources to better manage urban beekeeping and help support urban pollinators.

Project description:It is increasingly recognised that intraspecific variation in traits, such as morphology, behaviour, or diet is both ubiquitous and ecologically important. While many species of predators and herbivores are known to display high levels of between-individual diet variation, there is a lack of studies on pollinators. It is important to fill in this gap because individual-level specialisation of flower-visiting insects is expected to affect their efficiency as pollinators with consequences for plant reproduction. Accordingly, the aim of our study was to quantify the level of individual-level specialisation and foraging preferences, as well as interspecific resource partitioning, in three co-occurring species of bees of the genus Ceratina (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae), C. chalybea, C. nigrolabiata, and C. cucurbitina. We conducted a field experiment where we provided artificial nesting opportunities for the bees and combined a short-term mark-recapture study with the dissection of the bees' nests to obtain repeated samples from individual foraging females and complete pollen provisions from their nests. We used DNA metabarcoding based on the ITS2 locus to identify the composition of the pollen samples. We found that the composition of pollen carried on the bodies of female bees and stored in the brood provisions in their nests significantly differed among the three co-occurring species. At the intraspecific level, individual females consistently differed in their level of specialisation and in the composition of pollen carried on their bodies and stored in their nests. We also demonstrate that higher generalisation at the species level stemmed from larger among-individual variation in diets, as observed in other types of consumers, such as predators. Our study thus reveals how specialisation and foraging preferences of bees change from the scale of individual foraging bouts to complete pollen provisions accumulated in their nests over many days. Such a multi-scale view of foraging behaviour is necessary to improve our understanding of the functioning of plant-flower visitor communities.

Dataset Information

A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning.

Publications

A model of resource partitioning between foraging bees based on learning.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets