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      Influence of windbreaks and forest borders on abundance and species richness of native pollinators in lowbush blueberry fields in Québec, Canada

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          Abstract

          Lowbush blueberry ( Vaccinium angustifoliumAiton (Ericaceae)) production is highly dependent on insect pollination to maximise yields. The current losses in honey bee ( Apis melliferaLinnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)) colonies pose a serious threat to the blueberry industry, raising interest in alternative pollinators. Abundance and diversity of native pollinators usually decreases with distance from natural habitats. In this study, we evaluated the effects of distance from wooded habitats such as windbreaks and forest borders on the presence of native pollinators in blueberry fields in Lac-St-Jean (Québec, Canada). Four treatments were compared: single-row, double-row, natural windbreaks, and forest borders. Pan-traps were placed at 5, 30, and 60 m from the windbreak or forest border. A total of 3878 native pollinators were collected and 81% were ground-nesting bees. The forest border was the only treatment with higher abundance and species richness on the periphery (5 m) of the field than at further distances, supporting the hypothesis that the presence of pollinators is favoured by habitats potentially offering more abundant and diverse nutritional resources. Our overall results reveal that native pollinators are distributed quite homogeneously in blueberry fields, suggesting that windbreaks are beneficial to native pollinator communities.

          Résumé

          La production du bleuet nain ( Vaccinium angustifoliumAiton (Ericaceae)) est fortement dépendante des insectes pollinisateurs pour maximiser les rendements. Le déclin des abeilles domestiques ( Apis melliferaLinnaeus (Hymenoptera: Apidae)) observé mondialement fragilise cette industrie qui a développé un intérêt pour une source alternative de pollinisation, les pollinisateurs indigènes. On observe généralement un impact négatif de l’éloignement des habitats naturels sur l’abondance et la richesse spécifique de ces communautés. Dans cette étude, nous avons évalué l’effet de l’éloignement des zones boisées telles que les haies brise-vent et les bordures de forêt sur la présence des pollinisateurs indigènes dans les cultures de bleuets nains au Lac-St-Jean (Québec, Canada). Quatre traitements ont été comparés: brise-vent à une rangée d’arbres, brise-vent à deux rangées d’arbres, brise-vent naturel et bordure de forêt. Des pièges-bols ont été placés à 5, 30 et 60 m des zones boisées. Un total de 3878 pollinisateurs indigènes a été collecté et 81% d’entre eux étaient des nicheurs de sol. L’abondance et la richesse spécifique étaient plus importantes en périphérie des champs (5 m) dans les traitements bordures de forêt comparativement aux autres traitements, supportant l’hypothèse que la présence des pollinisateurs est favorisée par un habitat offrant potentiellement des ressources nutritionnelles plus abondantes et plus diversifiées. L’ensemble de nos résultats indique que les pollinisateurs indigènes sont distribués de façon homogène en bleuetière, suggérant que les brise-vents ont un effet bénéfique sur les communautés de pollinisateurs indigènes.

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          Bee foraging ranges and their relationship to body size.

          Bees are the most important pollinator taxon; therefore, understanding the scale at which they forage has important ecological implications and conservation applications. The foraging ranges for most bee species are unknown. Foraging distance information is critical for understanding the scale at which bee populations respond to the landscape, assessing the role of bee pollinators in affecting plant population structure, planning conservation strategies for plants, and designing bee habitat refugia that maintain pollination function for wild and crop plants. We used data from 96 records of 62 bee species to determine whether body size predicts foraging distance. We regressed maximum and typical foraging distances on body size and found highly significant and explanatory nonlinear relationships. We used a second data set to: (1) compare observed reports of foraging distance to the distances predicted by our regression equations and (2) assess the biases inherent to the different techniques that have been used to assess foraging distance. The equations we present can be used to predict foraging distances for many bee species, based on a simple measurement of body size.
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            Decline and conservation of bumble bees.

            Declines in bumble bee species in the past 60 years are well documented in Europe, where they are driven primarily by habitat loss and declines in floral abundance and diversity resulting from agricultural intensification. Impacts of habitat degradation and fragmentation are likely to be compounded by the social nature of bumble bees and their largely monogamous breeding system, which renders their effective population size low. Hence, populations are susceptible to stochastic extinction events and inbreeding. In North America, catastrophic declines of some bumble bee species since the 1990s are probably attributable to the accidental introduction of a nonnative parasite from Europe, a result of global trade in domesticated bumble bee colonies used for pollination of greenhouse crops. Given the importance of bumble bees as pollinators of crops and wildflowers, steps must be taken to prevent further declines. Suggested measures include tight regulation of commercial bumble bee use and targeted use of environmentally comparable schemes to enhance floristic diversity in agricultural landscapes.
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              Comparative Pollination Effectiveness Among Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) on Lowbush Blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium angustifolium)

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                applab
                The Canadian Entomologist
                Can Entomol
                Cambridge University Press (CUP)
                0008-347X
                1918-3240
                August 2015
                September 10 2014
                : 147
                : 04
                : 432-442
                Article
                10.4039/tce.2014.55
                27969926-ec6c-4d95-b214-46fc0ecc05c8
                © 2014
                History

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