scholarly journals Nesting activity of cavity‐nesting bees and wasps is lower in small‐scale apple orchards compared to nearby semi‐natural habitats

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Áron Domonkos Bihaly ◽  
Anikó Kovács‐Hostyánszki ◽  
Márk Szalai ◽  
Miklós Sárospataki
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Nesting Activity

scholarly journals Diversity of cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) within apple orchards and wild habitats in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada

2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory S. Sheffield ◽  
Peter G. Kevan ◽  
Sue M. Westby ◽  
Robert F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Cavity Nesting ◽  
Trap Nests ◽  
Compositional Patterns ◽  
Annapolis Valley

AbstractSolitary cavity-nesting bees, especially trap-nesting Megachilidae, have great potential as commercial pollinators. A few species have been developed for crop pollination, but the diversity, abundance, and potential pollination contributions of native cavity-nesting bees within agricultural systems have seldom been assessed. Our objectives were to compare the diversity and fecundity of cavity-nesting bees in Nova Scotia in natural ecosystems with those in apple orchards under three levels of management, using trap nests, and to determine whether any native bees show promise for development as pollinators. Our results show that species richness and numbers of bees reared from trap nests in commercially managed orchards, abandoned orchards, and natural habitats were similar, and species’ compositional patterns were not unique to specific habitats. Trap nests can be used to increase and maintain cavity-nesting bee populations within Nova Scotia apple orchards. Osmia tersula Cockerell (Megachilidae), which accounted for almost 45% of all bees captured and was the most abundant species nesting in all habitats evaluated, should be assessed for potential as a commercial pollinator of spring-flowering crops. The influence of natural cavities on bee species richness in trap-nesting surveys is also discussed.

scholarly journals Diversified Floral Resource Plantings Support Bee Communities after Apple Bloom in Commercial Orchards

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Heller ◽  
Neelendra K. Joshi ◽  
Timothy Leslie ◽  
Edwin G. Rajotte ◽  
David J. Biddinger
Keyword(s):  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Beneficial Arthropods ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Additional Food ◽  
Pollinator Species ◽  
Tree Fruit ◽  
Nesting Resources ◽  
Floral Resource ◽  
Bee Communities

AbstractNatural habitats, comprised of various flowering plant species, provide food and nesting resources for pollinator species and other beneficial arthropods. Loss of such habitats in agricultural regions and in other human-modified landscapes could be a factor in recent bee declines. Artificially established floral plantings may offset these losses. A multi-year, season-long field study was conducted to examine how wildflower plantings near commercial apple orchards influenced bee communities. We examined bee abundance, species richness, diversity, and species assemblages in both the floral plantings and adjoining apple orchards. We also examined bee community subsets, such as known tree fruit pollinators, rare pollinator species, and bees collected during apple bloom. During this study, a total of 138 species of bees  were collected, which included 100 species in the floral plantings and 116 species in the apple orchards. Abundance of rare bee species was not significantly different between apple orchards and the floral plantings. During apple bloom, the known tree fruit pollinators were more frequently captured in the orchards than the floral plantings. However, after apple bloom, the abundance of known tree fruit pollinating bees increased significantly in the floral plantings, indicating potential for floral plantings to provide additional food and nesting resources when apple flowers are not available.

scholarly journals When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 2116-2131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niall Crawford ◽  
Thomas Endlein ◽  
Jonathan T Pham ◽  
Mathis Riehle ◽  
W Jon P Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Real Contact Area ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Litoria Caerulea ◽  
Frictional Forces ◽  
Tree Frogs ◽  
Air Pockets ◽  
Effect Of Surface

Tree frogs need to adhere to surfaces of various roughnesses in their natural habitats; these include bark, leaves and rocks. Rough surfaces can alter the effectiveness of their toe pads, due to factors such as a change of real contact area and abrasion of the pad epithelium. Here, we tested the effect of surface roughness on the attachment abilities of the tree frog Litoria caerulea. This was done by testing shear and adhesive forces on artificial surfaces with controlled roughness, both on single toe pads and whole animal scales. It was shown that frogs can stick 2–3 times better on small scale roughnesses (3–6 µm asperities), producing higher adhesive and frictional forces, but relatively poorly on the larger scale roughnesses tested (58.5–562.5 µm asperities). Our experiments suggested that, on such surfaces, the pads secrete insufficient fluid to fill the space under the pad, leaving air pockets that would significantly reduce the Laplace pressure component of capillarity. Therefore, we measured how well the adhesive toe pad would conform to spherical asperities of known sizes using interference reflection microscopy. Based on experiments where the conformation of the pad to individual asperities was examined microscopically, our calculations indicate that the pad epithelium has a low elastic modulus, making it highly deformable.

scholarly journals Mutual and Opposing Responses of Carabid Beetles and Predatory Wasps to Local and Landscape Factors in Vineyards

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 746
Author(s):  
Deniz Uzman ◽  
Martin H. Entling ◽  
Ilona Leyer ◽  
Annette Reineke
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Trophic Group ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Landscape Complexity ◽  
Biodiversity Crisis ◽  
Cavity Nesting

Preserving agro-biodiversity is one of the main means at the moment to counteract the global biodiversity crisis. Vineyard inter-rows offer vegetation covers which could function as foraging grounds for arthropods. Furthermore, organic management and enhanced landscape complexity often support biodiversity. Here, species richness and abundance of two groups of arthropod predators in vineyards were studied. Fifteen pairs of organically and conventionally managed vineyards were chosen along a gradient of landscape complexity in Rhine-Hesse, Germany. Carabid beetles were sampled using pitfall traps and cavity-nesting wasps with trap nests, respectively. Proportions of different land-use types surrounding the vineyards were calculated and inter-row vegetation cover was characterized. Species richness and abundances of both predator groups were not significantly affected by the management system. Likewise, increased cover of semi-natural habitats in the surrounding landscape did not promote their diversity or abundance. Instead, the increasing cover of annual crops diminished both groups. Cavity-nesting wasps profited from dense inter-row vegetation cover, while carabids were disadvantaged. The results indicate that distinct taxa within the same trophic group can respond oppositely to vineyard management. Thus, inter-row vegetation management with densely and sparsely vegetated elements might be best to support predator diversity. Overall, our results suggest that organic viticulture alone is insufficient to assist the studied insect groups, and that other local and landscape management options are needed for their protection.

Comparisons of the composition of foliage-dwelling spider assemblages in apple orchards and adjacent deciduous forest

2008 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.E. Sackett ◽  
C.M. Buddle ◽  
C. Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Physical Disturbance ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Annual Crops ◽  
Structural Disturbance ◽  
Forest Habitats

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that annual crops have different spider (Araneae) assemblages than adjacent relatively natural habitats, suggesting that spider recolonization of crops occurs via long-distance ballooning and that spider species in crops are mainly agrobionts. However, in perennial crops, e.g., apple (Malus domestica Borkhausen (Rosaceae)), which are subject to less physical disturbance than annual crops, overlap in spider species has been observed between tree foliage and adjacent habitats, suggesting that spiders colonize orchards from adjacent vegetation. The objective of this study was to compare the species composition of assemblages of foliage-dwelling spiders in apple orchards with that in adjacent deciduous forest and to determine whether spider assemblages in orchards are dominated by agrobiont species. Spiders were collected from four apple orchards and adjacent deciduous forest in southern Quebec from May until August 2004. The similarity of assemblages between the orchard and forest habitats was evaluated using nonmetric multidimensional scaling and multiresponse permutation procedures and spider species richness in the two habitat types was compared using rarefaction. Although spider species richness was higher in the forest than in the orchards, the composition of the spider assemblages in apple orchards was not significantly different from that in adjacent deciduous forest at three of the four sites. Therefore, adjacent deciduous forest, which is similar to orchards in vegetation structure and frequency of structural disturbance, is likely the main source of spiders found in apple orchards.

Bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) diversity within apple orchards and old fields in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 145 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cory S. Sheffield ◽  
Peter G. Kevan ◽  
Alana Pindar ◽  
Laurence Packer
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Old Fields ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Bee Communities ◽  
Annapolis Valley ◽  
Agricultural Regions

AbstractBees are important within terrestrial ecosystems, providing pollination, which facilitates plant reproduction. Agricultural regions are large landscapes containing varying proportions of cropland, natural, and semi-natural habitats. Most bees are not restricted to any of these and move freely throughout, exploiting food and nesting resources in favourable locations. Many factors affect bee diversity, and knowledge of these is crucial for promoting healthy bee communities. The main objectives of this study were to compare diversity and guild structure of bee communities across a range of land disturbance levels within the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada, in habitats ranging from managed apple orchards to old fields. The two habitat extremes differed significantly; intensely managed orchards had significantly lower species richness (∼50%) than observed/estimated in old fields, but orchards with intermediate levels of adjacent natural/semi-natural habitat showed affinities to either extreme depending on the metrics used for estimating species richness. Species assemblages in orchards had lower proportions of several guilds, particularly cavity-nesters, bumble bees, and cleptoparasites, than other habitats. These guilds accounted for over 30% of bees collected in old fields but only 3–10% in orchards, increasing with habitat complexity. The use of guilds for assessing the health of bee communities is discussed.

scholarly journals Social and Ecological Drivers of the Economic Value of Pollination Services Delivered to Coffee in Central Uganda

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Mushambanyi Théodore Munyuli
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Agricultural Extension Service ◽  
Coffee Farm

On-farm pollination experiments were conducted in 30 different small-scale coffee fields to determine monetary value attributable to pollination services in coffee production and to identify the degree of influences of various socio-ecological drivers in Uganda. Ecological-economic approaches were applied to determine the economic value of pollinating services. Economic value of bees increased significantly with increase in coffee farm size, bee diversity, and cover of seminatural habitats. The value of bees declined sharply (P<0.05) with forest distance and cultivation intensity. Economic values of pollinating services associated with coffee fields established in regions with low intensity were found to be high. Organically managed small-scale coffee fields were 2 times more profitable than commercially managed farms. The annual value of pollinating services delivered by wild bees oscillated between US$67.18 and US$1431.36. Central Uganda produces in total 0.401 million tons of coffee beans for an approximate economic value of US$214 million from which US$149.42 million are attributable to pollination services. Policy makers should strengthen environmental/agricultural extension service systems to better serve farmers. Farmers are recommended to protect/increase the cover of natural and semi-natural habitats in the vicinity of their coffee fields to receive high economic benefits from pollinating services delivered by bees.

Reproduction of cavity-nesting birds in pesticide-sprayed apple orchards in southern Ontario, Canada, 1988-1994

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 588-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Bishop ◽  
Brian Collins ◽  
Pierre Mineau ◽  
Neil M. Burgess ◽  
William F. Read ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Cavity Nesting
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