Conservation Conundrum: At-risk Bumble Bees (Bombus spp.) Show Preference for Invasive Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) While Foraging in Protected Areas
dc.contributor.author | Gibson, Shelby D | |
dc.contributor.author | Liczner, Amanda R | |
dc.contributor.author | Colla, Sheila R | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-02-04T19:46:49Z | |
dc.date.available | 2020-02-04T19:46:49Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2019-03-02 | |
dc.description.abstract | In recent decades, some bumble bee species have declined, including in North America. Declines have been reported in species of bumble bees historically present in Ontario, including: yellow bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) (Fabricus, 1798), American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) (DeGeer, 1773), and yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) (Kirby, 1837). Threats contributing to bumble bee population declines include: land-use changes, habitat loss, climate change, pathogen spillover, and pesticide use. A response to the need for action on pollinator preservation in North America has been to encourage ‘bee-friendly’ plantings. Previous studies show differences in common and at-risk bumble bee foraging; however, similar data are unavailable for Ontario. Our research question is whether there is a difference in co-occurring at-risk and common bumble bee (Bombus spp.) floral use (including nectar and pollen collection) in protected areas in southern Ontario. We hypothesize that common and at-risk species forage differently, predicting that at-risk species forage on a limited selection of host plants. We conducted a field survey of sites in southern Ontario, using observational methods to determine bumble bee foraging by species. The results of a redundancy analysis show a difference in foraging between common and at-risk bumblebee species. At-risk bumble bee species show a preference for foraging on invasive, naturalized Vicia cracca (tufted vetch). This finding raises the question of how to preserve or provide forage for at-risk bumble bees, when they show an association with an invasive species often subject to control in protected areas. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | York University Libraries | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | Journal of Insect Science 19.2 (2019):1-10. | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 1536-2442 | |
dc.identifier.uri | doi: 10.1093/jisesa/iez017 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10315/36950 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. | en_US |
dc.rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada | * |
dc.rights.article | https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/19/2/10/5368164 | en_US |
dc.rights.journal | https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience | en_US |
dc.rights.publisher | https://academic.oup.com/journals | en_US |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/ | * |
dc.subject | Plant-pollinator Interactions | en_US |
dc.subject | Pollination | |
dc.subject | Habitat Management | |
dc.subject | Restoration | |
dc.subject | Conservation | |
dc.title | Conservation Conundrum: At-risk Bumble Bees (Bombus spp.) Show Preference for Invasive Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) While Foraging in Protected Areas | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |