Cargando…

Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient

BACKGROUND: The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to global declines of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification have historically been the main causes of this pollinator...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bates, Adam J., Sadler, Jon P., Fairbrass, Alison J., Falk, Steven J., Hale, James D., Matthews, Tom J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155562/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21858128
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023459
_version_ 1782210139833499648
author Bates, Adam J.
Sadler, Jon P.
Fairbrass, Alison J.
Falk, Steven J.
Hale, James D.
Matthews, Tom J.
author_facet Bates, Adam J.
Sadler, Jon P.
Fairbrass, Alison J.
Falk, Steven J.
Hale, James D.
Matthews, Tom J.
author_sort Bates, Adam J.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to global declines of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification have historically been the main causes of this pollinator decline. However, despite increasing and accelerating levels of global urbanization, very little research has investigated the effects of urbanization on pollinator assemblages. We assessed changes in the diversity, abundance and species composition of bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages in urban, suburban, and rural sites across a UK city. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Bees and hoverflies were trapped and netted at 24 sites of similar habitat character (churchyards and cemeteries) that varied in position along a gradient of urbanization. Local habitat quality (altitude, shelter from wind, diversity and abundance of flowers), and the broader-scale degree of urbanization (e.g. percentage of built landscape and gardens within 100 m, 250 m, 500 m, 1 km, and 2.5 km of the site) were assessed for each study site. The diversity and abundance of pollinators were both significantly negatively associated with higher levels of urbanization. Assemblage composition changed along the urbanization gradient with some species positively associated with urban and suburban land-use, but more species negatively so. Pollinator assemblages were positively affected by good site habitat quality, in particular the availability of flowering plants. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that urban areas can support diverse pollinator assemblages, but that this capacity is strongly affected by local habitat quality. Nonetheless, in both urban and suburban areas of the city the assemblages had fewer individuals and lower diversity than similar rural habitats. The unique development histories of different urban areas, and the difficulty of assessing mobile pollinator assemblages in just part of their range, mean that complementary studies in different cities and urban habitats are required to discover if these findings are more widely applicable.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3155562
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2011
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-31555622011-08-19 Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient Bates, Adam J. Sadler, Jon P. Fairbrass, Alison J. Falk, Steven J. Hale, James D. Matthews, Tom J. PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The potential for reduced pollination ecosystem service due to global declines of bees and other pollinators is cause for considerable concern. Habitat degradation, destruction and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification have historically been the main causes of this pollinator decline. However, despite increasing and accelerating levels of global urbanization, very little research has investigated the effects of urbanization on pollinator assemblages. We assessed changes in the diversity, abundance and species composition of bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages in urban, suburban, and rural sites across a UK city. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Bees and hoverflies were trapped and netted at 24 sites of similar habitat character (churchyards and cemeteries) that varied in position along a gradient of urbanization. Local habitat quality (altitude, shelter from wind, diversity and abundance of flowers), and the broader-scale degree of urbanization (e.g. percentage of built landscape and gardens within 100 m, 250 m, 500 m, 1 km, and 2.5 km of the site) were assessed for each study site. The diversity and abundance of pollinators were both significantly negatively associated with higher levels of urbanization. Assemblage composition changed along the urbanization gradient with some species positively associated with urban and suburban land-use, but more species negatively so. Pollinator assemblages were positively affected by good site habitat quality, in particular the availability of flowering plants. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that urban areas can support diverse pollinator assemblages, but that this capacity is strongly affected by local habitat quality. Nonetheless, in both urban and suburban areas of the city the assemblages had fewer individuals and lower diversity than similar rural habitats. The unique development histories of different urban areas, and the difficulty of assessing mobile pollinator assemblages in just part of their range, mean that complementary studies in different cities and urban habitats are required to discover if these findings are more widely applicable. Public Library of Science 2011-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC3155562/ /pubmed/21858128 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023459 Text en Bates et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Bates, Adam J.
Sadler, Jon P.
Fairbrass, Alison J.
Falk, Steven J.
Hale, James D.
Matthews, Tom J.
Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title_full Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title_fullStr Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title_full_unstemmed Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title_short Changing Bee and Hoverfly Pollinator Assemblages along an Urban-Rural Gradient
title_sort changing bee and hoverfly pollinator assemblages along an urban-rural gradient
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3155562/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21858128
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0023459
work_keys_str_mv AT batesadamj changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient
AT sadlerjonp changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient
AT fairbrassalisonj changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient
AT falkstevenj changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient
AT halejamesd changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient
AT matthewstomj changingbeeandhoverflypollinatorassemblagesalonganurbanruralgradient