Cargando…
Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality
SIMPLE SUMMARY: Pollinators are essential to produce fruits in apple production. Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming season, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. Hedgerows and flower strips are infrequ...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151366/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34066789 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12050421 |
_version_ | 1783698366135271424 |
---|---|
author | Gervais, Amélie Bélisle, Marc Mazerolle, Marc J. Fournier, Valérie |
author_facet | Gervais, Amélie Bélisle, Marc Mazerolle, Marc J. Fournier, Valérie |
author_sort | Gervais, Amélie |
collection | PubMed |
description | SIMPLE SUMMARY: Pollinators are essential to produce fruits in apple production. Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming season, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. Hedgerows and flower strips are infrequently sprayed by pesticides and are thus potentially good shelter for bumble bees. This study evaluated the influence of landscaping in the form of hedgerows and flower strips on the abundance and number of bumble bee species found in apple orchards. The number of bumble bee species found in orchards with hedgerows or flower strips was higher than in orchards without such landscape enhancements. Similarly, three species were more abundant in orchards with landscaping than orchards without those enhancements. Our work provides additional evidence that landscaping in the form of hedgerows and/or flower strips improves bumble bee presence in apple orchards and should therefore be considered as a means to enhance and ensure pollination within farms. ABSTRACT: Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming period, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of landscape enhancements (e.g., hedgerows, flower strips) on bumble bee queens in apple orchards. Bumble bee queens from 12 orchards in southern Québec (Canada) were marked, released, and recaptured in the springs and falls of 2017 to 2019. Half of the 12 orchards had landscape enhancements. Apples were harvested in 2018 and 2019 to compare their quality (weight, diameter, sugar level, and seed number) in sites with and without landscape enhancements. Species richness, as well as the occurrence of three species out of eight, was higher in orchards with landscape enhancements than in orchards without such structures. The occurrence of Bombus ternarius was lower in orchards with high levels of pesticide use. Apples had fewer seeds when collected in orchards with landscape enhancements and were heavier in orchards that used more pesticides. Our work provides additional evidence that landscape enhancements improve bumble bee presence in apple orchards and should therefore be considered as a means to enhance pollination within farms. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8151366 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-81513662021-05-27 Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality Gervais, Amélie Bélisle, Marc Mazerolle, Marc J. Fournier, Valérie Insects Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Pollinators are essential to produce fruits in apple production. Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming season, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. Hedgerows and flower strips are infrequently sprayed by pesticides and are thus potentially good shelter for bumble bees. This study evaluated the influence of landscaping in the form of hedgerows and flower strips on the abundance and number of bumble bee species found in apple orchards. The number of bumble bee species found in orchards with hedgerows or flower strips was higher than in orchards without such landscape enhancements. Similarly, three species were more abundant in orchards with landscaping than orchards without those enhancements. Our work provides additional evidence that landscaping in the form of hedgerows and/or flower strips improves bumble bee presence in apple orchards and should therefore be considered as a means to enhance and ensure pollination within farms. ABSTRACT: Bumble bees are among the most effective pollinators in orchards during the blooming period, yet they are often threatened by the high levels of pesticide use in apple production. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of landscape enhancements (e.g., hedgerows, flower strips) on bumble bee queens in apple orchards. Bumble bee queens from 12 orchards in southern Québec (Canada) were marked, released, and recaptured in the springs and falls of 2017 to 2019. Half of the 12 orchards had landscape enhancements. Apples were harvested in 2018 and 2019 to compare their quality (weight, diameter, sugar level, and seed number) in sites with and without landscape enhancements. Species richness, as well as the occurrence of three species out of eight, was higher in orchards with landscape enhancements than in orchards without such structures. The occurrence of Bombus ternarius was lower in orchards with high levels of pesticide use. Apples had fewer seeds when collected in orchards with landscape enhancements and were heavier in orchards that used more pesticides. Our work provides additional evidence that landscape enhancements improve bumble bee presence in apple orchards and should therefore be considered as a means to enhance pollination within farms. MDPI 2021-05-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8151366/ /pubmed/34066789 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12050421 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Gervais, Amélie Bélisle, Marc Mazerolle, Marc J. Fournier, Valérie Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title | Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title_full | Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title_fullStr | Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title_full_unstemmed | Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title_short | Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality |
title_sort | landscape enhancements in apple orchards: higher bumble bee queen species richness, but no effect on apple quality |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8151366/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34066789 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects12050421 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT gervaisamelie landscapeenhancementsinappleorchardshigherbumblebeequeenspeciesrichnessbutnoeffectonapplequality AT belislemarc landscapeenhancementsinappleorchardshigherbumblebeequeenspeciesrichnessbutnoeffectonapplequality AT mazerollemarcj landscapeenhancementsinappleorchardshigherbumblebeequeenspeciesrichnessbutnoeffectonapplequality AT fourniervalerie landscapeenhancementsinappleorchardshigherbumblebeequeenspeciesrichnessbutnoeffectonapplequality |