Pollinators in the City

Transcription

1 Pollinators in the City The Canadian Pollination Initiative and its Role in Urban Pollination Studies Peter G. Kevan & Marianna Horn University of Guelph 21 March, 2009 (Ecology Day)

2 The Buzz on Pollinators Pollination is the transfer of pollen from anther to stigma necessary for sexual reproduction in plants & Pollination Pollinators Bees are considered to be the most effective pollinators anther M Horn stigma

3 The Buzz on Pollinators Pollinator populations have suffered serious declines in the last decade from: Pesticides Habitat Loss Habitat Fragmentation Resource Destruction Diseases and Parasites Climate Change Stress M Horn

4 What is CANPOLIN? The Canadian Pollination Initiative All aspect of Pollination Science Bringing Canadian Pollination Science together Theme I Pollinators (wild & managed) Theme II Plants (reproductive biology, breeding systems, pollen movement) Theme III Community Ecology Theme IV Prediction & Economics

5 Wild Pollinators in Your Garden

6 Wild Pollinators in Your Garden: Small wings

7 Wild Pollinators in Your Garden: Big wings

8 Managed Pollinators in Your Garden Orchard & Leafcutting Bees

9 Managed Pollinators in Your Garden Honeybees

10 Managed Pollinators in Your Garden Bumble Bees

11 Managed Pollinators in Your Garden Leafcutter & Orchard Bees

12 Plant Breeding Systems Hermaphrodite: Perfect Unisex:Dioecy Bisexual: Monoecy

13 Heterostyly in Your Garden Pollen movement

14 Self-Incompatibility & Self- Compatibility Genetic basis for SI can be complex

15 Asexual Production of Seeds: Agamospermy Many weeds e.g. Dandelion

16 Pollen Movement: Wind Conifers & Many of our trees Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

17 Pollinator-Plant Community Ecology: Complexity & Conservation

18 Pollinator-Plant Community Ecology: Complexity & Conservation Habitat simplicity correlated with 1. Reduced pollinator diversity 2. Reduced sexual reproductive output of some plants 3. Increased generalization in insect relations with flowers 4. Reduced pollinator abundance Habitat complexity, even in gardens, correlated with 1. Pollinator diversity and abundance 2. Increased generalization in insect relations with flowers 3. Can off-set effects of small patch size of habitat (e.g. garden)

19 Economics of Pollination: Food, Fibre, and Ecosystem Security $ Billions to agriculture 1 in every 3 bites of food we eat! $ value for ecosystem services various huge estimates, but the world would be different without pollinators invaluable!

20 Pollinators in the City: K-W, Cambridge & Guelph

21 Pollinators in the City Based on the differences in land use between urban zones, the abundance and diversity of pollinators (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) differ between zones. Purpose: to establish a baseline of bee species for urban Southern Ontario to determine differences in abundance and diversity between different city zones to examine other features (including flora) of the zones to suggest reasons for differences and similarities

22 Green Space Industrial Open & wooded green spaces, parks, conservation areas, golf courses, etc Old Residential Land zoned for industrial use, even if not maintained as such New Residential Residential areas built & established more than 30 years ago Photos: M Horn Residential areas built & established within the last 10 years

23 Methods: Sites Minimum r = 500m of consistent zoning; > m 2 5 sites x 4 zones = 20 sites r=500m

24 Methods: Collection Trap nests Photos: M Horn Bee bowls (yellow and blue pan traps)

25 Methods: Identification DNA Barcoding Analysis using CO1 primers Match using BOLD (Barcode of Life Database) Photo: GSF

26 Results: Bee Abundance by Site (2007) Number of Bees Green Old Residential New Residential Industrial Zones by Site (1-5)

27 Results: Average Bee Abundance (2007) 300 Average Number of Bees b a a a Green Old Residential New Residential Industrial

28 Results: Trap nests (2007) 90 Average Number of Tubes Filled a bc b c 0 Green Old Res New Res Industrial

29 Results: Bee Abundance to Plant Species Number of Bees Collected R 2 = Number of Plant Species

30 Discussion A significant difference in abundance between industrial and other zones based on pan traps (2007) forthcoming data from 2008 will be similarly analysed do same comparison for diversity (ongoing for both 2007 & 2008) Significant difference between trap nest inhabitance between zones (2007) different trend than pan trap collections due to wasps biodiversity measure No correlation between number of species of plants and number of bees collected look at percent coverage rather than number of plant species for 2008 (ongoing) consideration of other factors: use of mulch, traffic, disturbance levels, naturalization (ongoing)

31 Acknowledgements Special thanks to: Members of the Kevan lab, especially Andrea, Erik, Andrew and Shawn Funding from: NSERC ERSI Scholarship Beatty-Munro Memorial Scholarship Call for volunteers! Can we use your garden? Check out our website: