Xie Zhenghua, Pan Dongdong, Teichroew Jonathan, An Jiandong
Department of Environmental Entomology, Research Institute of Insect Resources, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Department of Statistics, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
PLoS One. 2016 Jan 14;11(1):e0144590. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144590. eCollection 2016.
Bee species interactions can benefit plant pollination through synergistic effects and complementary effects, or can be of detriment to plant pollination through competition effects by reducing visitation by effective pollinators. Since specific bee interactions influence the foraging performance of bees on flowers, they also act as drivers to regulate the assemblage of flower visitors. We selected squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) and its pollinators as a model system to study the foraging response of honey bees to the occurrence of bumble bees at two types of sites surrounded by a high amount of natural habitats (≥ 58% of land cover) and a low amount of natural habitats (≤ 12% of land cover) in a highland agricultural ecosystem in China. At the individual level, we measured the elapsed time from the departure of prior pollinator(s) to the arrival of another pollinator, the selection of honey bees for flowers occupied by bumble bees, and the length of time used by honey bees to explore floral resources at the two types of sites. At the community level, we explored the effect of bumble bee visitation on the distribution patterns of honey bees on squash flowers. Conclusively, bumble bee visitation caused an increase in elapsed time before flowers were visited again by a honey bee, a behavioral avoidance by a newly-arriving honey bee to select flowers occupied by bumble bees, and a shortened length of time the honey bee takes to examine and collect floral resources. The number of overall bumble bees on squash flowers was the most important factor explaining the difference in the distribution patterns of honey bees at the community level. Furthermore, decline in the number of overall bumble bees on the squash flowers resulted in an increase in the number of overall honey bees. Therefore, our study suggests that bee interactions provide an opportunity to enhance the resilience of ecosystem pollination services against the decline in pollinator diversity.
蜜蜂物种间的相互作用可通过协同效应和互补效应促进植物授粉，也可能因有效传粉者的访花次数减少产生竞争效应，从而对植物授粉造成损害。由于特定的蜜蜂相互作用会影响蜜蜂在花朵上的觅食表现，它们也成为调节访花者群落组成的驱动因素。我们选择南瓜（西葫芦）及其传粉者作为模型系统，研究在中国一个高原农业生态系统中，在两种不同类型的地点（一种被大量自然栖息地包围，土地覆盖面积≥58%；另一种被少量自然栖息地包围，土地覆盖面积≤12%），蜜蜂对熊蜂出现的觅食反应。在个体层面，我们测量了前一个传粉者离开到另一个传粉者到达的间隔时间、蜜蜂对被熊蜂占据的花朵的选择，以及蜜蜂在这两种地点探索花卉资源所花费的时间长度。在群落层面，我们探究了熊蜂访花对蜜蜂在南瓜花上分布模式的影响。结果表明，熊蜂的访花导致蜜蜂再次访花前的间隔时间增加、新到达的蜜蜂会避开被熊蜂占据的花朵，以及蜜蜂检查和采集花卉资源的时间缩短。南瓜花上熊蜂的总数是解释群落层面蜜蜂分布模式差异的最重要因素。此外，南瓜花上熊蜂总数的减少导致蜜蜂总数增加。因此，我们的研究表明，蜜蜂之间的相互作用为增强生态系统授粉服务抵御传粉者多样性下降的恢复力提供了机会。
