Department of Entomology, Center for Pollinator Research, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Aug 30;11(1):17352. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95892-w.
Human-designed landscapes can host diverse pollinator communities, and the availability of floral resources is central to supporting insect biodiversity in highly modified environments. However, some urban landscapes have relatively few pollinator-attractive plant species and management in urban environments rarely considers the function of these plants in generating and supporting a stable ecological community. Evaluations of 25 cultivars within five commercially popular herbaceous perennial ornamental plant genera (Agastache, Echinacea, Nepeta, Rudbeckia, and Salvia) revealed variation in the total and proportional abundance of visitors attracted. These varieties supported multiple pollinator functional groups, however bees were the primary visitors to in this system. Cultivars were assessed according to their function within a plant-pollinator network. Comparisons of artificial networks created with the six most attractive and six least attractive cultivars demonstrated that a planting scheme using the most attractive cultivars would attract nearly four times as many bee species, including several specialists and rare species. Plant diversity in the landscape was correlated with abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, demonstrating that community context shapes a plant's relative attractiveness to pollinators. We conclude that herbaceous perennial cultivars can support an abundance and diversity of pollinator visitors, however, planting schemes should take into consideration the effects of cultivar, landscape plant diversity, floral phenology, floral area, and contribution to a stable ecological community.
人为设计的景观可以容纳多种多样的传粉媒介群落，而花卉资源的可获得性是支持高度改造环境中昆虫生物多样性的核心。然而，一些城市景观中可供传粉媒介利用的植物种类相对较少，城市环境中的管理很少考虑这些植物在产生和支持稳定生态群落方面的功能。对五种商业上受欢迎的草本多年生观赏植物属（Agastache、Echinacea、Nepeta、Rudbeckia 和 Salvia）中的 25 个品种进行评估，发现吸引的访客总数和比例存在差异。这些品种支持多种传粉媒介功能群，但在这个系统中蜜蜂是主要访客。根据它们在植物-传粉媒介网络中的功能对品种进行评估。使用最具吸引力的 6 个品种和最不具吸引力的 6 个品种创建的人工网络比较表明，使用最具吸引力的品种进行种植方案将吸引近四倍的蜜蜂物种，包括一些专家和稀有物种。景观中的植物多样性与传粉媒介访客的丰度和多样性相关，表明群落环境塑造了植物对传粉媒介的相对吸引力。我们得出结论，草本多年生品种可以支持大量和多样化的传粉媒介访客，但种植方案应考虑品种、景观植物多样性、花期、花区以及对稳定生态群落的贡献的影响。
