School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
UCD Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Oecologia. 2023 Mar;201(3):689-701. doi: 10.1007/s00442-023-05332-x. Epub 2023 Feb 15.
Insect pollination, and in particular pollination by bees, is a highly valued ecosystem service that ensures plant reproduction and the production of high-quality crops. Bee activity is known to be influenced by the weather, and as the global climate continues to change, the flying frequency and foraging behaviour of bees may also change. To maximise the benefits of pollination in a changing world, we must first understand how current weather conditions influence the activity of different bee species. This is of particular interest in a country such as Ireland where inclement weather conditions are nominally sub-optimal for foraging. We observed honeybee (Apis mellifera) and buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) activity across a variety of weather conditions at seven apple orchards to determine how four weather variables (temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind) influenced the flight activity of each species. Each orchard contained three honeybee and three bumblebee colonies, and so we were able to observe a colony of each species concurrently in the same weather conditions. Overall, honeybees were more sensitive to changes in weather than bumblebees and could be more predisposed to future changes in within-day weather conditions. Our results indicate bumblebees could compensate for low honeybee activity in inclement conditions, which supports the theory that pollinator diversity provides resilience. This may be particularly important in management of pollinators in crops that flower in the spring when weather is more variable, and to allow varied responses to global climate change.
昆虫传粉，特别是蜜蜂传粉，是一种高度重视的生态系统服务，它确保了植物的繁殖和高质量作物的生产。众所周知，蜜蜂的活动受到天气的影响，随着全球气候的持续变化，蜜蜂的飞行频率和觅食行为也可能发生变化。为了在不断变化的世界中最大限度地发挥传粉的好处，我们必须首先了解当前的天气条件如何影响不同蜜蜂物种的活动。在爱尔兰这样的国家，恶劣的天气条件对觅食来说通常不是最佳的，这一点尤其重要。我们在七个苹果园的各种天气条件下观察了蜜蜂蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）和黄带熊蜂（Bombus terrestris）的活动，以确定四个天气变量（温度、相对湿度、太阳辐射、风）如何影响每个物种的飞行活动。每个果园都有三个蜜蜂和三个熊蜂群，因此我们能够在相同的天气条件下同时观察到每个物种的一个蜂群。总的来说，蜜蜂对天气变化比熊蜂更为敏感，而且可能更容易受到未来天气变化的影响。我们的研究结果表明，在恶劣条件下，熊蜂可以弥补蜜蜂活动的减少，这支持了传粉者多样性提供弹性的理论。这在管理春季开花的作物中的传粉者时可能尤为重要，因为这可以使它们对全球气候变化做出不同的反应。
