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1.
1. An important means of conserving beneficial insects in resource‐limited habitats is to meet their ecological requirements, which may be achieved by providing areas containing flowering plants that bloom throughout the season, but little is known about the importance of wildflower plot size for supporting natural enemies or the biological control they provide. 2. Wildflowers were established in plots of sizes ranging from 1 to 100 m2, and found that natural enemy density, group richness, and diversity of natural enemy groups increased with plot size. 3. The density of insect herbivores was lower in all flower plots than in the control samples, whereas the diversity of herbivore groups was significantly higher in flower plots. 4. Comparing population growth of sentinel soybean aphids (Aphis glycines Matsumura) among plot sizes, aphid colonies were smaller as plot size increased. 5. Providing beneficial insects with flowering resources resulted in significantly more natural enemies and greater pest control than in smaller flower plots or mown grass areas. 6. These results indicate that the density, diversity, and function of natural enemies are sensitive to the size of wildflower plantings, even at relatively small scales. Therefore, larger wildflower plots are more suitable for the conservation of beneficial insects and their provision of natural pest control.  相似文献   

2.
Native wildflower plantings can be used to provide nutritional resources to support pollinating insects, yet the effects of planting size and bloom richness on the density, diversity, and function of these insects are not well understood. We established stands of twelve native flowering perennial plant species in replicated plots ranging in size from 1 to 100 m2. These plots were sampled for insect pollinators, bloom richness, and seed production by three wildflower species. Honeybees, wild bees, and hoverflies all responded positively to increasing flower richness, whereas particular insect pollinator groups responded differently to the size of the flowering plant area. The density of honeybees and hoverflies was not affected by increasing flowering patch size, whereas in general, wild bees were observed at higher density and diversity in the 30 and 100 m2 patches. Increasing wildflower patch size, and thus wild bee density, resulted in greater seed set in the sampled wildflowers. These results indicate that wild bees are sensitive to the area and richness of floral resources in patches, even at relatively small scales. Therefore, larger wildflower plantings with more diverse flower species mixes are more suitable for the conservation of wild pollinators and reproduction of sown species.  相似文献   

3.
4.
Sowing of wildflower strips has been integrated in agri-environment schemes of several European countries. Their beneficial effects on natural enemies of pest insects are well documented but (1) the desired spill-over into crop fields has not always been demonstrated, and (2) the need to adapt sown mixtures to regional climatic differences has been rarely addressed.We set up a multi-site experiment in different French climatic regions to compare effects of a wildflower strip with a grass mixture and spontaneous vegetation. The design included five regions, three to five fields per region and the three strip treatments being repeated in each field. We tested strip treatment effects on vegetation (plant species richness, plant and flower cover) and on natural enemies (hoverflies, ladybirds, aphid predation). In a subset, we further analysed the spill-over into winter wheat fields including natural enemies and pest insects (cereal aphids, leaf beetles).The wildflower strip mixture developed well in all regions and increased plant species richness and flower cover compared with grass strips and spontaneous vegetation. We found a corresponding higher hoverfly abundance and aphid predation in wildflower strips that were consistent in all regions, whereas ladybird abundance was not affected. A significantly higher hoverfly abundance, aphid predation and aphid parasitism in wheat fields close to wildflower strips indicated a spill-over. No corresponding margin treatment effects were observed for aphid and leaf beetle abundance in the field. A multivariate analysis comparing the influence of climate and vegetation parameters showed that floral cover better explained variation in natural enemy abundance and predation than climate. Our results demonstrated that similar mixtures of native plants can be used over large climatic gradients to improve biocontrol. Further research is needed to improve spill-over into crop fields and to obtain consistently strong effects in different climate zones.  相似文献   

5.
Resources for natural enemies are often lacking in agricultural fields. The provisioning of floral resources in crop fields can ameliorate this problem by providing nectar and pollen to natural enemies. To select an appropriate floral resource, plants must be screened for their flowering times and attractiveness to natural enemies and pests. We tested the attractiveness of nine species of annual flowering plants to hoverflies, which are important predators of aphids in California lettuce fields. We also sampled arthropods in the foliage of tested plants, to assess the abundances of other natural enemy and pest species that were present. Tested plants included three commonly-used insectary plants and six flowering plant species that showed potential as either harvestable herbs or cut flowers. Harvestable insectary plants may provide additional economic incentive for growers to set aside land for floral resources. The commonly-used insectary plant sweet alyssum consistently attracted the most hoverflies and the least bees, while potentially harvestable plants attracted few hoverflies. Competition with bees may have reduced hoverfly visits to several of the tested plant species. Sweet alyssum also stayed in bloom the longest, and contained the highest numbers of predatory hemipterans. Results suggest that plants should be screened for their attractiveness to not only the target biological control agent, but also to other potential competitors for floral resources. While this initial study focused on a limited selection of harvestable annual plants, a wide variety of other marketable plant species, particularly perennials, remain to be tested for their attractiveness to hoverflies or other beneficial arthropods.  相似文献   

6.
论我国昆虫多样性的保护与利用   总被引:12,自引:1,他引:11  
尤民生 《生物多样性》1997,5(2):135-141
本文论述了保护昆虫多样性的意义、我国昆虫多样性的基本特点及面临的问题、昆虫多样性的保护战略和利用对策。文中强调指出,昆虫是生物界的一个主要类群,在我国,需要防治的害虫大约只占全部昆虫种类数的1%,其余种类对人类都是有益或者是中性的,它们不仅可以作为显花植物的传粉者、为人类提供食物和各种工业原料,而且可以作为许多害虫或杂草的天敌,以及用于环境净化和科学研究。我国由于地域辽阔,生境复杂,因此,昆虫种类极为丰富,珍稀物种及有益昆虫较多。然而,由于受到人类活动的干扰,我国昆虫多样性面临着生境遭到破坏,物种濒于灭绝,天敌大量减少等问题。为了有效地保护和利用我国的昆虫资源,作者提出了一些战略和对策。  相似文献   

7.
Insects are one of the most important groups in the natural world. They affect the life and welfare of humans in many different ways. While some insects are referred to as pests, others are beneficial to humans. For example, they may serve a function as pollinators of many cultivated plants, as natural enemies of harmful species, or as producers of valuable materials such as honey and silk. Several insect species, however, are not currently known as being harmful or beneficial. Nevertheless they are extremely important as essential components of both natural and modified ecosystems. In China, only 1% of insect species described are major pests. The majority of insects are either neutral or beneficial to humans. China, with its vast territory, diverse climate and ecosystems, is amongst the richest countries in insect diversity. However, as a result of the economic and population growth and development, Chinas insect diversity is now faced with habitat degradation, species extinction, and a decline in the natural enemies of harmful pests. These problems are due to the expansion of agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, pollution, mining, tourism, introduced species, hunting, and the illegal trade in endangered species. In order to exploit the beneficial components of insects as biological resources and to effectively control their harmful aspects, many national strategies, legal actions and capacity-building activities have been developed and implemented. These efforts work towards the goal of insect diversity conservation in China.  相似文献   

8.
The yield of many agricultural crops depends on pollination services provided by wild and managed bees, many of which are experiencing declines due to factors such as reductions in floral resources. Thus, improving pollinator habitat on farmlands using management strategies like planting wildflower strips is vital for wild bee conservation and sustainable crop pollination. Yet, few studies have examined whether and at what spatial scales wildflower strips enhance crop pollination and yields, and most research has been conducted in large-scale commercial agriculture. Therefore, we investigated the effects of wildflower strips on crop pollination on small, diversified farms (i.e., those growing a variety of crop species) where wild bee diversity and abundance is predicted to be comparatively high. Over three years, on four diversified farms in Montana USA, we tested the hypothesis that distance (20, 60, and 180 m) of crops from native perennial wildflower strips planted alongside crop fields affected wild bee visitation, pollination, and yields of squash and sunflower crop plants. We found that distance to wildflower strips did not affect bee visitation or pollination in crops. Squash yield was pollen-limited in the growing season prior to wildflower strip establishment, and in one of the two years after wildflower strip establishment, but proximity to wildflower strips did not influence the magnitude of pollen limitation. Sunflower seed production was not pollen-limited in any year. Our findings demonstrate that even on diverse farms with wildflower strips and a demonstrated high diversity of bees, some crops do not necessarily receive maximum pollination, regardless of distance from the wildflower strips. However, the value of wildflower strips for supporting wild bee diversity, and other ecological or economic benefits, needs consideration for a full understanding of this pollinator habitat management strategy.  相似文献   

9.
Wildflower strips (WFS) are amongst the most commonly applied measures to promote pollinators and natural enemies of crop pests in agroecosystems. Their potential to enhance these functionally important insect groups may vary substantially with time since establishment of WFS. However, knowledge on their temporal dynamics remains scarce, hampering recommendations for optimized design and management. We therefore examined temporal dynamics of taxonomic and functional groups of bees and hoverflies in perennial WFS ranging from one to ≥6 years since sowing with a standardized species-rich seed mixture of flowering plants in 18 agricultural landscapes in Switzerland. The abundance of wild bees, honeybees and hoverflies declined after the second year by 89%, 62% and 72%, respectively. Declines in bee abundance and hoverfly species richness were linear and those of aphidophagous hoverflies exponential, while wild bee species richness peaked in the third year. Declines over time generally paralleled decreases in flower abundance (-83%) and flowering species richness (-61%) and an increase in grass cover (+70%) in WFS. Flowering plant species richness showed strong positive relationships with dominant crop-visiting wild bees and aphidophagous hoverflies. Furthermore, dominant crop-visiting wild bees, but not aphidophagous hoverflies, were positively related to the proportion of (semi-)open semi-natural habitat in the surrounding landscape (500 m radius), but negatively with forest. We conclude that the effectiveness of perennial WFS to promote pollinator diversity, crop-pollinating bees and aphidophagous hoverflies through foraging resources decreases after the first two to three years, probably due to a decline of diverse and abundant floral resources. Although older perennial WFS may still provide valuable nesting and overwintering opportunities for pollinators and natural enemies, our findings indicate that regular re-sowing of perennial WFS may be necessary to maintain adequate floral resource provisioning for effective pollinator conservation and promotion of crop pollination and natural pest control services in agricultural landscapes.  相似文献   

10.
Introduced plants may be important foraging resources for honey bees and wild pollinators, but how often and why pollinators visit introduced plants across an entire plant community is not well understood. Understanding the importance of introduced plants for pollinators could help guide management of these plants and conservation of pollinator habitat. We assessed how floral abundance and pollinator preference influence pollinator visitation rate and diversity on 30 introduced versus 24 native plants in central New York. Honey bees visited introduced and native plants at similar rates regardless of floral abundance. In contrast, as floral abundance increased, wild pollinator visitation rate decreased more strongly for introduced plants than native plants. Introduced plants as a group and native plants as a group did not differ in bee diversity or preference, but honey bees and wild pollinators preferred different plant species. As a case study, we then focused on knapweed (Centaurea spp.), an introduced plant that was the most preferred plant by honey bees, and that beekeepers value as a late‐summer foraging resource. We compared the extent to which honey bees versus wild pollinators visited knapweed relative to coflowering plants, and we quantified knapweed pollen and nectar collection by honey bees across 22 New York apiaries. Honey bees visited knapweed more frequently than coflowering plants and at a similar rate as all wild pollinators combined. All apiaries contained knapweed pollen in nectar, 86% of apiaries contained knapweed pollen in bee bread, and knapweed was sometimes a main pollen or nectar source for honey bees in late summer. Our results suggest that because of diverging responses to floral abundance and preferences for different plants, honey bees and wild pollinators differ in their use of introduced plants. Depending on the plant and its abundance, removing an introduced plant may impact honey bees more than wild pollinators.  相似文献   

11.
Pollination is an essential ecosystem service for pollinator-dependent crops and plant communities. Apis mellifera L. is by far the most commonly used species to obtain this service in agriculture. However, there is growing evidence of the importance for crop yields of the service provided by wild bees and non-bee insect pollinators. Establishing flower resources in agricultural landscapes is a management practice that can increase insect pollinator populations and improve crop yields. We established perennial native flower strips (NFS) in four avocado orchards in central Chile during autumn 2017. We monitored flower visitors and counted newly formed fruits in avocados near and far from NFS in spring 2019, to assess flower visitor groups, flower visitation rates and fruit numbers. Only A. mellifera visited avocado flowers within bees, whereas both the managed A. mellifera and wild bees were the main visitors to the NFS. NFS increased visitation rates to adjacent avocado of flies, and with a trend for the sum of all non-managed flower visitors (i.e. excluding A. mellifera). However, there were no differences in the rates of A. mellifera visitation to avocados near and far from NFS. Avocado fruit numbers were higher among avocados near NFS than among those farther away. This difference could be due to better pollination by the increased visits to avocado flowers by flies or other wild insects. Therefore, NFS could contribute to crop fruit number, as well as conservation of native flora, wild bees and non-bee pollinators on fruit farms in the “Central Chile” biodiversity hotspot.  相似文献   

12.
Wildflower areas have become a staple tool within agro-environmental schemes (AES) to counteract pollinator declines. While their role in providing food resources to resident flower-visiting insects is unambiguous, the conservation effectiveness in a landscape context is less clear. Particularly, how multiple vs. single wildflower area utilization differs between simple and complex landscapes is understudied. We examined colonisation and community dynamics of wild bees and hoverflies in 33 newly established wildflower areas across a gradient of landscape complexity (amount of semi-natural habitat) and connectivity (presence of additional wildflower areas) for seven weeks during three consecutive years (one year during and two after establishment). We recorded more than 25% of the wild bee and hoverfly species of Hesse in an area of approx. 10 ha, substantiating the general benefit of wildflower areas to pollinators. While alpha-diversity increased with landscape complexity in isolated wildflower areas, the opposite pattern was observed for connected areas. The low alpha-diversity in complex landscapes indicated a dilution effect between connected sites. The inverse relationship between alpha and beta diversity among wildflower areas within landscapes suggests interspecific trade-offs between local resource conditions and landscape context. Accordingly, the establishment of multiple wildflower areas within AES is advisable to increase connectivity of suitable habitats in simple landscapes. Moreover, adjusting local conditions (plant diversity) to landscape context likely optimizes conservation effectiveness in modern agroecosystems.  相似文献   

13.
转基因抗虫作物对非靶标昆虫的影响   总被引:18,自引:3,他引:15  
转基因抗虫作物自 1996年被批准商业化种植以来 ,它的抗虫性和经济效益已得到了普遍肯定 ,同时 ,转基因抗虫作物对非靶标生物的影响 ,如转基因抗虫作物的长期种植 ,是否会导致次要害虫上升为主要害虫 ,是否会影响有益昆虫 ,包括重要经济昆虫、捕食性和寄生性天敌以及重要蝶类的种类及种群数量 ,已成为转基因抗虫作物生态风险评估的重要内容。一些研究结果表明 ,转基因抗虫作物在对靶标害虫有效控制的同时 ,一些对杀虫蛋白不敏感的非靶标害虫有加重危害的趋势 ,由于种植转基因抗虫作物 ,减少了化学农药的使用 ,客观上也使非靶标害虫种群数量上升 ,这对转基因抗虫作物害虫综合治理提出了新的要求。靶标害虫数量的减少直接影响了害虫天敌种群数量 ,靶标害虫取食转基因抗虫作物后发育迟缓 ,也间接影响了天敌昆虫的生长发育 ,转基因抗虫作物的花粉或花蜜是一些重要经济昆虫如蜜蜂、熊蜂和一些寄生蜂 ,甚至捕食性天敌的食物来源 ,或花粉飘落到一些鳞翅目昆虫如家蚕或重要蝶类昆虫的寄主植物上 ,直接或间接对这些昆虫造成一定影响。目前大多数研究表明转基因抗虫作物对非靶标昆虫 ,特别是对有益昆虫没有明显的不利影响 ,也有研究报道认为对某些有益昆虫有一定的不良影响。这为深入开展转基因抗虫作物的生态安全  相似文献   

14.
The influence of three margin strip treatments (wildflower strips, grass strips and spontaneous vegetation) adjacent to apple orchards on the biological control of Dysaphis plantaginea Passerini (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was compared during two consecutive years. The wildflower strips provided the highest amount of floral resources. Within the margin strips, hoverflies responded positively to higher resource provisioning whereas ladybird abundance did not differ between strip treatments. Within the orchards, the presence of parasitoids, hoverflies, and ladybirds in aphid colonies and the predation of sentinel aphids were not significantly affected by the adjacent strip treatments. The number of natural enemies observed in aphid colonies was mainly driven by aphid number. Aphid numbers were higher close to the margin strips suggesting that aphid colonization from orchard edges may counteract the positive effect of wildflower strips on natural enemy abundance and on a reduction of aphid infestation. The results confirm the positive influence of floral resource provisioning by wildflower strips on the conservation of aphid natural enemies, but also suggest that effects of wildflower strips on aphid regulation inside orchards are not very strong compared with spontaneous vegetation naturally occurring in the margins.  相似文献   

15.
Pollinating insect populations, essential for maintaining wild plant diversity and agricultural productivity, rely on (semi)natural habitats. An increasing human population is encroaching upon and deteriorating pollinator habitats. Thus the population persistence of pollinating insects and their associated ecosystem services may depend upon on man-made novel habitats; however, their importance for ecosystem services is barely understood. We tested if man-made infrastructure (railway embankments) in an agricultural landscape establishes novel habitats that support large populations of pollinators (bees, butterflies, hoverflies) when compared to typical habitats for these insects, i.e., semi-natural grasslands. We also identified key environmental factors affecting the species richness and abundance of pollinators on embankments. Species richness and abundance of bees and butterflies were higher for railway embankments than for grasslands. The occurrence of bare (non-vegetated) ground on embankments positively affected bee species richness and abundance, but negatively affected butterfly populations. Species richness and abundance of butterflies positively depended on species richness of native plants on embankments, whereas bee species richness was positively affected by species richness of non-native flowering plants. The density of shrubs on embankments negatively affected the number of bee species and their abundance. Bee and hoverfly species richness were positively related to wood cover in a landscape surrounding embankments. This is the first study showing that railway embankments constitute valuable habitat for the conservation of pollinators in farmland. Specific conservation strategies involving embankments should focus on preventing habitat deterioration due to encroachment of dense shrubs and maintaining grassland vegetation with patches of bare ground.  相似文献   

16.
Non-crop vegetation in agricultural landscapes can provide a means of conserving insects in farmed landscapes and optimising on-farm ecosystem services as a result. Inclusion of floral resources may be particularly useful in conserving many beneficial insects, where groups including pollinators and pest natural enemies often rely on nectar and pollen during (at least part of) their life-cycle. As not all flowers are equally suited to all beneficial insects, selection of appropriate flowering plants is key to ensuring that conservation targets are met and benefits to ecosystems services realised as a result. This short paper describes an experiment conducted to assess the ‘total temporal attractiveness’ of a range of British wildflowers to selected functional insect groups. The results obtained demonstrate that flowering period alone is a poor indicator of plant suitability to insects, where no relationship existed between this and attraction to insects overall. Data also suggest that, based on attraction over a season, certain flowering plants are more likely to be of general insect conservation value and/or benefit to functional insect groups than others. Attraction to pest insects was also considered, with relatively high catches of thrips and pollen beetles observed in flowering stands of some plants.  相似文献   

17.
The alien predatory lizard, Anolis carolinensis, has reduced the insect fauna on the two main islands of the Ogasawara archipelago in Japan. As a result of this disturbance, introduced honeybees are now the dominant visitors to flowers instead of endemic bees on these islands. On the other hand, satellite islands not invaded by alien anoles have retained the native flower visitors. The effects of pollinator change on plant reproduction were surveyed on these contrasting island groups. The total visitation rates and the number of interacting visitor groups on main islands were 63% and 30% lower than that on satellite islands, respectively. On the main islands, the honeybees preferred to visit alien flowers, whereas the dominant endemic bees on satellite islands tended to visit native flowers more frequently than alien flowers. These results suggest that alien anoles destroy the endemic pollination system and caused shift to alien mutualism. On the main islands, the natural fruit set of alien plants was significantly higher than that of native plants. In addition, the natural fruit set was positively correlated with the visitation rate of honeybees. Pollen limitation was observed in 53.3% of endemic species but only 16.7% of alien species. These data suggest that reproduction of alien plants was facilitated by the floral preference of introduced honeybees.  相似文献   

18.
The invasion of exotic species into natural habitats is considered to be a major threat to biodiversity, and many studies have examined how exotic plants directly affect native plant species through competitive interactions for abiotic resources. However, although exotics can have potentially great ecological and evolutionary consequences, very few researchers have studied the effect of exotics on the interactions between plants and their mutualistic partners, such as pollinators, and none have reported on such impacts in logged and undisturbed boreal forest ecosystems. Here we show how experimental introductions of an exotic plant species (Phacelia tanacetifolia Bentham) affect pollinator visitation and female reproductive success of a native plant (Melampyrum pratense L.) in recently disturbed (i.e., logged) and in undisturbed boreal forest habitats. The presence of Phacelia significantly increased the number of bumble bees entering plots in both habitat types. However, the exotic species had a strong negative impact on the visitation rate to the native species in both habitat types. Despite this negative impact on pollinator visitation, the exotic had no effect on female reproductive success of the native species in any habitat. Our results show that seed production may be more robust than pollinator visitation to exotic invasion, irrespective of habitat disturbance history.  相似文献   

19.
Addition of floral resources to agricultural field margins has been shown to increase abundance of beneficial insects in crop fields, but most plants recommended for this use are non-native annuals. Native perennial plants with different bloom periods can provide floral resources for bees throughout the growing season for use in pollinator conservation projects. To identify the most suitable plants for this use, we examined the relative attractiveness to wild and managed bees of 43 eastern U.S. native perennial plants, grown in a common garden setting. Floral characteristics were evaluated for their ability to predict bee abundance and taxa richness. Of the wild bees collected, the most common species (62%) was Bombus impatiens Cresson. Five other wild bee species were present between 3 and 6% of the total: Lasioglossum admirandum (Sandhouse), Hylaeus affinis (Smith), Agapostemon virescens (F.), Halictus ligatus Say, and Ceratina calcarata/dupla Robertson/Say. The remaining wild bee species were present at <2% of the total. Abundance of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) was nearly identical to that of B. impatiens. All plant species were visited at least once by wild bees; 9 were highly attractive, and 20 were moderately attractive. Honey bees visited 24 of the 43 plant species at least once. Floral area was the only measured factor accounting for variation in abundance and richness of wild bees but did not explain variation in honey bee abundance. Results of this study can be used to guide selection of flowering plants to provide season-long forage for conservation of wild bees.  相似文献   

20.
Wildflower strips are a management practice increasingly used to provide floral resources to wild bees in agroecosystems. Yet, despite known spatiotemporal variation in wild bee communities, the degree to which different wildflower strip species consistently support wild bee communities is poorly understood. Additionally, whether such consistency is related to the functional roles wildflower species play (e.g., in supporting diverse, rare, or unique suites of bee species) has not been considered. Over three years and on four diversified farms, we evaluated spatiotemporal variation in wild bee communities and bee-flower interactions in wildflower strips to better understand the roles of flower strip species in supporting bees. We documented spatiotemporal variation in the abundance, richness, and composition of local wild bee communities. Certain wildflower species consistently supported the highest richness of wild bees across years. These wildflower species were regularly core members of the bee-flower interaction network, visited by both generalist and specialist bees. By contrast, wildflower species supporting the most unique suites of bees were variable in this role among farms. In order to select plant species for wildflower strips that consistently support a high diversity of wild bee communities within farm landscapes, it is useful to consider several different functional roles that plants may play. Whereas a handful of wildflower species may be visited by the majority of local wild bee species, achieving support for the remaining, and perhaps rarer, bee species will require planting additional flower species, which may appear redundant until the spatiotemporal variation in wild bee communities is more thoroughly considered. This functional approach to selecting wildflower species for bee conservation efforts is important for making practical recommendations to land managers and for guiding best management practices in different regions and with diverse management goals.  相似文献   

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