Landscape context and elevation affect pollinator communities in intensive apple orchards |
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| Authors: | Lorenzo Marini Marino Quaranta Paolo Fontana Jacobus C Biesmeijer Riccardo Bommarco |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Padova, DAFNAE, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020, Legnaro, Padova, Italy;2. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Box 7044, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden;3. University of Pisa, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Via San Zeno 31, 56127 Pisa, Italy;4. Edmund Mach Foundation, Centre of Technology Transfer, Department of Plant Protection and Biodiversity in Agroforestry Systems, Via Edmund Mach 1, 38010, San Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy;5. Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity NCB Naturalis PO Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands;1. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Ecology, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden;2. Lund University, Department of Biology, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden;3. Lund University, Center for Environmental and Climate Research, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden;1. Genetics, Reproduction and Populations Research Group, Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2, Box L7 05 14, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;2. Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute for Biosciences, Université de Mons, Place du Parc 23, 7000 Mons, Belgium;3. Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium;1. Biodiversity Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden;2. Centre for Environment and Climate Research, Lund University, Lund, Sweden;3. Biology Department, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, United States |
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| Abstract: | Although an extensive research has been done on the contribution of wild insects to apple pollination, most of these studies did not evaluate the effect of the surrounding landscape context on local pollinator communities. Our aim was to compare communities of wild bees in 31 equally managed apple orchards located in three contrasting landscape types (either dominated by apple, forest, or grasslands) and along an elevation gradient and to test a potential interaction between landscape context and elevation. The study was carried out in 2009 in Trentino (NE Italy), one of the major apple growing areas of Europe with ～12,000 ha of commercial orchards distributed between 150 and 950 m a.s.l. We found that apple-dominated landscapes drastically reduced wild bee species richness and abundance in the orchard compared to landscapes dominated by either grassland or forest. Forest-dominated landscapes benefited local species richness more than grassland-dominated landscapes, while abundance did not differ between grassland and forest. Total species richness and abundance further declined with increasing elevation, while no interactive effect was found between temperature and landscape context. The abundance of Apis mellifera in the apple-dominated landscapes was two to four times higher than in the landscapes dominated by forest and grasslands, respectively. Measures to restore natural pollinator communities by providing suitable habitats around the orchard would not only benefit conservation of general biodiversity, but would probably also contribute to reduce the dependence of apple pollination on managed honey bees. |
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