Bean cultivation in diverse agricultural landscapes promotes bees and increases yields
Researchers led by Go"ttingen University study bee behaviour and bean
harvests
Date:
April 25, 2022
Source:
University of Go"ttingen
Summary:
Pollination by insects is essential for the production of many
food crops. The presence of pollinators, such as bees, depends on
the availability of nesting sites and sufficient food. If these
conditions are lacking, the pollinators also fail to appear and
the yield of flowering arable crops, such as broad beans or oilseed
rape, suffers as well. A team has investigated how the composition
of flowering crops and semi-natural habitats in the landscape
affects the density of bees, their behavior when collecting nectar,
and the faba bean (Vicia faba) yields.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Pollination by insects is essential for the production of many food
crops. The presence of pollinators, such as bees, depends on the
availability of nesting sites and sufficient food. If these conditions are lacking, the pollinators also fail to appear and the yield of flowering
arable crops, such as broad beans or oilseed rape, suffers as well. A team
from the University of Go"ttingen and the Julius Ku"hn Institute (JKI)
in Braunschweig has investigated how the composition of flowering crops
and semi-natural habitats in the landscape affects the density of bees,
their behaviour when collecting nectar, and the faba bean (Vicia faba)
yields. The results of the study have been published in the journal
Basic and Applied Ecology.
==========================================================================
The researchers show that in landscapes with a high proportion of
semi-natural habitats and in landscapes with a high proportion of faba
beans, more bumblebees were found in the bean fields. In addition,
the bean yields were higher here. The scientists recorded and observed
the foraging behaviour of honeybees and wild bees in bean fields in agricultural landscapes with different landscape compositions. They also
worked out the parameters for the yield for an individual plant. "Insect pollination has a positive effect on faba bean yields. Our investigations showed around 34 percent more beans per pod in insect-pollinated plants compared to plants that were inaccessible to insects," explains Dr Doreen Gabriel from the JKI.
"The pollination success in faba beans does not only depend on the
density of bees in the fields, but also on the particular bee species collecting nectar.
Bumblebee species who have a short proboscis often steal nectar from faba
beans by biting holes in the calyxes (the outer sepals that protect the
flower bud).
In contrast, the bumblebee species who have a longer proboscis collect
nectar regularly from the front of the flower, resulting in increased
rates of cross- pollination. However, there are hardly any studies that
have investigated whether the behaviour of bees collecting nectar is
also influenced by the availability and distribution of other resources
in the landscape, that is the composition of the landscape," says first
author Dr Nicole Beyer, who did her PhD at the University of Go"ttingen
and now works at the Thu"nen Institute in Braunschweig. The study shows
that short-tongued bumblebees stole nectar more frequently from faba
beans when there was a high proportion of faba beans in the landscape.
"Our study illustrates how important the composition of the landscape is
for crop yield, as shown by the example of the faba bean. The availability
of flower-rich habitats can improve the density of bees in fields,
their foraging behaviour and their pollination services," concludes
Professor Catrin Westphal, Head of the Functional Agrobiodiversity at Go"ttingen University.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Go"ttingen. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Nicole Beyer, Doreen Gabriel, Catrin Westphal. Landscape composition
modifies pollinator densities, foraging behavior and yield
formation in faba beans. Basic and Applied Ecology, 2022; 61:
30 DOI: 10.1016/ j.baae.2022.03.002 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425104921.htm
--- up 8 weeks, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)