Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/J016802/1
How effective are agri-environment schemes in boosting bumblebee populations?
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor D Goulson, University of Sussex, Sch of Life Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Sussex, Sch of Life Sciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- Evidence for declines in populations of pollinators, particularly honeybees and bumblebees, has led to widespread concern that we may be approaching a 'pollination crisis' whereby insufficient pollination reduces crop yields and alters the balance of plant communities. Modern intensive farming methods have undoubtedly contributed to these declines, and there is now a need to implement measures to ensure sustainable provision of pollination services in agricultural landscapes. This proposal focuses on bumblebees, which provide a substantial but unquantified proportion of pollination services for crops in the temperate northern hemisphere. Previously, studies have examined the efficacy of various types of wildflower strips in providing forage for bees. There is no doubt that they can be effective in attracting and feeding many foragers, but it is unclear what impact they have at the population level. Almost all studies to date have focussed on counts of workers, but it is the number of nests which determines the effective population size, for each nest contains just one breeding female (the queen). The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) aims to provide advice to farmers, gamekeepers and land managers on how best to improve the biodiversity of the countryside, but with current evidence it is not possible to say how effective wildflower strips are in supporting bumblebee populations. Use of genetic markers provides the opportunity to identify sister workers, and so estimate how many bumblebee colonies are visiting a patch of flowers. We have previously made extensive use of this approach to quantify nest survival, and also to measure foraging range and queen dispersal. We now propose to use this method to quantify, for the first time, whether farms which have implemented flower strips support more bumblebee nests. Secondly, we will examine how the size, shape and distribution of flower strips influences their effectiveness, and whether the impact of provision of flower strips is mediated by the surrounding landscape. Finally, we will test whether counts of workers correlate well with nest density. The work will focus on two contrasting species, the short-tongued B. terrestris and the long-tongued B. hortorum. Maintaining populations of both short and long-tongued bumblebees is vital as they pollinate quite different crops and wildflowers. Work will focus on farms which have been implementing flower strips for at least 3 years, so allowing time for bumblebee populations to respond. Each farm will be compared with a control farm within 10 km. Farms will be matched as far as possible for size and farming activities. Choice of sites will be aided by the close involvement of GWCT, who have an existing network of established on-farm field sites. All sites will be in lowland south-central England. Worker bees will be sampled from a single area of 1 km2 in the centre of each farm, aiming for 50 samples per species. Transect counts of bee activity will be walked, incorporating existing agri-environment schemes, to provide data for comparison to nest density estimates. Samples will be typed at ~10 loci, enabling us to identify sisterhoods and hence estimate the number of nests present. Impacts of landscape on nest density will be assessed using ArcGIS to quantify the area of different habitat types around each sample area, based on remote-sensed biotope data. These data will then be incorporated into GLMs, along with the type, area and spatial arrangement of flower strips / patches, to determine which factors explain nest density of each of the two bumblebee species. The overall aim of this project is to provide us with the knowledge needed to provide practical advice to farmers implementing flower strips. If we can demonstrate a link between flower strips and bee populations we will have a powerful tool with which to persuade farmers and policy makers of the importance of agri-environment schemes relevant to bees.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/J016802/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Open CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £72,456
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £13,812 | £48,284 | £10,361 |
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