Urbanisation is Associated with Reduced Sp. Infection, Higher Colony Strength and Higher Richness of Foraged Pollen in Honeybees

Overview

Journal Apidologie

Date 2020 Oct 30

PMID 33122866

Citations 5

Authors

Ash E Samuelson

Richard J Gill

Ellouise Leadbeater

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Bees are vital pollinators, but are faced with numerous threats that include loss of floral resources and emerging parasites amongst others. Urbanisation is a rapidly expanding driver of land-use change that may interact with these two major threats to bees. Here we investigated effects of urbanisation on food store quality and colony health in honeybees () by sampling 51 hives in four different land-use categories: urban, suburban, rural open and rural wooded during two seasons (spring and autumn). We found positive effects of urban land use on colony strength and richness of stored pollen morphotypes, alongside lower late-season sp. infection in urban and suburban colonies. Our results reveal that honeybees exhibit lower colony performance in strength in rural areas, adding to the growing evidence that modern agricultural landscapes can constitute poor habitat for insect pollinators.

Citing Articles

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