Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments

Benjamin F Kaluza; Helen M Wallace; Tim A Heard; Vanessa Minden; Alexandra Klein; Sara Leonhardt

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30126-0

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Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments

Benjamin F Kaluza, Helen M Wallace, Tim A Heard, Vanessa Minden, Alexandra Klein and Sara Leonhardt

Scientific Reports, Vol.8, 12353

2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30126-0

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Abstract

biodiversity

ecosystem services

Bee population declines are often linked to human impacts, especially habitat and biodiversity loss, but empirical evidence is lacking. To clarify the link between biodiversity loss and bee decline, we examined how floral diversity affects (reproductive) fitness and population growth of a social stingless bee. For the first time, we related available resource diversity and abundance to resource (quality and quantity) intake and colony reproduction, over more than two years. Our results reveal plant diversity as key driver of bee fitness. Social bee colonies were fitter and their populations grew faster in more florally diverse environments due to a continuous supply of food resources. Colonies responded to high plant diversity with increased resource intake and colony food stores. Our findings thus point to biodiversity loss as main reason for the observed bee decline.

Details

Title: Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments
Authors: Benjamin F Kaluza (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Helen M Wallace (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Tim A Heard (Author) - CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Vanessa Minden (Author) - University of Oldenburg, Germany
Alexandra Klein (Author) - University of Freiburg, Germany
Sara Leonhardt (Author) - University of Wurzburg, Germany
Publication details: Scientific Reports, Vol.8, 12353; 10
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2018
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-30126-0
ISSN: 2045-2322
Copyright note: Copyright © 2018 The Authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450887702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Ecology

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