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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Local and landscape effects on bee functional guilds in pigeon pea crops in Kenya
AU - Otieno, Mark
AU - Sidhu, C. Sheena
AU - Woodcock, Ben A.
AU - Wilby, Andrew
AU - Vogiatzakis, Ioannis N.
AU - Mauchline, Alice L.
AU - Gikungu, Mary W.
AU - Potts, Simon G.
N1 - The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9788-z
PY - 2015/8
Y1 - 2015/8
N2 - Pollinators face many challenges within agricultural systems due to landscape changes and intensification which can affect resource availability that can impact pollination services. This paper examines pigeon pea pollination and considers how landscape context and agricultural intensification in terms of pesticide use affects the abundance of bees characterized by species guilds on crops. The study was conducted on six paired farms across a gradient of habitat complexity based on the distance of each farm from adjacent semi-natural vegetation in Kibwezi Sub-county, Kenya. The study found that farms which do not use insecticides in farm management, but are in close proximity to natural habitat have greater bee guild abundance, but at further distances, overall abundance is reduced with or without insecticide use. At 1 km landscape radius, the complexity of habitats but not patch size had a positive impact on the abundance of cavity nesting bees and mason bees, which can be attributed to the interspersion of the small-holder farms with semi-natural habitats across the landscapes producing mosaics of heterogeneous habitats. The study revealed the strongest relationships between fruit set and bee abundance to be with the carpenter bee, social bee and solitary bee guilds, which are among the most abundant bees visiting pigeon pea flowers in this system. Our findings provide the foundation for conservation efforts by identifying which bee guilds pollinated pigeon peas. From this study, we suggest managing the floral and nesting resources that would best support the most abundant crop pollinators, and also reducing insecticide application to the crop.
AB - Pollinators face many challenges within agricultural systems due to landscape changes and intensification which can affect resource availability that can impact pollination services. This paper examines pigeon pea pollination and considers how landscape context and agricultural intensification in terms of pesticide use affects the abundance of bees characterized by species guilds on crops. The study was conducted on six paired farms across a gradient of habitat complexity based on the distance of each farm from adjacent semi-natural vegetation in Kibwezi Sub-county, Kenya. The study found that farms which do not use insecticides in farm management, but are in close proximity to natural habitat have greater bee guild abundance, but at further distances, overall abundance is reduced with or without insecticide use. At 1 km landscape radius, the complexity of habitats but not patch size had a positive impact on the abundance of cavity nesting bees and mason bees, which can be attributed to the interspersion of the small-holder farms with semi-natural habitats across the landscapes producing mosaics of heterogeneous habitats. The study revealed the strongest relationships between fruit set and bee abundance to be with the carpenter bee, social bee and solitary bee guilds, which are among the most abundant bees visiting pigeon pea flowers in this system. Our findings provide the foundation for conservation efforts by identifying which bee guilds pollinated pigeon peas. From this study, we suggest managing the floral and nesting resources that would best support the most abundant crop pollinators, and also reducing insecticide application to the crop.
KW - Functional group
KW - Landscape effects
KW - Pesticide
KW - Semi-native
KW - Species guild
KW - Tropical agroecosystems
KW - LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS
KW - POLLINATION SERVICES
KW - AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION
KW - HABITAT FRAGMENTATION
KW - ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
KW - SPECIES RICHNESS
KW - FARMING PRACTICE
KW - FOREST REMNANTS
KW - COLONY LOSSES
KW - HONEY-BEES
U2 - 10.1007/s10841-015-9788-z
DO - 10.1007/s10841-015-9788-z
M3 - Journal article
VL - 19
SP - 647
EP - 658
JO - Journal of Insect Conservation
JF - Journal of Insect Conservation
SN - 1366-638X
IS - 4
ER -