Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry

Abstract Despite Apis mellifera being the most widely managed pollinator to enhance crop production, they are not the most suitable species for highbush blueberries, which possess restrictive floral morphology and require buzz-pollination. Thus, the South American bumblebee Bombus pauloensis is incr...

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Autores principales: M. Cecilia Estravis-Barcala, Florencia Palottini, Ivana Macri, Denise Nery, Walter M. Farina
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/dee04a9fd1b640278bf3ca3e45716c52
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:dee04a9fd1b640278bf3ca3e45716c522021-12-02T14:26:12ZManaged honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry10.1038/s41598-021-87729-32045-2322https://doaj.org/article/dee04a9fd1b640278bf3ca3e45716c522021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87729-3https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Despite Apis mellifera being the most widely managed pollinator to enhance crop production, they are not the most suitable species for highbush blueberries, which possess restrictive floral morphology and require buzz-pollination. Thus, the South American bumblebee Bombus pauloensis is increasingly managed as an alternative species in this crop alongside honeybees. Herein, we evaluated the foraging patterns of the two species, concerning the potential pollen transfer between two blueberry co-blooming cultivars grown under open high tunnels during two seasons considering different colony densities. Both managed pollinators showed different foraging patterns, influenced by the cultivar identity which varied in their floral morphology and nectar production. Our results demonstrate that both species are efficient foragers on highbush blueberry and further suggest that they contribute positively to its pollination in complementary ways: while bumblebees were more effective at the individual level (visited more flowers and carried more pollen), the greater densities of honeybee foragers overcame the difficulties imposed by the flower morphology, irrespective of the stocking rate. This study supports the addition of managed native bumblebees alongside honeybees to enhance pollination services and emphasizes the importance of examining behavioural aspects to optimize management practices in pollinator-dependent crops.M. Cecilia Estravis-BarcalaFlorencia PalottiniIvana MacriDenise NeryWalter M. FarinaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Medicine
R
Science
Q
M. Cecilia Estravis-Barcala
Florencia Palottini
Ivana Macri
Denise Nery
Walter M. Farina
Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
description Abstract Despite Apis mellifera being the most widely managed pollinator to enhance crop production, they are not the most suitable species for highbush blueberries, which possess restrictive floral morphology and require buzz-pollination. Thus, the South American bumblebee Bombus pauloensis is increasingly managed as an alternative species in this crop alongside honeybees. Herein, we evaluated the foraging patterns of the two species, concerning the potential pollen transfer between two blueberry co-blooming cultivars grown under open high tunnels during two seasons considering different colony densities. Both managed pollinators showed different foraging patterns, influenced by the cultivar identity which varied in their floral morphology and nectar production. Our results demonstrate that both species are efficient foragers on highbush blueberry and further suggest that they contribute positively to its pollination in complementary ways: while bumblebees were more effective at the individual level (visited more flowers and carried more pollen), the greater densities of honeybee foragers overcame the difficulties imposed by the flower morphology, irrespective of the stocking rate. This study supports the addition of managed native bumblebees alongside honeybees to enhance pollination services and emphasizes the importance of examining behavioural aspects to optimize management practices in pollinator-dependent crops.
format article
author M. Cecilia Estravis-Barcala
Florencia Palottini
Ivana Macri
Denise Nery
Walter M. Farina
author_facet M. Cecilia Estravis-Barcala
Florencia Palottini
Ivana Macri
Denise Nery
Walter M. Farina
author_sort M. Cecilia Estravis-Barcala
title Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title_short Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title_full Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title_fullStr Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title_full_unstemmed Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title_sort managed honeybees and south american bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/dee04a9fd1b640278bf3ca3e45716c52
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