Characterization of Salix nigra floral insect community and activity of three native Andrena bees

Autor: Sandra J. Simon, Gina M. Wimp, Stephen P. DiFazio, Julianne Grady, Yong-Lak Park, Ken Keefover-Ring
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ecology and Evolution
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 11, Iss 9, Pp 4688-4700 (2021)
ISSN: 2045-7758
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7369
Popis: Salix nigra (black willow) is a widespread tree that hosts many species of polylectic hymenopterans and oligolectic bees of the genus Andrena. The early flowering of S. nigra makes it an important nutritive resource for arthropods emerging from hibernation. However, since S. nigra is dioecious, not all insect visits will lead to successful pollination. Using both visual observation and pan‐trapping, we characterized the community of arthropods that visited S. nigra flowers and assessed differences among male and female trees as well as the chemical and visual drivers that influenced community composition across 3 years. We found that male trees consistently supported higher diversity of insects than female trees and only three insect species, all Andrena spp., consistently visited both sexes. Additionally, Andrena nigrae, which was the only insect that occurred more on female than male flowers, correlated strongly to volatile cues. This suggests that cross‐pollinators cue into specific aspects of floral scent, but diversity of floral visitors is driven strongly by visual cues of yellow male pollen. Through time, the floral activity of two Andrena species remained stable, but A. nigrae visited less in 2017 when flowers bloomed earlier than other years. When native bee emergence does not synchronize with bloom, activity appears to be diminished which could threaten species that subsist on a single host. Despite the community diversity of S. nigra flowers, its productivity depends on a small fraction of species that are not threatened by competition, but rather rapidly changing conditions that lead to host‐insect asynchrony.
The widespread, dioecious tree Salix nigra (black willow) hosts many species of arthropods and bees of the genus Andrena on early emerging, nutritive floral resources. Despite the diversity of arthropods that interact with S. nigra flowers, successful pollination is dependent on a small fraction of Andrena native bees that are driven by both visual and volatile cues. Activity of the native bee most active on female flowers, Andrena nigrae, was decoupled from host flowers in 2017 due to an early bloom, demonstrating how rapidly changing climate conditions could threaten plant and pollinator population success in the future.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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