Diet characterisation of solitary bees on farmland: dietary specialisation predicts rarity.

ABSTRACT: Changes in agricultural practice across Europe and North America have been associated with declines in wild bee populations. Bee diet breadth has been associated with sensitivity to agricultural intensification, but much of this analysis has been conducted at the categorical level of generalist or specialist, and it is not clear to what extent the level of generalisation within generalist species is also associated with species persistence. We used pollen load analysis to quantify the pollen diets of wild solitary bees on 19 farms across southern England, UK. A total of 72 species of solitary bees were recorded, but only 31 species were abundant enough to allow for formal diet characterisation. The results broadly conformed to existing literature with the majority of species polylectic and

SUBMITTER: Wood TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7175682 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature