Functional traits of plants and pollinators explain resource overlap between honeybees and wild pollinators.

ABSTRACT: Managed and wild pollinators often cohabit in both managed and natural ecosystems. The western honeybee, Apis mellifera, is the most widespread managed pollinator species. Due to its density and behaviour, it can potentially influence the foraging activity of wild pollinators, but the strength and direction of this effect are often context-dependent. Here, we observed plant-pollinator interactions in 51 grasslands, and we measured functional traits of both plants and pollinators. Using a multi-model inference approach, we explored the effects of honeybee abundance, temperature, plant functional diversity, and trait similarity between wild pollinators and the honeybee on the resource overlap between wild pollinators and the honeybee. Resource overlap decreased with increasing honeybee abund

SUBMITTER: Cappellari A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9056470 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature