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

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...

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Main Authors: Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia, Palottini, Florencia, Macri, Ivana Noelia, Nery, Denise, Farina, Walter Marcelo
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/9416
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87729-3
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87729-3
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author Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia
Palottini, Florencia
Macri, Ivana Noelia
Nery, Denise
Farina, Walter Marcelo
author_browse Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia
Farina, Walter Marcelo
Macri, Ivana Noelia
Nery, Denise
Palottini, Florencia
author_facet Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia
Palottini, Florencia
Macri, Ivana Noelia
Nery, Denise
Farina, Walter Marcelo
author_sort Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia
collection INTA Digital
description 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.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
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spelling INTA94162025-05-07T11:52:57Z Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia Palottini, Florencia Macri, Ivana Noelia Nery, Denise Farina, Walter Marcelo Apidae Abejas Producción Vegetal Arándano Polinización Manejo del Cultivo Crop Production Blueberries Pollination Crop Management 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. Instituto de Ingeniería Rural Fil: Estravis-Barcala, María Cecilia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina Fil: Estravis-Barcala, María Cecilia. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE); Argentina Fil: Macri, Ivana. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentina Fil: Macri, Ivana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Ingeniería Rural; Argentina Fil: Nery, Denise. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina Fil: Nery, Denise. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE); Argentina Fil: Farina, Walter M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina Fil: Farina, Walter M. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE); Argentina Fil: Palottini, Florencia. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE); Argentina Fil: Palottini, Florencia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina 2021-05-21T15:50:21Z 2021-05-21T15:50:21Z 2021-04 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/9416 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87729-3 2045-2322 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87729-3 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Scientific Reports 11 : art. no. 8187. (2021)
spellingShingle Apidae
Abejas
Producción Vegetal
Arándano
Polinización
Manejo del Cultivo
Crop Production
Blueberries
Pollination
Crop Management
Estravis‑Barcala, María Cecilia
Palottini, Florencia
Macri, Ivana Noelia
Nery, Denise
Farina, Walter Marcelo
Managed honeybees and South American bumblebees exhibit complementary foraging patterns in highbush blueberry
title 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_short 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
topic Apidae
Abejas
Producción Vegetal
Arándano
Polinización
Manejo del Cultivo
Crop Production
Blueberries
Pollination
Crop Management
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/9416
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-87729-3
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87729-3
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