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Pollinators are keystone species in terrestrial environments in terms of conserving biodiversity. Pollinators can include Butterflies, moths, bats, birds, bees, beetles, flies, ants, and wasps. They assist in spreading seeds, foliage, nuts, and fruits that not only ensure the survival of the plants, but also the wildlife and human beings (Winter). However, species richness of bees has decreased in the past 50 years (D. Goulson). According to one study, anthophiles (organisms that visit flowers) were more prominent when floral density and diversity was higher. One article highlights the importance of localized conservation and sites the positive affect that both flower diversity and particular species of flowers, such as Relhania fruticosa and Salvia chamaeleagnea, can have on the conservation of pollinators (Vrdoljak). In the science village alone there was a fair amount of species diversity in terms of flowering plants, such as common lantana, baja fairy duster, peacock flower, agave, and the genus tecoma (such as yellow trumpet flower). There was also plants spread all throughout the village. The high species diversity and species abundance in the science village seemed to support the conclusion of this article, as bees and hummingbirds were observed in abundance.
According to one source, bees are the most important group of pollinators and are negatively impacted by factors like habitat loss, grazing, logging, and agriculture, in terms of both species richness and the sheer number of organisms (Winfree). In my observations bees were the most frequent pollinators I observed. According to this article, habitat loss and fragmentation were the only factors that appeared to have a significant effect on the species richness and number of bees (Winfree). Likewise, bees appeared to be tolerable of disturbance unless there were significant disturbances where little natural habitat remained. This relates to our class definition of health. The species of the Western Honey Bee is resilient toward stressors, such as habitat loss. This was exhibited in my findings at PCC. The science village was not a very “natural” habitat, as there is lots of concrete, buildings, emissions from cars in the nearby parking lot, and plenty of human activity and disturbance. Despite the significant amount of disturbance, there were several types of flowers in planters and “natural” areas that were enough for a flourishing bee community.
One of my observations about bees was that in the science village, the genus Tecoma was present in abundance, with some plants exhibiting flowers that were orange/red (such as tecoma fulva) and others, yellow (such as the yellow trumpet flower). However, the bees seemed to largely favor the yellow flowers to orangey red. In fact, of all my observations made in the science village, none of them were made on the orange tecoma genus. Upon further research, I discovered that bees cannot see the color red (Link).
This observation leads to important ecological implications in terms of efforts that can be made toward the conservation of bees and other pollinators. One study with bumblebees highlights the importance of planting flower species that reduce the search time for bees.
According to their study, flowers have “targets,” like petals to help bees pollinate. Those that had bad color contrast with their backdrop (often leaves), such as white, UV-reflecting colors, or red flowers, took longest to detect. However, size was also a factor that was taken into account. This study also found a decrease in search time as the flower became larger (Spathe). According to this table, this is one possible explanation for why big yellow flowers, such as the yellow trumpet flower were preferred to big red flowers in the PCC science village.
Increased search times can be detrimental toward pollination because flight is energetically costly to pollinators and a high yield of nectar is key to their survival (Wolf). Thus, in terms of pollinator conservation, flowers that are pollinator friendly should be chosen, such as those that are big and lemon colored, which had the lowest search time. One article documents particular species that are good for attracting bees, such as common yarrow, Pale Purple Cornflowers, sunflowers, and Blue Giant Hyssop (Keith).
Although hummingbirds did not account for the majority of pollinators found, it is worth noting that the hummingbirds seemed to favor other plants than the insects, such as the baja fairy duster. Nectar sugar concentration is typically higher in insect pollinated species compared to that of vertebrate pollinated species. Likewise, the plants that vertebrates pollinate often contain sucrose, rather than glucose and fructose like that of insects. This highlights the importance of planting a high species diversity of flowering plants to facilitate different pollinator communities.
Works Cited
CHALCOFF, VANINA R., MARCELO A. AIZEN, and LEONARDO GALETTO. “Nectar Concentration and Composition of 26 Species from the Temperate Forest of South America.” Annals of Botany 97.3 (2006): 413–421. PMC. Web. 11 Dec. 2017.
D. Goulson, E. Nicholls, C. Botías, E. L. Rotheray, Science 347, 1255957 (2015)
Jesse Keith. “Flowers for Honey Bees.” Fafard, fafard.com/terrific-flowers-for-honey-bees/.
Riddle, Sharla. How Bees See and Why It Matters. Bee Culture, www.bing.com/cr?IG=B68D1F16A94F40389A6BC334DEC46760&CID=065EDBA06D5664E42AF1D0F56CF96532&rd=1&h=eYk9v8ZviynhHN2k4KYSt16-PFEDqn-yeIvKD3MBWUE&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.beeculture.com%2fbees-see-matters%2f&p=DevEx,5069.1.
Spaethe, J., J. Tautz, and L. Chittka. “Visual Constraints in Foraging Bumblebees: Flower Size and Color Affect Search Time and Flight Behavior.”Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 98.7 (2001): 3898–3903. PMC. Web. 11 Dec. 2017.
Vrdoljak, Sven M., Michael J. Samways, and John P. Simaika. "Pollinator Conservation at the Local Scale: Flower Density, Diversity and Community Structure Increase Flower Visiting Insect Activity to Mixed Floral Stands."Journal of Insect Conservation, vol. 20, no. 4, 2016, pp. 711-721, ProQuest Central, https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1818596588?accountid=28371, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10841-016-9904-8.
Winfree, R., Aguilar, R., Vázquez, D. P., LeBuhn, G. and Aizen, M. A. (2009), A meta-analysis of bees' responses to anthropogenic disturbance. Ecology, 90: 2068–2076. doi:10.1890/08-1245.1
Winter, Kim. "The Conservation of Pollinating Species." Endangered Species Update, vol. 23, no. 3, Jul, 2006, pp. S46-S47, ProQuest Central, https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/215052479?accountid=28371.
Wolf T J, Ellington C P, Begley I S. Insectes Soc. 1999;46:291–295.
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