Abstract
Wild bees are important providers of pollination services to agriculture and should be a focus group for conservation. Recent declines of bumblebees and solitary bees have been attributed to agricultural intensification. To be able to propose adequate conservation strategies, we have to understand the mechanisms whereby agricultural intensification affects bee populations. Through its effects on farming practices and landscape heterogeneity, agricultural intensification may contribute to the decrease in pollinator populations both by reducing the general availability of nectar and pollen resources and by changing the spatial and temporal variation of these. The spatial and temporal scales at which variation acts on individual species may depend on the scales at which these species utilize resources. Therefore landscape complexity may affect bee diversity in a predictable way. By studying the foraging ecology of bumblebee and solitary bee species, the mechanisms by whereby farming practices and landscape complexity affects species richness and population densities will be investigated. The focus will be on how spatial and temporal availability of nectar and pollen resources determine bee foraging success and population growth. The results will be used to propose measures to maintain viable populations of bee pollinators in agricultural landscapes.
Sweden