Bumblebees As Potential Indicators For The
Evaluation Of Habitat Quality
Author(s)
I. Diaz-Forero, V. Kuusemets, M. Mänd & J. Luig
Abstract
Habitat fragmentation, decline and degradation are considered important threats
to biodiversity and the principal processes that contribute to landscape change. It
is fundamental to understand the quality of habitats (and the location of suitable
ones) to develop appropriate biodiversity conservation strategies. Insects are
considered key indicators of environmental change due to their diversity of
habitat characteristics and requirements. Habitat quality may be assessed by its
suitability for insects using important ecological differences between generalist
and specialist species. Specialist species are more severely affected by the
degradation and decrease of suitable habitats than generalists, as they are
dependent on specific types of flowering plants or local environments. In our
study, we collected data on five species of long-tongued bumblebees (gen.
Bombus) including B. pascuorum, B. hortorum, B. ruderarius, B. sylvarum and
B. distinguedus. The richness and abundance of long-tongued bumblebee species
were recorded in 22 semi-natural meadows in Northeast Estonia. We identified
abiotic and biotic factors, at both patch and landscape scale, which significantly
impacted total species richness and abundance of long-tongued bumblebees.
Overall, we found that besides the availability of food resources in the habitat, it
is important to bear in mind the quality and diversity of the surrounding matrix
when designing biodiversity conservation strategies. In countries with patchy
landscapes, like Estonia, it is important to consider ecological indicators that are
strongly associated with both patch and landscape variables. Therefore,
bumblebees have the potential to serve as good indicator species for habitat
quality.
Keywords: long-tongued bumblebees, species richness, flowering plants,
landscape structure.
Keywords
long-tongued bumblebees, species richness, flowering plants,
landscape structure.
Related Book
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