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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Flower Visitation In Relation To Pollen And Nectar Nutrition: Implications For Pollinator Habitat And Conservation, Megan E. Leach Aug 2018

Flower Visitation In Relation To Pollen And Nectar Nutrition: Implications For Pollinator Habitat And Conservation, Megan E. Leach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pollination of both wild and crop plants is at a crossroads; honey bee populations are experiencing losses at a higher rate than ever before, and some native bee species are declining in abundance to the point of being listed as endangered species. A few examples of these threats include pesticide exposure, habitat loss, and climate change. In response to bee population declines, conservation efforts have been initiated to increase habitat quality for bees by planting pollinator reservoirs or gardens. Plants provide nutrition to bees in the form of pollen and nectar. Several studies have shown links between higher nutritional quality …


Bee Conservation In Urban Landscapes: Assessing Bee Assemblages, Bee–Attractiveness, And Nutritritional Value Of Woody Landscape Plants And Mitigating Potential Bee Hazard From Neonicotinoid Insecticides, Bernadette Maria Mach Jan 2018

Bee Conservation In Urban Landscapes: Assessing Bee Assemblages, Bee–Attractiveness, And Nutritritional Value Of Woody Landscape Plants And Mitigating Potential Bee Hazard From Neonicotinoid Insecticides, Bernadette Maria Mach

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Public awareness of declining pollinator populations has increased interest in creating “bee–friendly” urban landscapes. I quantified bee visitation and assemblages of 72 species of flowering woody plants common in urban landscapes. I found strong plant species effects and variation in seasonal activity of particular bee taxa but no overall differences in bee visitation or genus diversity between native versus nonnative species or trees versus shrubs. Analysis of pollen from a subset of these plants revealed small but statistically significant differences in total and essential amino acids between native and nonnative species and trees and shrubs, although each group had species …