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<dd>Lye, G., K. Park, J. Osborne, J. Holland, and D. Goulson. 2009.
Assessing the value of Rural Stewardship schemes for providing foraging
resources and nesting habitat for bumblebee queens (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
Biological Conservation <b>142</b>:2023-2032.<br>
</dl>Bumblebees (<i>Bombus</i> spp.) play a key role within agricultural
systems as pollinators of crops and wild flowers. However, this taxon has
suffered severe declines as a result of agricultural intensification.
Conservation efforts largely focus on providing forage resources for
bumblebees through the summer, but providing suitable habitat during the
period of nest foundation in early spring could be a more effective
method of boosting local bumblebee populations. This study assesses the
attractiveness of three different farmland habitat types (hedgerow, field
margin and grassland), and the relative merits of respective land
management prescriptions under the Scottish Rural Stewardship scheme to
nest site searching and foraging bumblebee queens during the period of
queen emergence and colony foundation. Hedgerows were the least
attractive habitat type to spring queens. Rural Stewardship species-rich
grassland comprised a complex vegetation structure attracting nest site
searching queens, whilst grassland that had been abandoned allowing
natural regeneration contained more flowers, attracting foraging queens.
Field margin habitats were the most attractive habitat type, and Rural
Stewardship field margins attracted both nest site searching and foraging
queens at relatively high densities. This management option consisted of
a sown grass mix, giving rise to the complex vegetation structure
preferred by nest site searching queens, but regular disturbance allowed
invasion by early flowering bumblebee forage plants. These findings
suggest that it should be possible to develop simple combined management
strategies to provide both suitable nesting sites and spring forage
resources on farmland, promoting bumblebee colony foundation and
therefore abundance in the agricultural environment. </body>
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