[Pollinator] farming and bumblebees

[Adam Oliver Brown]

any chance of getting a pdf of this article?
thanks
adam
________________________________

Adam Oliver Brown, Ph.D.
Centre de recherche Les Buissons
358 rue Principale
Pointe-aux-Outardes, Qc
G0H 1H0
Canada

418-567-2235 ext. 223 (work)
________________________________

On 28-Jan-06, at 7:57 AM, David Inouye wrote:

> Pywell, R. F., E. A. Warman, L. Hulmes, S. Hulmes, P. Nuttall, T.  
> H. Sparks, C. N. R. Critchley, and A. Sherwood. 2006. Effectiveness  
> of new agri-environment schemes in providing foraging resources for  
> bumblebees in intensively farmed landscapes. Biological  
> Conservation 129:192-206.
>
> Intensive farming has contributed to the serious declines in  
> abundance and geographic range suffered by several bumblebee  
> species in Europe and North America. Recent UK agri-environmental  
> policy aims to conserve and restore bumblebee populations by  
> providing foraging habitats on arable field margins. We examined  
> the effectiveness of strategies to achieve this, including sowing  
> seed mixtures of (1) tussocky grass species, (2) wildflowers and  
> (3) pollen- and nectar-rich plants. These were compared to  
> conventionally managed cereal crops. Sampling was undertaken in 32  
> 10 × 10 km squares throughout England, each containing a sample of  
> the different field margin types. Bumblebee abundance in July and  
> August was significantly higher on pollen and nectar margins (86 ±  
> 14 bees per 100 m) compared with wildflower margins (43 ± 14),  
> mature grass margins (6 ± 14) and recently sown grass margins (8 ±  
> 4). Bees were virtually absent from the cereal crop (0.2 ± 0.1).  
> Bumblebee species richness was significantly higher on margins sown  
> with either wildflowers or the pollen and nectar mix. There was  
> evidence that richness of the bumblebee assemblage at the 10 × 10  
> km square scale was positively correlated with land use  
> heterogeneity, the proportion of grassland, and the abundance and  
> richness of dicotyledon flowers. The abundance of long-tongued bees  
> per margin was explained by the number of pollen and nectar  
> agreements per 10 × 10 km square, together with flower abundance.  
> Future research is required to determine the quantity and location  
> of foraging habitat required to sustain bumblebee populations at  
> the landscape scale.
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