[Pollinator] £1.3m research on urban insects begins in Bristol

[Ladadams at aol.com]

£1.3m research on urban insects begins in Bristol 
Press  release issued 27 May 2011 
 
The gardens of Westbury-on-Trym will play a key part in a new £1.3 million  
research project led by the University of Bristol into how urbanization is  
affecting bees, flies and other pollinating insects across the UK.
Over the next few months, teams of ecologists will be sampling plants,  
pollinators and their interactions within a 1km-square area of Bristol which  
encompasses three habitat types: city, farmland and nature reserve.  As  part 
of the project they will visit 100 front gardens in Westbury-on-Trym to  
study the plants and insects there. 
This fieldwork – the first stage in a three-year project – aims to 
discover  where pollinators are found in the UK.  Rather than just counting 
species,  the researchers will study the network of interactions between plants and 
their  pollinators as these interactions have a profound impact on a 
community’s  response to species loss, stress and ecological restoration.  This 
initial  stage of the research will cover twelve cities across the UK, 
starting with  Bristol, Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh. 
_Professor Jane Memmott_ 
(http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/person/?personKey=dBWst3jWFcZ89MpxMdxzbqkK4PcoJd)  of Bristol’s _School of  Biological 
Sciences_ (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/)  who is leading the project, said: “
There are two  schools of thought concerning the effect of urbanization on 
pollinating  insects.  On one hand, urbanization is considered to be one of 
the major  causes of insect decline, in particular through the alteration of 
ecological  features important to pollinators, such as food and nesting 
sites. 
“On the other hand, some urban habitats are remarkably good for 
pollinators:  35 per cent of hoverfly species known from the UK were recorded in a 
single  garden in Leicester, honey bees produce more honey in urban Birmingham 
than in  the surrounding countryside, and data gathered over the last decade 
in and  around Bristol suggest there is no difference in the richness of 
pollinator  species inside and outside the city. 
“Our fieldwork will provide exact data on where pollinators can be found in 
 the UK which will ultimately help to bring about more effective 
conservation  management of these important insects.  By using our data to better  
understand the urban habitat mosaic, local authorities will be able to 
integrate  pollinator conservation into the 9 per cent of land that comprises urban 
areas  in the UK.” 
The second stage of the project will look in detail at pollinators in four 
UK  cities (Bristol, Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh), with the aim of 
quantifying the  value for pollinators of various city habitats including industrial 
estates,  school grounds, allotments and graveyards.  The final stage will 
ask  whether conditions for urban pollinators can be improved.  
The _research_ 
(http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/PA/grants/AwardDetails.aspx?FundingReference=BB/I00047X/1)  is funded by the Pollinator Initiative  
(Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, NERC, Defra, The  Welcome Trust 
and the Scottish Government).
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