[Pollinator] BEES HOP BETWEEN GREEN ROOFS

[Mary Ann Lawler]

BEES HOP BETWEEN GREEN ROOFSSeptember 27, 2013Conservation This
Week<http://conservationmagazine.org/conservation-science-news/>0
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Green roofs aren’t just isolated islands of nature. They’re also stepping
stones for flying insects such as bees, scientists have found.

While it’s clear that green roofs can boost biodiversity in cities,
scientists didn’t know whether these patches could act as connected
habitat. So a team studied 40 green roofs in Zurich, Switzerland, with
plants ranging from succulents to meadow species. From May to September
2010, the researchers caught 48,084 ground beetles, spiders, weevils, and
bees from nearly 500 species on the green roofs and at corresponding green
spaces on the ground.

The team then looked for links between the arthropod communities and
factors such as the size of the roof, the amount of flowers, and distance
to the nearest green roof or other habitat. For ground beetles and spiders,
the local environment had a big influence on the species present. But for
flying bugs such as bees and weevils, “connectivity was by far the most
important variable,” the authors write in *Ecology*.

These roof-hopping insects may help pollinate plants, the team notes. And
connected populations are more likely to bounce back from
disturbances. *— Roberta
Kwok | 27 September 2013*

*Source:* Braaker, S. et al. 2013. Habitat connectivity shapes urban
arthropod communities: The key role of green roofs. *Ecology*doi:
10.1890/13-0705.1<http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/13-0705.1?af=R>
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