[Pollinator] Honeybees disrupt the structure and functionality of plant-pollinator networks

[David Inouye]

Valido, A., et al. (2019). "Honeybees disrupt the structure and 
functionality of plant-pollinator networks." Sci Rep 9(1): 4711.
     The honeybee is the primary managed species worldwide for both crop 
pollination and honey production. Owing to beekeeping activity, its high 
relative abundance potentially affects the structure and functioning of 
pollination networks in natural ecosystems. Given that evidences about 
beekeeping impacts are restricted to observational studies of specific 
species and theoretical simulations, we still lack experimental data to 
test for their larger-scale impacts on biodiversity. Here we used a 
three-year field experiment in a natural ecosystem to compare the 
effects of pre- and post-establishment stages of beehives on the 
pollination network structure and plant reproductive success. Our 
results show that beekeeping reduces the diversity of wild pollinators 
and interaction links in the pollination networks. It disrupts their 
hierarchical structural organization causing the loss of interactions by 
generalist species, and also impairs pollination services by wild 
pollinators through reducing the reproductive success of those plant 
species highly visited by honeybees. High-density beekeeping in natural 
areas appears to have lasting, more serious negative impacts on 
biodiversity than was previously assumed.


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5.epdf?author_access_token=yuiLslelYS-eh3zPlhUS39RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0N3qUVgu4h8L4yEBA3Q40VXlS4AZoLCE_bjtNLEKwp6TKl7wGba4lrKhR93PEHismfuphZffdjH_goj-3-uBv-8rEeWIDxF69yZ1-wmgBKnMA%3D%3D

-- 
Dr. David W. Inouye
Professor Emeritus
Department of Biology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-4415
inouye at umd.edu

Principal Investigator
Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
PO Box 519
Crested Butte, CO 81224

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