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Landscape enhancement of floral resources for honey bees in agro-ecosystems

Aménagement du paysage en vue d’améliorer les ressources florales pour les abeilles dans les agrosystèmes

Verbesserung im Angebot der Nahrungspflanzen für Honigbienen in landwirtschaftlichen Ökosystemen

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Abstract

Honey bee populations have experienced serious losses in Europe and North America. These losses highlight the potential risk to our agricultural systems that could result from loss of pollination. These losses include direct economic repercussions to multiple industries (beekeeping, fruit, vegetable, forage seed, oil seed and biofuel crops), and corresponding threats to human nutrition. Reasons for the losses are varied but include a lack of diverse nectar and pollen resources within intensively farmed agricultural landscapes. Focusing primarily on Europe and the USA, we review the potential approaches to provide and maintain diverse floral resources for honey bees, giving particular consideration to herbaceous plants (“forbs”). These approaches include the cultivation and maintenance of “bee pastures”, consisting of diverse native or non-native flower-rich plantings maintained in fallow areas, field margins, and conservation buffer strips to sustain bee populations, support honey bee health, and aid beekeeping activities. Within this review we examine specific governmental policy initiatives to support these efforts in the USA and Europe.

Zusammenfassung

Intensiv genutzte Agrarlandschaften, denen Blütenpflanzen fehlen, oder die nur minderwertige Nahrungspflanzen aufweisen, können imkerlich genutzte Honigbienenvölker nur mit Mühe ernähren. Ein Mangel an Menge und Qualität von Pollen und Nektar kann zu einer Schwächung des Bienenvolks führen, da eine angemessene Nektar- und Pollenversorgung entscheidend für den Erhalt der Bienengesundheit sind. Daher sind gesunde Bienenvölker und eine wirtschaftliche Imkerei auf Landschaften mit reichhaltigen und nährstoffreichen Pollenquellen und nektarspendenden Blüten angewiesen. Anhand von Beispielen aus Europa und den USA geben wir einen Überblick über mögliche Nahrungsquellen für Honigbienen im Landschaftsraum, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von nicht kultivierten Flächen in der Agrarlandschaft. Wir beschreiben einige konkrete landwirtschaftliche Umweltmaßnahmen, die den Blütenreichtum verbessern und so der Bienenhaltung nützen könnten. Die in den nicht kultivierten Flächen (Feldränder, Hecken, Gehölze, Teiche, Gräben, Brachen) vorhandene Flora könnte zwischen den Blühzeiten der angebauten Pflanzen den Bienen ergänzende Nahrung bieten. Die bereits vorhandenen, an Ackerland angrenzenden naturnahen Habitate sollten daher dringend erhalten werden. Solche unkultivierten Flächen sind in den am intensivsten genutzten Agrarlandschaften jedoch oft selten. Diese Lücke könnte durch die Schaffung und den Schutz von zusätzlichen nicht kultivierten Flächen gefüllt werden. Als Maßnahme zur Erhaltung von Bestäubern in landwirtschaftlich genutzten Gebieten wurde die Anlage von ausgedehnten Streifen mit Nektarpflanzen zwischen den Anbaufeldern empfohlen. Gleichermaßen konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Reduzierung des Herbizideinsatzes in Anbauflächen für Bienen günstig ist, weil blühende Unkräuter neben den Äckern dadurch zunehmen. Darüberhinaus haben einige Pflanzen, die als Deckfrucht eingesetzt werden, kurze Entwicklungszeiten mit früher Blüte, und sind daher in der Lage, den Bienen früh Nahrung zu bieten, wenn sie abwechselnd mit, bzw. vor der Hauptertragspflanze gesät werden (Phazelie, einjährige Kleearten, Radieschen, Senf).

Neben der regionalen und nationalen Gesetzgebung können regionale Bestäuberinitiativen die Erhaltung der Bestäuber fördern. Ein bedeutendes Ziel bei der Entwicklung von Standards für unbebautes Ackerland zum Erhalt von Bestäubern, einschließlich der Honigbiene, sollte es sein, zeitlich und räumlich heterogene Habitate zu vermehren. Die Schaffung von Richtlinien, die eine Bewirtschaftung von unkultivierten Flächen zur Vermehrung des Blütenreichtums und der Vielfalt vorschreiben, ist von entscheidender Bedeutung (besonders in intensiv bebauten Ackergebieten). Diese Maßnahmen bestehen typischerweise im Pflanzen von blühenden Hecken, Randstreifen um Felder, und blühenden Wiesen. Zwei verschiedene Vorgehensweisen sind üblich, um die Blütenvielfalt in unbebauten Flächen zu erhöhen: (i) die Unterstützung der natürlichen Regeneration der einheimischen Wildblumen, oder (ii) das Einsäen von verschiedenen Mischungen einjähriger oder mehrjähriger Pflanzen. Solche Richtlinien werden nicht nur die Bienenhaltung unterstützen, sondern durch verbesserte Bestäubung auch die Ernteerträge erhöhen, sowie die Biodiversität im Allgemeinen fördern (z.B. Vögel und Säugetiere).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMT PrADE, ACTA, UMR 406, Site Agroparc, 84914, Avignon Cedex 9, France

    Axel Decourtye

  2. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, 4828 Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, 97215, Portland, OR, USA

    Eric Mader

  3. Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, 1980 Folwell Avenue, 55108, Saint Paul, MN, USA

    Eric Mader

  4. Unité de Recherches Intégrées en Horticulture, INRA, 400 route des Chappes, 06903, Sophia-Antipolis, France

    Nicolas Desneux

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Decourtye, A., Mader, E. & Desneux, N. Landscape enhancement of floral resources for honey bees in agro-ecosystems. Apidologie 41, 264–277 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/apido/2010024

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