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Reproduction and survival of a solitary bee along native and exotic floral resource gradients

  • Population ecology – original research
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Abstract

Native bee abundance has long been assumed to be limited by floral resources. This paradigm has been established in large measure because more bees are often found in areas supporting greater floral abundance. This could result from attraction to resource-rich sites as well as greater local demographic performance in sites supporting high floral abundance; however, demographic performance is usually unknown. Factors other than floral resources such as availability of nest sites, pressure from natural enemies, or whether floral resources are from a mixed native or mostly monodominant exotic assemblage might influence survival or fecundity and hence abundance. We examined how the survival and fecundity of the native solitary bee Osmia lignaria varied along a gradient in floral resource abundance. We released bees alongside a nest block at 27 grassland sites in Montana (USA) that varied in floral abundance and the extent of invasion by exotic forbs. We monitored nest construction and the fate of offspring within each nest. The number of nests established was positively related to native forb abundance and was negatively related to exotic forb species richness. Fecundity was positively related to native forb species richness; however, offspring mortality caused by the brood parasite Tricrania stansburyi was significantly greater in native-dominated sites. These results suggest that native floral resources can positively influence bee populations, but that the relationship between native floral resources and bee population performance is not straightforward. Rather, bees may face a trade-off between high offspring production and low offspring survival in native-dominated sites.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Tracy for pollen collection and identification, and D. Venturella, L. Stoffel, M. Mullins, and S. Prado-Irwin for field and/or labortaory assistance. The manuscript was improved by comments from E. Crone. Research was supported by an EPA-STAR fellowship to J. Palladini and grants from the National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (grant number 2005-35101-16040), and the National Science Foundation (DEB-0915409 to J.L.M. and Research Experience for Undergraduates Grant DBI-0755560 & 1157101).

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  1. Division of Life Sciences, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA, 95401, USA

    Jennifer D. Palladini

  2. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    John L. Maron

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  1. Jennifer D. Palladini
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Correspondence to Jennifer D. Palladini.

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Communicated by Diethart Matthies.

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Palladini, J.D., Maron, J.L. Reproduction and survival of a solitary bee along native and exotic floral resource gradients. Oecologia 176, 789–798 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3028-1

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