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Local and landscape effects on bee functional guilds in pigeon pea crops in Kenya

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Abstract

Pollinators face many challenges within agricultural systems due to landscape changes and intensification which can affect resource availability that can impact pollination services. This paper examines pigeon pea pollination and considers how landscape context and agricultural intensification in terms of pesticide use affects the abundance of bees characterized by species guilds on crops. The study was conducted on six paired farms across a gradient of habitat complexity based on the distance of each farm from adjacent semi-natural vegetation in Kibwezi Sub-county, Kenya. The study found that farms which do not use insecticides in farm management, but are in close proximity to natural habitat have greater bee guild abundance, but at further distances, overall abundance is reduced with or without insecticide use. At 1 km landscape radius, the complexity of habitats but not patch size had a positive impact on the abundance of cavity nesting bees and mason bees, which can be attributed to the interspersion of the small-holder farms with semi-natural habitats across the landscapes producing mosaics of heterogeneous habitats. The study revealed the strongest relationships between fruit set and bee abundance to be with the carpenter bee, social bee and solitary bee guilds, which are among the most abundant bees visiting pigeon pea flowers in this system. Our findings provide the foundation for conservation efforts by identifying which bee guilds pollinated pigeon peas. From this study, we suggest managing the floral and nesting resources that would best support the most abundant crop pollinators, and also reducing insecticide application to the crop.

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Acknowledgments

We are greatly indebted to the Felix Trust for funding this study through a Ph.D. scholarship at the University of Reading. We thank Mr. K. Wambua for his tremendous support with field work. Many thanks to Dr. C. Eardley and Prof. L. Packer for their great help with bee identification. Finally, we thank all the support from the National Museums of Kenya and the farmers of Kibwezi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Resource Management, Embu University College, P.O. Box 6-60100, Embu, Kenya

    Mark Otieno

  2. Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    C. Sheena Sidhu

  3. NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK

    Ben A. Woodcock

  4. Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK

    Andrew Wilby

  5. School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Open University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 12794, 2252, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Ioannis N. Vogiatzakis

  6. Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Earley Gate, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK

    Alice L. Mauchline & Simon G. Potts

  7. Zoology Department, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, 00100 GPO, Kenya

    Mary W. Gikungu

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  1. Mark Otieno
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  2. C. Sheena Sidhu
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  4. Andrew Wilby
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Correspondence to Mark Otieno.

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Otieno, M., Sidhu, C.S., Woodcock, B.A. et al. Local and landscape effects on bee functional guilds in pigeon pea crops in Kenya. J Insect Conserv 19, 647–658 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9788-z

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