Abstract
The regional distribution pattern of Bombus muscorum was studied in an agricultural landscape of central Germany, one of two remaining areas with the occurrence of this nationally endangered species in the Land Hesse. To determine the landscape characteristics that facilitate the occurrence of B. muscorum, grid-based observation records were analysed in a GIS environment at a regional scale. A significantly negative effect of the number of trees on the occurrence of B. muscorum and a significantly positive one of the proportion of arable land, strongly support the species’ preference for open landscapes. Yet, apart from open landscapes additional landscape features were shown to be important. A significantly positive effect of ditches in the final model revealed the importance of this landscape element for the occurrence of B. muscorum. This finding was additionally supported by recordings of nest-searching queens, nests, and flower visits along dithes. The positive effects of clover and fallow land indicate the species’ need for suitable food resources throughout the season. Because B. muscorum exhibits small foraging ranges, it is essential that landscape elements that provide nesting sites, foraging habitats and undisturbed hibernation structures are next to each other. The low numbers of individuals of B. muscorum recorded indicate that the supply of these habitat elements may have reached a critical threshold in the study region.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Backman J.P.C. and Tiainen J. 2002. Habitat quality of field margins in a Finnish farmland area for bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Bombus and Psithyrus). Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 89: 53–68.
Bhattacharya M., Primack R.B. and Gerwein J. 2003. Are roads and railroads barriers to bumblebee movement in a temperate suburban conservation area? Biol. Conserv. 109: 37–45.
Buchmann S.L. and Nabhan G.P. 1996. The Forgotten Pollinators. Island Press/Shearwater Books, Washington, DC, USA.
Carvell C. 2002. Habitat use and conservation of bumblebees (Bombus spp.) under different grassland management regimes. Biol. Conserv. 103: 33–49.
Croxton P.J., Carvell C., Mountford J.O. and Sparks T.H. 2002. A comparison of green lanes and field margins as bumblebee habitat in an arable landscape. Biol. Conserv. 107: 365–374.
Dylewska M. 1957. The distribution of the species of the genus Bombus Latr. in Poland. Acta Zool. Cracov. 2: 259–278.
Free J.B. 1993. Insect Pollination of Crops. Academic Press, London, UK.
Frommer U. 2001. Bestandsaufnahme der Bienenfauna im Mittleren Hessen (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Naturwissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen Darmstadt/Bericht N.F. 24: 129–191.
Goulson D. 2003. Bumblebees. Their Behaviour and Ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Goverde M., Schweizer K., Baur B. and Erhardt A. 2002. Small-scale habitat fragmentation effects on pollinator behaviour: experimental evidence from the bumblebee Bombus veteranus on calcareous grasslands. Biol. Conserv. 104: 293–299.
Hagen E. von 1994. Hummeln: Bestimmen, Ansiedeln, Vermehren, Schützen. Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg, Germany.
Hauck W.W. and Donner A. 1977. Wald’s test as applied to hypotheses in logit analysis. J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 72: 851–853.
Heinrich B. 1979. Bumblebee Economics. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London.
Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt 2000. Statistisches Handbuch Hessen 1999/2000. Landesamt, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Jedicke E. (ed.), 1997. Die Roten Listen: Gefährdete Pflanzen, Tiere, Pflanzengesellschaften und Biotope in Bund und Ländern. Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany.
Jennersten O., Loman J., Møler A.P., Robertson J. and Widén B. 1993. Conservation biology in agricultural habitat islands. In: Hansson L. (ed.), Ecological Principles of Nature Conservation: Applications in Temperate and Boreal Environments. Elsevier Applied Science, London, UK.
Kells A.R. and Goulson D. 2003. Preferred nesting sites of bumblebee queens (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in agroecosystems in the UK. Biol. Conserv. 109: 165–174.
Kreyer D., Oed A., Walther-Hellwig K. and Frankl R. 2004. Are forests potential landscape barriers for foraging bumblebees? Landscape scale experiments with Bombus terrestris agg. and Bombus pascuorum (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Biol. Conserv. 116/1: 111–118.
Meeus J.H.A. 1993. The transformation of agricultural landscapes in Western Europe. Sci. Total Environ. 129: 171–190.
Osborne J.L., Clark S.J., Morris R.J., Williams I.H., Riley J.R., Smith A.D., Reynolds D.R. and Edwards A.S. 1999. A landscape-scale study of bumblebee foraging range and constancy, using harmonic radar. J. Appl. Ecol. 36: 519–533.
Osborne J.L. and Corbet S.A. 1994. Managing habitats for pollinators in farmland. Aspects Appl. Biol. 40: 207–215.
O’Toole C. (ed.), 1993. Diversity of Native Bees and Agroecosystems. CAB International, Wallingford, UK.
Pekkarinen A. and Teras I. 1993. Zoogeography of Bombus and Psithyrus in Northwestern Europe (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Ann. Zool. Fennici 30: 187–208.
Peters G. 1972. Ursachen für den Rückgang der seltenen heimischen Hummelarten (Hym., Bombus et Psithyrus). Entomol. Berichte 85–90.
Plowright C.M.S., Plowright R.C. and Williams P.H. 1997. Replacement of Bombus muscorum by Bombus pascuorum in northern Britain. Can. Entomol. 129: 985–990.
Ranta E. and Vepsalainen K. 1981. Why are there so many species — spatio-temporal heterogeneity and Northern bumblebee communities. Oikos 36: 28–34.
Rasmont P. 1988. Monographie écologique et zoogéographique des bourdons de France et de Belgique (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombinae). Facultédes Science Agronomique de l’Ètat, Gembloux, Belgium.
Rasmont P., Leclercq J., Jacob-Remacle A., Pauly A. and Gaspar C. 1993. The faunistic drift of Apoidea in Belgium. In: Bruneau E. (ed.), Bees for Pollination. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, pp. 65–87.
Reinig W.F. 1970. Ökologische Studien an mittel-und südosteuropäischen Hummeln (Bombus Latr., 1802) (Hym., Apidae). Mitteilungen der Münchner Entomologischen Gesellschaft 60: 1–56.
Riemann H. 1987. Bienen, Wespen und Ameisen (Hymenoptera Aculeata) als Besiedler von Böschungen an tiefliegenden Entwässerungsgräben. Abh. Naturwiss. Ver. Bremen 40: 333–346.
Rittweger H. 1997. Spätquartäre Sedimente im Amöneburger Becken — Archive der Umweltgeschichte einer mittelhessischen Altsiedellandschaft. In: Hermann F.-R. (ed.), Materialien zur Vor-und Frühgeschichte von Hessen. Selbstverlag des Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Söderström B., Svensson B., Vessby K. and Glimskär A. 2001. Plants, insects and birds in semi-natural pastures in relation to local habitat and landscape factors. Biodiv. Conserv. 10: 1839–1863.
Sotherton N.W. and Self M.J. 1999. Changes in plant and arthropod biodiversity on lowland farmland: an overview. In: Aebischer N.J., Evans A.D., Grice P.V. and Vickery J.A. (eds), Ecology and Conservation of Lowland Farmbirds. British Ornithologists’ Union, Tring, pp. 26–35.
Statistisches Bundesamt (ed.), 2002. Statistisches Jahrbuch 2002 für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Neuster Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany.
Steffan-Dewenter I., Munzenberg U., Burger C., Thies C. and Tscharntke T. 2002. Scale-dependent effects of landscape context on three pollinator guilds. Ecology 83: 1421–1432.
Stoate C. 1996. The changing face of lowland farming and wildlife, Part 2 1945. Brit. Wildlife 7: 162–172.
Stoate C., Boatman N.D., Borralho R.J., Carvalho C.R., de Snoo G.R. and Eden P. 2001. Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. J. Environ. Manage. 63: 337–365.
Svensson B., Lagerlöf J. and Svensson B.G. 2000. Habitat preferences of nest-seeking bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in an agricultural landscape. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 77: 247–255.
Thomas C.D., Cameron A., Green R.E., Bakkenes M., Beaumont L.J., Collingham Y.C., Erasmus B.F.N., de Siqueira M.F., Grainger A., Hannah L., Hughes L., Huntley B., van Jaarsveld A.S., Midgley G.F., Miles L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson A.T., Phillips O.L. and Williams S.E. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427: 145–148.
Thomson J.D. 1996. Trapline foraging by bumblebees. 1. Persistence of flight-path geometry. Behav. Ecol. 7: 158–164.
Tischendorf S. 2001. Wildbienen und Wespen (Hymenoptera: Apidae) im Oberrheinischen Auwaldgebiet “Kühkopf-Knoblauchsaue” (Hessen). Hessische Faunistische Briefe 20: 21–42.
Treiber R. 1998. Verbreitung und Ökologie der Hummeln (Hymenoptera: Apidae) im Landkreis Freudenstadt (Baden-Württemberg). Mit. bad. Landesver. Naturkunde und Naturschute, N.F. 17: 155–180.
Wagner R. 1971. Die Veränderung der Hummelfauna Cuxhavens in diesem Jahrhundert. Der Versuch einer Deutung. Entomologische Mitteilungen des Zoologischen Museums Hamburg 4: 207–232.
Walther-Hellwig K. 2001. Untersuchungen zu Sammelflugweiten und Dichteverteilung von Honigbienen. Unveröffentlichte Auftragsarbeit für den Landesverband Hess. Imker e.V., Kirchhain in Zusammenarbeit mit d. Hess. Dienstleistungszentrum f. Landwirtschaft, Gartenbau u, Gartenbau u. Naturschutz (HDLGN), Kirchhain, Germany.
Walther-Hellwig K. and Frankl R. 2000. Foraging habitats and foraging distances of bumblebees, Bombus spp. (Hym., Apidae), in an agricultural landscape. J. Appl. Entomol. 124: 299–306.
Watanabe M.E. 1994. Pollination worries rise as honey bees decline. Science 256: 1170.
Westrich P. 1990. Die Wildbienen Baden-Württembergs. Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany.
Westrich P., Schwenninger H.R., Dathe H.H., Riemann H., Saure C., Voith J. and Weber K. 1998. Rote Liste der Bienen (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Schriftenreihe für Landschaftspflege und Naturschutz 55: 119–129.
Williams P.H. 1986. Environmental change and the distributions of British bumble bees (Bombus Latr). Bee World 67: 50–61.
Williams P.H. 1989. Why are there so many species of bumble bees at Dungeness. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 101: 31–44.
Williams I.H., Corbet S.A. and Osborne J.L. 1991. Bee-keeping, wild bees and pollination in the European Community. Bee World 72: 170–180.
Wolf H. 1985. Veränderungen der Hummelfauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) bei Frankfurt (Main) und Marburg (Lahn). Hessische Faunistische Briefe 5: 66–69.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Diekötter, T., Walther-Hellwig, K., Conradi, M., Suter, M., Frankl, R. (2006). Effects of landscape elements on the distribution of the rare bumblebee species Bombus muscorum in an agricultural landscape. In: Hawksworth, D.L., Bull, A.T. (eds) Arthropod Diversity and Conservation. Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5204-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5204-0_4
Received:
Accepted:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5203-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5204-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)