Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops:

Transcription

1 Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in Australian crop systems Romina Rader Senior Lecturer University of New England, Armidale Contributors to our crop pollination work: Bruce White, Carolyn Sonter, Emma Goodwin, Juan Lobaton, Bryony Willcox, Liam Kendall, Manu Saunders, Sarah McDonald, Rob and Raelene Mitchie, Brad Howlett, Lindsey Kirkland, Mark Hall, Jeremy Jones, Tobias Smith, Jamie Stavert and Costa Group. Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops: Vis1 Vis3 Vis5 3. 1

2 Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops: 1. Crops Studied Across Australia 2

3 Apple Stanthorpe, QLD 2017 Blueberry Coff s Harbour, NSW 2016 &

4 Raspberry Coff s Harbour, NSW 2017 Avocado Bundaberg, QLD r occinella 4

5 Macadamia Bundaberg, QLD r occinella Mango Bundaberg, QLD 2016 & 2017 r 5

6 Mango Mareeba, QLD 2014 & 2016 r Mango Katherine, NT

7 Watermelon Katherine, NT

8 Managed and Wild Bees Found in Our Focal Crops Apis cerana Bundaberg, QLD Coff'sHarbour, QLD Katherine, NT Mareeba, QLD Stanthorpe, QLD Apis mellifera Braunsapis spp. Ceylalictus perditellus Homalictus spp Hylaeus spp Lasioglossum spp. Megachile micerythrura Tetragonula spp Xylocopa spp Unknown Small Native Bees Pollinators Plants visited by pollinators 8

9 Blueberry and raspberry Coff s Harbour, NSW 2016 & 2017 B Ic r n a e u n m sa o p ni s da e S E c x a o r n a e b u id ra C ae R a h l o li pa h l o r c id e a ra e S D y ip r t p e h r i a dae Xylocopa Austrosyrphus Homalictus Tetragonula Apis Raspberry Blueberry Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 9

10 Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops Apple Mango Watermelon Raspberry Macadamia Avocado Blueberry Braunsapis Icneumonidae Scarabidae Exoneura Coccinella Halmus Acraea Miridae Pentatomiidae Pieris Riptortas Heterocera Lucilia Sapromyza.sp. Bombylidae Tiphiidae Micraspis Leiodidae Scoliidae Glycyphana Graptostethus Lasioglossum Sarcophaga Xylocopa Hemiptera Simosyrphus Chrysomelidae Austrosyrphus Coleoptera Rhopalocera Meloidae Apocrita Apoidea Melangyna Lycid Diptera Coccinellidae Formicidae Chrysomya Homalictus Cantharidae Syrphidae Calliphoridae Tetragonula Apis Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 10

11 Pollinators Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Plants visited by pollinators Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 11

12 Avocado 2015 Bundaberg: Visitation only Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops Avocado 2017 Bundaberg: Visitation only Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 12

13 Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops: Vis1 Vis3 Vis5 The number The number of visits of visits is is important! Too few visits = crumbly fruit 13

14 2. Pollinator efficiency Vis1 Other Stingless bees alone Fruit weight Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry 14

15 Honey bees alone Fruit weight Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry Stingless bees alone Weight Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production 15

16 Honey bees alone Fruit weight Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops: Vis1 Vis3 Vis

17 Mixed HBs and SBs Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry Mixed HBs and SBs Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production 17

18 The number of visits is important! 1-4 Visits 5-9 Visits 10+ Visits Number of drupelets Number of Drupelets; (lots is good!) Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production Why is there so much variation? Are mixed visits good? 1. Differences in foraging behaviour could mean some visits are good for flower and others not 2. Differences in foraging behaviour could mean more fruit set overall 18

19 Pollen collecting behaviour Nectar collecting behaviour 19

20 Proportion fruit set after 1-5 visits Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry Conclusions: General patterns for each crop do not exist! Vis1 Vis3 Vis

21 Questions? Romina Rader Senior Lecturer University of New England, Armidale Contributors to our crop pollination work: Bruce White, Carolyn Sonter, Emma Goodwin, Juan Lobaton, Bryony Willcox, Liam Kendall, Manu Saunders, Sarah McDonald, Rob and Raelene Mitchie, Brad Howlett, Lindsey Kirkland, Mark Hall, Jeremy Jones, Tobias Smith, Jamie Stavert and Costa Group. Vis1 Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 21

22 Species ranked by abundance for each crop, year and region Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops 22