Linking agriculture and land use change to pollinator populations

将农业和土地利用变化与传粉昆虫种群联系起来

• 批准号: BB/I000216/1
• 负责人: Simon Potts
• 金额: $ 47.93万
• 依托单位: University of Reading
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2011 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FI000216%2F1
• 关键词: Linking; agriculture; land; use; change

There is growing evidence that both domestic honeybees and wild pollinators are in decline in Britain, as are the wildflowers that they both use for food. We expect these declines are linked, but there is little evidence to demonstrate what the links are, and what can be done to halt or reverse them. Among the most likely explanations for these declines are changes in the way the British landscape is managed: loss of natural habitats and increasingly intensive agricultural practices. We will test for links between such land use changes and the condition of British pollinator populations. One aspect of our work involves examining how pollinator populations and land use have changed over time, to test whether pollinator losses are correlated with landscape changes. This is made difficult because there is no national monitoring programme for pollinators, and so we only have scattered information about pollinator changes. To overcome this problem, we will take two contrasting approaches: (1) comparing how land use has changed in areas where we know pollinator populations either have declined markedly or have not done so, and (2) repeating historical surveys of pollinators in sites chosen to have undergone different amounts of subsequent land use change. A second focus of our work will be on how current land uses link to current honeybee, wild pollinator and wildflower populations. To do so, we need to survey pollinators and wildflowers in sites with very different sets of conditions in a carefully controlled manner. First we will use existing datasets to estimate likely flower densities in different habitats and regions, as well as the distribution of habitat types (and changes in them), various aspects agricultural management (including pesticide usage), and the density of domestic honeybee colonies. We will then choose a set of 96 sites in six clusters across Britain, with sites chosen to represent a wide range of flower resources, different natural and agricultural habitats, different levels of pesticide use, and different numbers of domestic honeybee hives. We will survey wildflower and pollinator populations at these sites, observe how well flowers are pollinated, and test how well honeybees and one wild bee species perform when placed at the different sites. This will be the largest scale survey of flower resources and pollinator communities ever performed. We will then examine how well pollinator populations can be predicted from flower densities, and how both are affected by various aspects of land use and agricultural management. The final aspect of our work will be to apply these findings to make recommendations as to how both domestic honeybees and wild pollinators can best be protected. This will build off of the results of the previous sections, which will provide links between specific land management options and pollinator stocks. Such findings could be of use to farmers, beekeepers, conservationists and policy makers, and so we will involve all four of these communities in the project, involving representatives of each on a project Steering Committee. We will hold workshops both at the beginning of the project (to get ideas for additional issues to study) and at the end of the project (to discuss our findings and their policy implications). We will edit fact-sheets and briefing papers for these different communities, and distribute them in specialist magazines and through a project web site. We will also make information available on a public website, including teaching materials and other resources about pollinator declines.

越来越多的证据表明，英国的家养蜜蜂和野生授粉媒介都在减少，它们作为食物的野花也在减少。我们预计这些下降是相互关联的，但几乎没有证据表明这些关联是什么，以及可以采取哪些措施来阻止或扭转这种关联。造成这些下降的最可能的解释之一是英国景观管理方式的变化：自然栖息地的丧失和日益集约化的农业实践。我们将测试此类土地利用变化与英国授粉昆虫种群状况之间的联系。我们工作的一方面涉及研究传粉媒介数量和土地利用随时间的变化，以测试传粉媒介的损失是否与景观变化相关。这变得很困难，因为没有针对授粉媒介的国家监测计划，因此我们只有有关授粉媒介变化的零散信息。为了解决这个问题，我们将采取两种截然不同的方法：（1）比较我们知道授粉媒介数量显着下降或尚未明显下降的地区的土地利用变化，以及（2）在选定的地点重复对授粉媒介的历史调查随后经历了不同程度的土地用途变化。我们工作的第二个重点是当前的土地利用如何与当前的蜜蜂、野生授粉媒介和野花种群联系起来。为此，我们需要以严格控制的方式调查条件截然不同的地点的传粉媒介和野花。首先，我们将使用现有数据集来估计不同栖息地和地区可能的花朵密度，以及栖息地类型的分布（及其变化）、农业管理的各个方面（包括农药的使用）以及家养蜂群的密度。然后，我们将在英国各地选择六个集群中的 96 个地点，这些地点代表了广泛的花卉资源、不同的自然和农业栖息地、不同的农药使用水平以及不同数量的国内蜂巢。我们将调查这些地点的野花和传粉媒介种群，观察花朵的授粉情况，并测试蜜蜂和一种野生蜂种在不同地点的表现。这将是迄今为止对花卉资源和传粉昆虫群落进行的最大规模的调查。然后，我们将研究如何根据花朵密度预测授粉媒介数量，以及两者如何受到土地利用和农业管理各个方面的影响。我们工作的最后一个方面是应用这些发现来就如何最好地保护家养蜜蜂和野生传粉媒介提出建议。这将以前几节的结果为基础，提供具体的土地管理方案和授粉昆虫种群之间的联系。这些发现可能对农民、养蜂人、自然资源保护主义者和政策制定者有用，因此我们将让所有这四个社区参与该项目，并让每个社区的代表都加入项目指导委员会。我们将在项目开始时（以获得有关其他问题研究的想法）和项目结束时（讨论我们的发现及其政策影响）举办研讨会。我们将为这些不同的社区编辑情况说明书和简报，并通过专业杂志和项目网站分发它们。我们还将在公共网站上提供信息，包括有关传粉媒介减少的教材和其他资源。

项目成果

AgriLand: linking agriculture and land use change to pollinator communities

AgriLand：将农业和土地利用变化与传粉昆虫群落联系起来

• 发表时间: 2013
• 期刊: Antenna
• 作者: Senapathi, D

Land use change: Opportunities for pollinator conservation and risks for pollinator loss

土地利用变化：传粉媒介保护的机会和传粉媒介丧失的风险

• 发表时间: 2016
• 作者: Senapathi, D

Proposal for an EU Pollinator Monitoring Scheme

欧盟传粉媒介监测计划提案

• 发表时间: 2021
• 作者: Potts S.G.

A method for the objective selection of landscape-scale study regions and sites at the national level

国家层面景观尺度研究区域和地点的客观选择方法

• DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12779
• 发表时间: 2017
• 期刊: Methods in Ecology and Evolution
• 影响因子: 6.6
• 作者: Gillespie M

UK Insect Decline and Extinctions

英国昆虫减少和灭绝

• 发表时间: 2020
• 作者: The Parliamentary Office Of Science;Technology
• 通讯作者: Technology