Does Habitat Fragmentation impact the species assemblage of pollinators in relict Heathlands across a UK city?

栖息地破碎化是否会影响英国城市废弃荒地中授粉媒介的物种组合？

• 批准号: 2592133
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2592133
• 关键词: Does; Habitat; Fragmentation; impact; species

Lowland Heath is a form of ancient landscape characterised by dwarf shrub heather communities. These important ecosystems create complex mosaic habitats that support valuable assemblages of insects. Heathland is on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) list of priority habitats (JNCC, 2007). Agricultural intensification and urbanisation have reduced this once prolific landscape to 16% of the total area of England which it occupied in 1800 (English Nature, 2002). Despite substantial urbanisation within the West Midlands, fragmented patches of heathland totaling 500 ha still remain in Birmingham and the Black Country (Trueman et al., 2013).Researchers agree that the decline of pollinators is a cause for global concern that warrants further research (Winfree et al., 2009; Bates et al. 2011). The UK has lost 14 bee species since 1900 with a further 35 species at risk of extinction (Goulson, 2019). Although several studies have highlighted the value of urban areas to support insect populations (e.g., Bates et al. 2011; Baldock et al., 2015; Hall et al, 2016), and the importance of relict heathlands for sustaining diverse metapopulations of rare pollinators in the region (Falk, 1996; Falk and Lane, 1999; Falk, 2010), no study (to date) has focused on the impacts of urbanisation on pollinator assemblages in relict heathlands.This research is valuable, as the regeneration of fragmented heathlands could support urban pollinators. This will inform management recommendations for connecting isolated areas of lowland heath across the region. We hope to demonstrate the need to regenerate and expand areas of relict heathland across the West Midlands, as a viable solution to insect decline. This project will examine (i) the impact of urbanisation on pollinator diversity in relic heathlands and test whether (ii) species diversity is lower in fragmented areas of heathland, compared to connected areas. It will assess (iii) the impact of geographical expansion of heathland on pollinator diversity and (iv) quantify the habitat conditions for nesting aggregates for solitary aculeates (bees & wasps).This project provides opportunities to inform local stakeholders in the fields of landscape management and nature conservation how to regenerate areas of lowland heath for vulnerable insect species, while providing outreach opportunities for the research partnership to work with local residents. The DR will work with a multidisciplinary team of academics (landscape ecologists, insect biologists and conservationists), as well as an experienced drone operator to capture high resolution aerial images of heathland sites across the target area. The drone will produce 20 megapixel images at 300 dpi, showing the extent of vegetation coverage and bare earth in urban heathlands. This project will provide training in a range of skills to develop a pollinator database for the region, updating and refreshing current knowledge of species in the target area. This will involve utilizing citizen science to accumulate data on the geographical locations and species assemblages of important nesting aggregations throughout the West Midlands conurbation.

低地石南是一种以矮灌木石南花群落为特征的古代景观。这些重要的生态系统创造了复杂的马赛克栖息地，支持有价值的昆虫群落。荒地位于英国生物多样性行动计划 (BAP) 优先栖息地名单中（JNCC，2007 年）。农业集约化和城市化使这片曾经富饶的土地减少到 1800 年英格兰总面积的 16%（English Nature，2002）。尽管西米德兰兹郡实现了大规模的城市化，但伯明翰和黑人乡村仍保留着总计 500 公顷的零散荒地（Trueman 等，2013）。研究人员一致认为，传粉媒介的减少是全球关注的一个原因，值得进一步研究（温弗里等人，2009；贝茨等人，2011）。自 1900 年以来，英国已经失去了 14 种蜜蜂，另有 35 种蜜蜂面临灭绝风险（Goulson，2019）。尽管一些研究强调了城市地区支持昆虫种群的价值（例如，Bates 等人，2011 年；Baldock 等人，2015 年；Hall 等人，2016 年），以及残余荒地对于维持稀有传粉媒介多样化组合种群的重要性在该地区（Falk，1996；Falk 和 Lane，1999；Falk，2010），没有研究（日期）重点研究了城市化对荒地荒地传粉媒介组合的影响。这项研究很有价值，因为破碎荒地的再生可以支持城市传粉媒介。这将为连接该地区低地荒地偏远地区的管理建议提供参考。我们希望证明需要重建和扩大西米德兰兹郡的荒地荒地面积，以此作为解决昆虫数量减少的可行方案。该项目将研究 (i) 城市化对石南荒地传粉媒介多样性的影响，并测试 (ii) 与连通地区相比，石南零散地区的物种多样性是否较低。它将评估 (iii) 石南荒地地理扩张对传粉媒介多样性的影响，以及 (iv) 量化独居蜂类（蜜蜂和黄蜂）筑巢聚集体的栖息地条件。该项目提供了向当地利益相关者通报景观管理领域信息的机会和自然保护如何为脆弱的昆虫物种重建低地石南地区，同时为研究伙伴关系提供与当地居民合作的外展机会。 DR 将与多学科学者团队（景观生态学家、昆虫生物学家和自然资源保护主义者）以及经验丰富的无人机操作员合作，捕捉目标区域石南荒地的高分辨率航空图像。该无人机将以 300 dpi 的分辨率生成 20 兆像素的图像，显​​示城市石南地的植被覆盖范围和裸露土地的范围。该项目将提供一系列技能培训，以开发该地区的授粉媒介数据库，更新和刷新目标地区物种的现有知识。这将涉及利用公民科学来积累有关整个西米德兰兹大都市的重要筑巢聚集地的地理位置和物种组合的数据。