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Porträtt av Henrik Smith. Foto.

Henrik Smith

Professor

Porträtt av Henrik Smith. Foto.

Drastic historic shifts in bumble-bee community composition in Sweden

Författare

  • Riccardo Bommarco
  • Ola Lundin
  • Henrik Smith
  • Maj Rundlof

Summary, in English

The species richness of flower-visiting insects has declined in past decades, raising concerns that the ecosystem service they provide by pollinating crops and wild plants is threatened. The relative commonness of different species with shared ecological traits can play a pervasive role in determining ecosystem functioning, but information on changes in abundances of pollinators over time is lacking. We gathered data on relative abundances of bumble-bee species in Swedish red clover fields during three periods in the last 70 years (1940s, 1960s and present), and on clover seed yields since 1921. We found drastic decreases in bumble-bee community evenness, with potential consequences for level and stability of red clover seed yield. The relative abundances of two short-tongued bumble-bees have increased from 40 per cent in the 1940s to entirely dominate present communities with 89 per cent. Average seed yield declined in recent years and variation in yield doubled, suggesting that the current dependence on few species for pollination has been especially detrimental to stability in seed yield. Our results suggest a need to develop management schemes that promote not only species-rich but also more evenly composed communities of service-providing organisms.

Avdelning/ar

  • Centrum för miljö- och klimatvetenskap (CEC)
  • Biodiversitet
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
  • Biodiversitet och bevarandevetenskap

Publiceringsår

2012

Språk

Engelska

Sidor

309-315

Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie

Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences

Volym

279

Issue

1727

Dokumenttyp

Artikel i tidskrift

Förlag

Royal Society Publishing

Ämne

  • Ecology
  • Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Nyckelord

  • Bombus spp.
  • ecosystem service
  • pollination
  • Trifolium pratense
  • red
  • clover

Status

Published

Forskningsgrupp

  • Biodiversity and Conservation Science

ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt

  • ISSN: 1471-2954