TY - JOUR

T1 - DNA metabarcoding identifies urban foraging patterns of oligolectic and polylectic cavity-nesting bees

AU - Fernandes, Kristen

AU - Prendergast, Kit

AU - Bateman, Philip W.

AU - Saunders, Benjamin J.

AU - Gibberd, Mark

AU - Bunce, Michael

AU - Nevill, Paul

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Urbanisation modifies natural landscapes resulting in built-up space that is covered by buildings or hard surfaces and managed green spaces that often substitute native plant species with exotics. Some native bee species have been able to adapt to urban environments, foraging and reproducing in these highly modified areas. However, little is known on how the foraging ecology of native bees is affected by urbanised environments, and whether impacts vary among species with different degrees of specialisation for pollen collection. Here, we aim to investigate the responses of native bee foraging behaviour to urbanisation, using DNA metabarcoding to identify the resources within nesting tubes. We targeted oligolectic (specialist) and polylectic (generalist) cavity-nesting bee species in residential gardens and remnant bushland habitats. We were able to identify 40 families, 50 genera, and 23 species of plants, including exotic species, from the contents of nesting tubes. Oligolectic bee species had higher diversity of plant pollen in their nesting tubes in residential gardens compared to bushland habitats, along with significantly different forage composition between the two habitats. This result implies a greater degree of forage flexibility for oligolectic bee species than previously thought. In contrast, the diversity and composition of plant forage in polylectic bee nesting tubes did not vary between the two habitat types. Our results suggest a complex response of cavity-nesting bees to urbanisation and support the need for additional research to understand how the shifts in foraging resources impact overall bee health.

AB - Urbanisation modifies natural landscapes resulting in built-up space that is covered by buildings or hard surfaces and managed green spaces that often substitute native plant species with exotics. Some native bee species have been able to adapt to urban environments, foraging and reproducing in these highly modified areas. However, little is known on how the foraging ecology of native bees is affected by urbanised environments, and whether impacts vary among species with different degrees of specialisation for pollen collection. Here, we aim to investigate the responses of native bee foraging behaviour to urbanisation, using DNA metabarcoding to identify the resources within nesting tubes. We targeted oligolectic (specialist) and polylectic (generalist) cavity-nesting bee species in residential gardens and remnant bushland habitats. We were able to identify 40 families, 50 genera, and 23 species of plants, including exotic species, from the contents of nesting tubes. Oligolectic bee species had higher diversity of plant pollen in their nesting tubes in residential gardens compared to bushland habitats, along with significantly different forage composition between the two habitats. This result implies a greater degree of forage flexibility for oligolectic bee species than previously thought. In contrast, the diversity and composition of plant forage in polylectic bee nesting tubes did not vary between the two habitat types. Our results suggest a complex response of cavity-nesting bees to urbanisation and support the need for additional research to understand how the shifts in foraging resources impact overall bee health.

KW - DNA metabarcoding

KW - Floral preferences

KW - Native bees

KW - Trap nests

KW - Urbanisation

U2 - 10.1007/s00442-022-05254-0

DO - 10.1007/s00442-022-05254-0

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36098815

AN - SCOPUS:85138031095

VL - 200

SP - 323

EP - 337

JO - Oecologia

JF - Oecologia

SN - 0029-8519

IS - 3-4

ER -