Chemical signatures of resource competition between honeybees and wild bees along a landuse gradient

Figure: The photo shows a bee collecting nectar from the petals of a purple crocus flower.

Goals

Detect honeybee-induced shifts in flower visitation of bumblebees
Evaluate the effect of land use intensity on competition between honeybees on bumblebees
Measure fitness consequences for bumblebees

Methods

Extract footprints from flowers
Run GC/MS analysis
Quantify resource overlap (H2’)
Use landuse intensity (Li) and landscape context as predictor variables in an analysis of floral resource overlap
Measure worker size across EPs
Measure colony growth and reproductive output in a field experiment in the Schwäbische Alb

Publications

Bumblebee footprints on bird’s-foot trefoil uncover increasing flower visitation with land-use intensity

Kämper W., Blüthgen N., Eltz T. (2017): Bumblebee footprints on bird’s-foot trefoil uncover increasing flower visitation with land-use intensity. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 240, 77–83. doi: 10.1016/j.agee.2017.02.013

Evaluating the effects of floral resource specialisation and of nitrogen regulation on the vulnerability of social bees in agricultural landscapes

Blütenspezialisierung und Stickstoff-Homöostase - Was führt zur Anfälligkeit von Arten?

Kämper W., Weiner C., Kühsel S., Storm C., Eltz T., Blüthgen N. (2017): Evaluating the effects of floral resource specialisation and of nitrogen regulation on the vulnerability of social bees in agricultural landscapes. Apidologie, 48 (3), 371–383. doi: 10.1007/s13592-016-0480-4

How landscape, pollen intake and pollen quality affect colony growth in Bombus terrestris

Was beeinflusst das Koloniewachstum der dunklen Erdhummel (B. terrestris)?

Kämper W., Werner P. K., Hilpert A., Westphal C., Blüthgen N., Eltz T., Leonhardt S. D. (2016): How landscape, pollen intake and pollen quality affect colony growth in Bombus terrestris. Landscape Ecology 31 (10), 2245–2258. doi: 10.1007/s10980-016-0395-5

Bumblebees in agricultural landscapes in Central Europe: colony performance, floral resource use and pathogen load

Hummeln in Agrarlandschaften in Mitteleuropa: Kolonieentwicklung, Blütennutzung und Pathogenbelastung

Kämper W. (2016): Bumblebees in agricultural landscapes in Central Europe: colony performance, floral resource use and pathogen load. Dissertation, University Bochum

Scientific assistants

Alumni

PD Dr. Thomas Eltz

Project manager

Prof. Dr. Nico Blüthgen

Technische Universität Darmstadt

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