Pollinators

Fieldwork for studies on pollinators and pollination in agricultural landscapes (2011–2013)

Fieldwork conducted in forest patches of the Guadalquivir Valley (south Spain) that differed in their surrounding landscapes: traditional landscapes with olive groves and cereal crops vs. landscapes with mass-flowering crops (orange groves).

Agricultural landscape with olive groves and cereal crops

Forest patch surrounded by pastures and olive groves

Forest patch surrounded by orange groves in bloom

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) visiting orange flowers

Honeybee hives

Mediterranean shrubs in bloom

Mediterranean shrubs and herbs in bloom

Female Eucera sp. (wild bee) visiting Cistus salviifolius

Male Eucera sp. (wild bee) visiting Lavandula stoechas

Female Eucera sp. (wild bee) visiting Genista hirsuta

Female Lasioglossum sp. (wild bee) visiting L. stoechas

Female Dasypoda sp. (wild bee) visiting Cistus crispus

Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) visiting Teucrium fruticans

Eristalis sp. (hoverfly) visiting Cistus monspeliensis

Cistus monspeliensis in full bloom

Bagged Cistus salviifolius plant for pollination experiments

Marked Cistus salviifolius flower (control)

Marked Cistus salviifolius flowers (hand-pollinated)

Marked Cistus salviifolius fruit

Bagged Cistus crispus plant for pollination experiments

Male Flavipanurgus venustus (wild bee) in Cistus crispus

Male Flavipanurgus venustus feeding on C. crispus

Female F. venustus collecting C. crispus pollen

Male F. venustus approaching female on C. crispus flower

The photos illustrate the fieldwork behind the following publications:

Magrach A, González-Varo JP, Boiffier M, Vilà M & Bartomeus I (2017) Honeybee spillover reshuffles pollinator diets and affects plant reproductive success. NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 1:1299–1307 link
González-Varo JP & Vilà M (2017) Spillover of managed honeybees from mass-flowering crops into natural habitats. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION 212:376–382 pdf
González-Varo JP, Ortiz-Sánchez FJ & Vilà M (2016) Total bee dependence on one flower species despite available congeners of similar floral shape. PLOS ONE 11(9): e0163122 pdf
Holzschuh A, Dainese M, González-Varo JP, Stojnić SM, Riedinger V, Rundlöf M, Scheper J, Wickens JB, Wickens VJ, Bommarco R, Kleijn D, Potts SG, Roberts SPM, Smith HG, Vilà M, Vujić A & Steffan-Dewenter I (2016) Mass-flowering crops dilute pollinator abundance in agricultural landscapes across Europe. ECOLOGY LETTERS 19:1228–1236 link

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