ecosystem importance: the role of bees (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, September 08, 2022, 20:20 (590 days ago) @ David Turell

How they pollinate:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220907143342.htm

"In the paper, which was recently published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, scientists said biodiversity of the bee population is critical to maintaining the ecosystem function of crop pollination, which is critical to humanity's food supply.

"'We found that biodiversity plays a key role in the stability of ecosystems over time," said Natalie Lemanski, lead author on the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). "You do actually need more bee species in order to get stable pollination services over a growing season and over years."

"The researchers said they discovered different bee species pollinated the same types of plants at different times of the year. They also found that different bee species were the dominant pollinators on the same kind of plants in different years. Because of natural fluctuations in bee populations, researchers said, all bee species present were needed to maintain a minimum threshold of pollination during lean years.

"'This research shows that abundance [of a species] matters, but bee diversity matters even more," said Michelle Elekonich, the deputy division director of the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences, which funded the study. "It's not the same bees that are abundant at a given point in time, and variety is necessary to provide balance during a growing season -- and from year to year."

"Lemanski said the study offers substantiation to a long-standing concept ecologists refer to as the "insurance hypothesis." The idea is that ecosystems probably benefit when nature "diversifies the portfolio," supporting multiple species of a category of a plant or animal, rather than relying on one dominant species.

"'We found that two to three times as many bee species were needed to meet a target level of crop pollination over the course of a growing season compared to a single date," Lemanski said. "Similarly, twice as many species were needed to provide pollination over the course of six years compared to a single year."

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"'The magnitude of increase in species needed over multiple years was remarkably consistent among crop systems when considered over the same interval of time," Lemanski said. "In addition, the fact that the relationship between timescale and the number of species needed did not level off suggests that even longer time series, spanning multiple seasons, may further bolster the need for biodiversity to ensure reliable ecosystem service.'" (my bold)

Comment: 'diversity' of active bees is the key. Let's translate that into theory. Years ago both dhw and I agreed it is bush of life, not a simple tree. That huge bush is the evidence of planning for the needed diversity. Yet dhw refuses to see the real picture of all leading to our food supply.