Broader phenology of pollinator activity and higher plant reproductive success in an urban habitat compared to a rural one

21Citations
Citations of this article
77Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Urban habitat characteristics create environmental filtering of pollinator communities. They also impact pollinating insect phenology through the presence of an urban heat island and the year-round availability of floral resources provided by ornamental plants. Here, we monitored the phenology and composition of pollinating insect communities visiting replicates of an experimental plant assemblage comprising two species, with contrasting floral traits: Sinapis alba and Lotus corniculatus, whose flowering periods were artificially extended. Plant assemblage replicates were set up over two consecutive years in two different habitats: rural and densely urbanized, within the same biogeographical region (Ile-de-France region, France). The phenology of pollination activity, recorded from the beginning (early March) to the end (early November) of the season, differed between these two habitats. Several pollinator morphogroups (small wild bees, bumblebees, honeybees) were significantly more active on our plant sets in the urban habitat compared to the rural one, especially in early spring and autumn. This resulted in different overall reproductive success of the plant assemblage between the two habitats. Over the course of the season, reproductive success of S. alba was always significantly higher in the urban habitat, while reproductive success of L. corniculatus was significantly higher in the urban habitat only during early flowering. These findings suggest different phenological adaptations to the urban habitat for different groups of pollinators. Overall, results indicate that the broadened activity period of pollinating insects recorded in the urban environment could enhance the pollination function and the reproductive success of plant communities in cities.

References Powered by Scopus

glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling

7036Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Global change and the ecology of cities

5293Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Effects of urbanization on species richness: A review of plants and animals

1875Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Urbanization extends flight phenology and leads to local adaptation of seasonal plasticity in Lepidoptera

46Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Seasonal dynamics of competition between honey bees and wild bees in a protected Mediterranean scrubland

29Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Native and exotic plants play different roles in urban pollination networks across seasons

24Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Zaninotto, V., Raynaud, X., Gendreau, E., Kraepiel, Y., Motard, E., Babiar, O., … Dajoz, I. (2020). Broader phenology of pollinator activity and higher plant reproductive success in an urban habitat compared to a rural one. Ecology and Evolution, 10(20), 11607–11621. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6794

Readers over time

‘20‘21‘22‘23‘24‘2506121824

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 22

63%

Researcher 7

20%

Professor / Associate Prof. 4

11%

Lecturer / Post doc 2

6%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 19

54%

Environmental Science 13

37%

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Bi... 2

6%

Design 1

3%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free
0