Abstract
The contribution of wild insects to crop pollination is becoming
increasingly important as global demand for crops dependent on animal
pollination increases. If wild insect populations are to persist in
agricultural landscapes, there must be sufficient floral resources (FR)
over time and space. The temporal, within-season component of FR
availability has rarely been investigated, despite growing recognition
of its likely importance for pollinator populations. Here, we examined
the visitation rates of common bee genera and the spatiotemporal
availability of FR in agroecosystems over one season to determine
whether local bee activity was limited by the abundance of landscape FR,
and if so, whether it was limited by the present or past abundance of
landscape FR. Visitation rates and landscape FR were measured in 27
agricultural sites in Ontario and Québec, Canada, across four time
periods and three spatial scales. Landscape FR at varying spatial scales
predicted visits for the seven most commonly observed bee genera.
Bombus visitation rates were higher in landscapes that had
greater cumulative seasonal abundance of FR, suggesting the importance
of early-season FR for this taxon. Visits from Halictus and
Lasioglossum were higher in landscapes that provided either a
stable or increasing amount of FR over the season and were lower in
landscapes that experienced a decrease in FR over the course of a
season. Andrena, Augochlorella, Megachile, and
Peponapis visits were not measurably influenced by FR in previous
months but were lower in landscapes that had a higher present abundance
of FR, perhaps reflecting pollinator movement or dilution. Our research
provides insight into how seasonal fluctuations in floral resources
affect bee activity, and by examining each bee genus separately, we
could observe how differences in foraging periods, foraging ranges, and
the number of broods per season influence how bee taxa respond to food
availability within agroecosystems.