Effects of landscape context on populations of Bumblebees

On Friday (May 13) at 13.00, Anna Persson is defending her thesis ”Effects of landscape context on populations of bumblebees” in Blue Hall, Ecology Building. In it she document severe losses of bumblebees, in particular species with above ground nests and small colonies, in intensively farmed landscapes. This can be understood in the context of animal movement, because different bumblebee species utilize landscapes at different spatial scales and may thus be differently sensitive to the increased spatial and temporal variation in nectar and pollen resources in these landscapes. In addition she demonstrates that the loss of pollinators may have secondary consequences for the pollination of wildflowers in agricultural landscapes.