12/2/2015

How does Human Impact on

Landscapes Affect Communities?

Agriculture today: use of the worlds land area

Natural (unmanaged,
uninhabited)

Landscape composition
Landscape change and communities
Pollination and bees
My study system
Mechanisms for how landscape change
impacts bees

5%

Managed forests

Agricultural and
animal production

32%
39%

31%
Human settlement, other
(roads, housing, industry, mining,
etc.)

Why conserve complex landscapes?

Landscape Composition

Biodiversity
Ecosystem services

Complex

Simple

Consequences of land use change/

agricultural intensification
Loss/degradation of
natural habitats
Large field sizes
Use of fertilizers and pesticides

Ecological problems:
Water

contamination

Pollution
Erosion
Loss

of biodiversity

How does Human Impact on

Landscapes Affect Communities?

Landscape composition
Landscape change and community
Pollination and bees
My study system
Mechanisms for how landscape change
impacts bees
Pollinator diet
Pesticide use

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How can we measure how

landscapes affect
communities?

8 Hypotheses: Landscape Impacts on

Biodiversity
1.Landscape species pool
hypothesis (alpha diversity)

2. Landscape-wide dominant diversity (beta

diversity)

a. Impact Biodiversity
b. Impact Populations
c. Impact Functional Traits
d. Impact Conservation
(Tscharntke et al., 2012)

8 Hypotheses: Landscape impacts on

Population
3. Cross habitat
spillover

4. Landscape moderates
concentration and dilution

8 Hypotheses: Landscape on
Functional Traits
5. Functional trait
selection
hypothesis

6. Insurance
hypothesis

Stink bugs

CPB
Provides impetus for
earthworm evolution

Earthworms present in ag
due to surrounding litter

8 Hypotheses: Landscape impacts

conservation management

Why conserve complex landscapes?

Biodiversity
Ecosystem services

8. Conservation endangered spp.

does not conserve ecosystem
services or functional traits
simple

complex

7. Intermediate landscape
complexity

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Ecosystem services

Levels of agroecosystem organization

They contribute to human welfare (directly and indirectly) and therefore represent part of
the total economic value of the planet (U$33 trillion/year vs. U$ 18 trillion/year global
gross national product).
Gas regulation
Climate regulation
Disturbance regulation
Water regulation
Water supply
Erosion control & sediment retention
Soil formation
Nutrient cycling
Waste treatment
Pollination
Biological control
Refugia
Food production
Raw materials
Genetic resources
Recreation
Cultural

Ecosystem/landscape

The farm in the

context and its
bordering
landscapes
Wild bee diversity
and their effects on
pollination

Community

Population

One bee
species
Individual bee
measuring stick

Individual

Costanza et al. 1997

How does Human Impact on

Landscapes Affect Communities?

Bee Pollination
35% global crops depend on insect
pollination (Klein, 2007)
Pollination services $200 billion+ per year
(Gallai et al., 2009)
Bees are chief pollinators
~20,000-25,000 spp. of bees (more than
fish!)
4,000 native bee species in U.S.
Many bees pollinate crops
Apple alone in NY, 100+ spp.

Landscape composition
Landscape change and biodiversity
Pollination and bees
My study system
Mechanisms for how landscape change
impacts bees

How does Human Impact on

Landscapes Affect Communities?

Global Pollination
Human
populations
increasing

Wild
pollinators

Landscape composition
Landscape change and biodiversity
Pollination and bees
My study system
Mechanisms for how landscape change
impacts bees

(Aizen and Harder, 2009)

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17 Sites: 15 Apple Orchards

Percent natural area

Provision mass
composition
experiments

Habitat simplification
Diet Diversity

Reproductive success

Pesticide exposure
Body weight
# Offspring per capita

Composition of Pollen - HQ

Mason Bee Biology

How does Human Impact on

Landscapes Affect Pollinators?

Offspring Production
1.Average offspring per female and 2. Weight

Landscapes and Diet

Landscape composition
Landscape change and biodiversity
My study system
Mechanisms for how landscape change
impacts bees
Pollinator diet
Pesticide use

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Bees and Diet

Bees and Diet

+Pollen-mixing results
in diets with higher
protein content
(Budde&Lanua, 2007)

+Mixed diets protect

bees against toxic
pollen
(Eckhardt, 2013)

(Kraemer and Favi, 2005)

Landscapes and Pesticides

Bees and Pesticides

Synergistic

(Gill et al, 2012)

References

Plant-Insect Interactions

Aizen&Harder. 2009.
Budde&Lanua.2007. Entomologie heute. 19: 173- 179.
Costanza et al. 1997
Eckhardt et al. 2013. J. Anim. Ecol. 83(3): 588-597.
Gallai et al. 2009
Gill et al. 2012. Nature. 491 (7422): 105-108.
Klein.2007.
Kramer&Favi. 2005.
Park, M. et al. 2012.

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Possible Interactions

Outline

Plants

+
Insects

Mutualisms
Pollination
Fig wasps

Herbivory
Galling
Destruction
Leaf cutter ants

Shelter
Ant-Aphid

Types of Feeding

Plant Defenses
physical
chemical

Co-evolution

Carnivorous
Plants

Evolution
Herbivory

Herbivorous: Passiflora and Heliconius

Mutualism: fig wasps

Decomposition
of insect
bodies and
frass

Insect and plant interactions through the fossil record

Herbivory

Mostly herbivorous:
Hemiptera
Coleoptera
Lepidoptera
Less so:

Tree ferns herbivory

True Insects

Diptera
Hymenoptera
First Terrestrial Plants
475 mya

Approx. 50% of all insects are herbivores

MYA

The challenge for an herbivore: getting enough protein

seeds
Leaves (angiosperm)

Modes of plant feeding:

Chewing

Leaves (gymnosperm)
Leaf litter (angiosperm)
Leaf litter (gymnosperm)
Wood (to 0.03)
Phloem sap (to 0.003)
Xylem sap (to 0.0002)

0.1

0.5

Insects 7-14% N

1.0
5.0
Nitrogen content (% dry weight of plant tissue)

Leaf chewers

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Chewing:
Leaf miners

Chewing: Fruit and seed herbivores

Leaf miner

Feeding in palisade parenchyma

Piercing/sucking feeders

Chewing: Roots

Cicada nymph feed on xylem

sap obtained from roots of trees
Hemiptera (also
thysanoptera
Phylloxera root aphid nearly
caused the end of the French
wine industry in the 1900s

Flower feeders
Gall makers

Diptera &
Hymenoptera are
the biggest gallmaking orders

Some of these are

pollinators

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Most herbivorous insects are host-plant specific

British plant-hoppers

Why are most herbivores specialists?

Number of plant-hopper species

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Number of host plant species

Plant Defenses

Physical Defenses
Chemical Defenses

Plant Defenses: Physical

Plant Defenses: Physical

Physical Defenses
Leaf toughness mandible wear
Leaf surface waxes
Spines, spurs, thorns
Trichomes

Plant Defenses: Chemical

1.Secondary Chemicals
2.Volatiles

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Plant Defenses: Chemical

Secondary Chemicals

Secondary Chemicals
Surface chemicals
Concentrations vary

Combination of Defenses:
Monarchs and Milkweed

-Trichomes
-Latex
-Cardiac glycosides

Latex

Downside to Defense?

Bernays et al., 2004

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Inducible defenses

Plant Defenses

Constitutive defenses plant secondary metabolites

are present all the time
science.smith.edu

Inducible defenses plant secondary metabolites are

only present when herbivores are attacking host plant
tissues

What might be an advantage of inducible plant

defenses?
1. No ability to evolve resistance if not
constant
2. Less expensive to produce
Agrawal 1998

Inducible defenses

Inducible defenses

2.0

Weight gain (mgs)

mM/g oils
Ln (x+1)
mustard
Indole Glucosinolates

Concentration of

protease (insect)

6
4
2

protease inhibitor (plant)

1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0

0
Control

Control

Induced

Induced

Protease inhibitors plants produce protease inhibitors that block

insect proteases making insects incapable of digesting plant proteins

Agrawal 1998

Plant Defenses: Chemical

Plant-parasitoid communication

Secondary Chemicals
Volatiles
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs):
organic chemicals with a high vapor
pressure
1.Low boiling point
2.Molecules evaporate or sublimate from the
liquid or solid form
3.Enter the surrounding air

(Maffei et al. 2007)

What if the plants attracted parasitoid wasps when attacked?

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Plant-parasitoid communication

Plant-parasitoid communication

Host-plant: tomato
Herbivore: Spodoptera exigua
Parasitoid: Hyposoter exiguae
Chemical signal: methyl jasmonate

Experiment 1: establish plots of tomato plants and spray some

plots with jasmonic acid (induced) and some with water
(control). Count the number of wasp pupae present.
Results:

Hyposoter exiguae (parasitic

wasp)

Tomato (hostplant)

Spodoptera exigua (caterpillar)

Thaler 1999

Thaler 1999

Plant-parasitoid communication
Experiment 2: cage individual Spodoptera caterpillars beneath
tomato plants that are sprayed with jasmonic acid (induced)
and that are sprayed with water (control). Measure parasitism
rate of caterpillars.

Take home messages:

herbivorous insects are diverse
insects feed on a diverse range of host-plant tissues

Results:

most insect herbivores are highly specialized

plants fight back against herbivores both physically and chemically
Impact on human society - pests in agriculture

Thaler 1999

Coevolution
Definition: Co-evolution is reciprocal evolutionary
change in interacting species. Species A evolves in
response to selection by species B; species B then
evolves in response to the change in A.

Two Examples of Co-evolution

Herbivory
Passiflora and Heliconius
Mutualism
Fig Wasps

The evolutionary arms race idea may explain why

herbivorous insects are so diverse

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Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

(Gilbert, 1971)

Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

(Gilbert, 1971)

Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

Most diverse leaf shape of any

plant family

Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

70% deposition v.s.

30% with eggs
Cyanogenic
diversity in
passiflora
more complex
in more
evolved spp.

(Gilbert, 1971)

(Spencer, 1988)

Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

Specialists sequester cyanide and

use for defense

(Engler-Chaouat&Gilbert, 2007)

Example 1:Passiflora and Heliconius butterfly

(Gilbert, 1971)

Trichomes hook caterpillars

feet

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Mutualisms

Example 2: Fig Wasps

What are the

advantages for
each party?

Symbiosis that is beneficial to both organisms involved

Moraceae Ficus spp. (strangler fig)

Agaonidae Blastophaga esthera

Example 2: Fig Wasps

Example 2: Fig Wasps

Sexual dimorphism
Moraceae Ficus spp. (strangler fig)
Agaonidae Blastophaga esthera

females
(Jandr et al., 2010)
males

Example 2: Fig Wasps

Example 2: Fig Wasps

Types of Pollination

1.Active wasps pack pollen

in specialized structures,
place in ovules
2.Passive - large male flowers
produce ample pollen

Synconium

If active pollination is more

expensive for wasps, why do
they do it?

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Example 2: Fig Wasps

Number of
aborted figs

Pollen free

Questions?

Pollen carriers

Number of aborted figs over time after a

single wasp visit

Watch out for: Leafcutter Ants!

Insect pollination

Saw-tooth
mandibles

Outline

What is pollination?

Pollination origins
Mutualism
What rewards to flowers offer?
How do flowers advertise?

Pollinators
Specialization
Cheaters
Pollination importance
Colony Collapse Disorder and honeybees
Solutions

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What is pollination?

Types of Pollination

Process by which a
pollination agents
transfer pollen from
the anthers to the
stigma to enable
fertilization in plants

stigma

anther

Self not dependent on environment

Cross - evolution
Abiotic
Wind
Water

Biotic pollinator necessary

The Evolution of Flowers

Before biotic pollination

Oldest flower - Archaefructus sp.

120 million years old
(Sun et al. 2002)

720 species

250,000 species

Success/Diversification of the Angiosperms

> 100 mya

Appearance of insect
feeding modes

The flower is an
evolutionary
innovation

Pollination Mutualism
Mutualism: a relationship between two species
of organisms in which both benefit from the
association.
Benefits

Past

Timeline

Plants

Fertilization

Insects

Floral Rewards

Present

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Function of the angiosperm flower

How do plants attract pollinators?

Pollination
agent

Female part of the

flower

Male part of the

flower

Floral rewards for pollinators

Flowers: savvy advertisers

Food:
1.Nectar: 8 - 76% sugar (energy)
2. Pollen: 2 - 60% protein + lipids
3. Oils: rich in energy
Nesting material & sites:
4. Resins
5. Brood sites
Sex:
6. Fragrances: attract opposite sex

Floral signals for pollinators

Floral signals for pollinators

1. Color

3. Nectar guides

2. Floral Morphology

2. Scent, volatiles

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Vertebrate pollination

Who pollinates?

Mice
Bats

Bats

Lizards

Hummingbirds

Birds

Coleoptera: Beetles

Insects!
Beetles

flowers
Liberate pollen

Moths

AROIDS
Wasps
Flies
Butterflies

Flies

Strong-scent
Open flowers - exposed
flowers
Scent + heat
Reins

Diptera: Flies

Not very specialized:

beetles eat flower parts

Lepidoptera: Butterflies

Hover flies

Flower flies

Mimic bumblebees

Mimic bumblebees

Clustered tubular flowers

Hover flight (steady)

Hover flight but land

Not very efficient pollinators

Long Proboscis

Extendable sponge

Diurnal pollination

Long proboscis, hidden nectar

Use nectar guides

Hover fly
Bee fly

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Lepidoptera: Moths

Hymenoptera: Bees
Obligate pollen foragers
Specialized structures (scopa) for pollen
and nectar collection
Cant see red, can see ultraviolet

Long proboscis
Strong scent in flowers
White flowers
Nocturnal pollination
The predicted moth

Different Interests

MOST IMPORTANT POLLINATORS!

What is Ideal for Both

Parties?

Benefits
Plants

Fertilization

Insects

Floral Rewards

How do Flowers Encourage Loyalty

of Pollinators?
Plants: less pollen wasted
Insects: easier, faster, and higher quantity
of rewards

1. Get insects to remember you

2. Specialization

Get Insects to Remember You

Two Signals: One signal helps pollinators learn the next

Bee accuracy increases when flowers differ in:

1. Color AND shape
2. Scent AND color

(Dyer and Chittka, 2004; Leonard et al., 2011)

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Bees Trained with Color AND Scent were

more Accurate

How do Flowers Encourage Loyalty

of Pollinators?

Color Trained
Color and Scent
Trained

1. Complex attraction strategies

Landings on Flower

Not trained

2. Specialization

Flower: most efficient pollinator

takes rewards
Insect: more rewards that are
cheap to find

Color Hue
Reward

Reward
(Leonard et al, 2011)

Specialization: The legume keel

Specialization: Buzz pollination

Poricidal anthers: Only bees that buzz anthers by moving

their flight muscles can eject the pollen.

Specialization: Bucket orchid &

orchid bees

Cheat the System?

Benefits

Risks

Plants

Fertilization

Nectar Robbing

Insects

Floral Rewards

Sexual Deception

Males collect
fragrances from
orchids

Pollinia

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Cheating Flowers: Sexual Deception

Cheating Bees: Nectar Robbing

Orchid: Ophrys
Pollinia

Why is pollination important to us?

Importance: ecosystem service

Ecosystem service
Agriculture
Economic

A breakfast with insects

Importance:
Agriculture

Global estimated value of

insect pollination:

Importance:
Agriculture

A breakfast with insects

A breakfast without insects

$200
billion/year

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Importance: Economy

Bee Declines?

35% crops rely on insect pollination

Pollination worth $200 billion/year
Bees are chief pollinators

(Klein, 2007;Gallai et al., 2009)

Colony Collapse Disorder: Multiple

Factors

(Potts et al. 2010)

What can we do?

Questions?

Conservation
Attract wild bees
Biological Control
Research

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