Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland
The structure of pollination networks is critical to ecosystem stability and functioning. We investigated pollinator-plant interactions to understand the foraging preference and develop pollination networks in a semi-arid rangeland of different grazing management categories in Tanzania. Along three...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2023-10-01
|
| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002160 |
| _version_ | 1797676272986357760 |
|---|---|
| author | Faith T. Mpondo Patrick A. Ndakidemi Shelard C. Mukama Anna C. Treydte |
| author_facet | Faith T. Mpondo Patrick A. Ndakidemi Shelard C. Mukama Anna C. Treydte |
| author_sort | Faith T. Mpondo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The structure of pollination networks is critical to ecosystem stability and functioning. We investigated pollinator-plant interactions to understand the foraging preference and develop pollination networks in a semi-arid rangeland of different grazing management categories in Tanzania. Along three line transects, each measuring 100 m, in each of the four grazing management categories (private and communal enclosures, wet and dry season grazing areas), we laid out three quadrats measuring 5 m x 5 m (25 m2,) located 30 m apart. We recorded insects visiting flowering plants for two consecutive days in each quadrat every week at each site from April to May, in 2019 and 2020. Aspilia mossambicensis received the most significant proportion of insect visitors (28%), followed by Justicia debile (21%). The mean protein concentration in sampled pollen varied significantly between plant species (χ² = 25.9, P = 0.001), with Solanum incanum containing the highest concentration (299.3 ± 0.68) g/100 g. We did not notice any correlation between honey bee visitation and protein concentration in pollen (r = −0.471, P = 0.239) nor with fatty acids concentration (r = 0.253, P = 0.546). When comparing pollinator-plant network properties including connectance, nestedness, robustness, number of links, modularity, network diversity and linkage density across rangeland management, we found that the private enclosure contained significantly larger networks than the communal enclosure, the dry and the wet season grazing sites. We conclude that particularly private enclosures are vital to promote pollination networks in our studied rangeland system as they include important pollinator forage plants. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:25:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27ee9561799946fcb2050bbc10c2135c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:25:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-27ee9561799946fcb2050bbc10c2135c2023-09-24T05:15:25ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942023-10-0146e02581Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangelandFaith T. Mpondo0Patrick A. Ndakidemi1Shelard C. Mukama2Anna C. Treydte3Department of Biology, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 338, Dodoma, Tanzania; Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, (NM-AIST), P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania; Corresponding author at: Department of Biology, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 338, Dodoma, Tanzania.Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, (NM-AIST), P.O. Box 447, Arusha, TanzaniaDepartment of Environmental Studies, The Open University of Tanzania, P.O. Box 1944 Dar es, Salaam, TanzaniaDepartment of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, (NM-AIST), P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania; Department of Ecology of Tropical Agricultural Systems, Hans-Ruthenberg Institute, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 13, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany; Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 8, 106 91 Stockholm, SwedenThe structure of pollination networks is critical to ecosystem stability and functioning. We investigated pollinator-plant interactions to understand the foraging preference and develop pollination networks in a semi-arid rangeland of different grazing management categories in Tanzania. Along three line transects, each measuring 100 m, in each of the four grazing management categories (private and communal enclosures, wet and dry season grazing areas), we laid out three quadrats measuring 5 m x 5 m (25 m2,) located 30 m apart. We recorded insects visiting flowering plants for two consecutive days in each quadrat every week at each site from April to May, in 2019 and 2020. Aspilia mossambicensis received the most significant proportion of insect visitors (28%), followed by Justicia debile (21%). The mean protein concentration in sampled pollen varied significantly between plant species (χ² = 25.9, P = 0.001), with Solanum incanum containing the highest concentration (299.3 ± 0.68) g/100 g. We did not notice any correlation between honey bee visitation and protein concentration in pollen (r = −0.471, P = 0.239) nor with fatty acids concentration (r = 0.253, P = 0.546). When comparing pollinator-plant network properties including connectance, nestedness, robustness, number of links, modularity, network diversity and linkage density across rangeland management, we found that the private enclosure contained significantly larger networks than the communal enclosure, the dry and the wet season grazing sites. We conclude that particularly private enclosures are vital to promote pollination networks in our studied rangeland system as they include important pollinator forage plants.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002160Flower visitorsSemi-aridInsect conservationPollinator networksPlant interactionEcosystem service |
| spellingShingle | Faith T. Mpondo Patrick A. Ndakidemi Shelard C. Mukama Anna C. Treydte Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland Global Ecology and Conservation Flower visitors Semi-arid Insect conservation Pollinator networks Plant interaction Ecosystem service |
| title | Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland |
| title_full | Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland |
| title_fullStr | Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland |
| title_short | Insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a Northern Tanzanian rangeland |
| title_sort | insect visitation and pollination networks across traditional rangeland management categories in a northern tanzanian rangeland |
| topic | Flower visitors Semi-arid Insect conservation Pollinator networks Plant interaction Ecosystem service |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423002160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT faithtmpondo insectvisitationandpollinationnetworksacrosstraditionalrangelandmanagementcategoriesinanortherntanzanianrangeland AT patrickandakidemi insectvisitationandpollinationnetworksacrosstraditionalrangelandmanagementcategoriesinanortherntanzanianrangeland AT shelardcmukama insectvisitationandpollinationnetworksacrosstraditionalrangelandmanagementcategoriesinanortherntanzanianrangeland AT annactreydte insectvisitationandpollinationnetworksacrosstraditionalrangelandmanagementcategoriesinanortherntanzanianrangeland |