Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania
Abstract In this study, our aim was to assess several traits of cavity‐nesting Hymenopteran taxa in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania. The study took place between May and August 2018 at eight study sites in the hilly mountainous central part of Romania, where the majority of th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7956 |
| _version_ | 1818558931999391744 |
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| author | Károly Lajos Imre Demeter Róbert Mák Adalbert Balog Miklós Sárospataki |
| author_facet | Károly Lajos Imre Demeter Róbert Mák Adalbert Balog Miklós Sárospataki |
| author_sort | Károly Lajos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In this study, our aim was to assess several traits of cavity‐nesting Hymenopteran taxa in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania. The study took place between May and August 2018 at eight study sites in the hilly mountainous central part of Romania, where the majority of the landscape is used for extensive farming or forestry. During the processing of the trap nest material, we recorded several traits regarding the nests of different cavity‐nesting Hymenopteran taxa and the spider prey found inside the nests of the spider‐hunting representatives of these taxa. We also evaluated the relationship between the edge density and proportion of low‐intensity agricultural areas surrounding the study sites and some of these traits. The majority of nests were built by the solitary wasp genus Trypoxylon, followed by the solitary wasp taxa Dipogon and Eumeninae. Solitary bees were much less common, with Hylaeus being the most abundant genus. In the nests of Trypoxylon, we mostly found spider prey from the family of Araneidae, followed by specimens from the families of Linyphiidae and Theridiidae. In the nests of Dipogon, we predominantly encountered spider prey from the family of Thomisidae. We found significant effects of low‐intensity agricultural areas for the genera of Auplopus, Megachile, Osmia, and the Thomisid prey of Dipogon. We also found that the spider prey of Trypoxylon was significantly more diverse at study sites with higher proportions of low‐intensity agricultural areas. Our results indicate that solitary bees seem to be more abundant in areas, where the influence of human activities is stronger, while solitary wasps seem to rather avoid these areas. Therefore, we suggest that future studies not only should put more effort into sampling in low‐intensity agricultural landscapes but also focus more on solitary wasp taxa, when sampling such an area. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:18:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8a4403c7fe334904a8097a70dd85611b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:18:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-8a4403c7fe334904a8097a70dd85611b2022-12-21T23:25:20ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-09-011117119031191410.1002/ece3.7956Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in TransylvaniaKároly Lajos0Imre Demeter1Róbert Mák2Adalbert Balog3Miklós Sárospataki4Department of Zoology and Ecology Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Gödöllő HungaryDepartment of Zoology and Ecology Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Gödöllő HungaryDepartment of Zoology and Ecology Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Gödöllő HungaryDepartment of Horticulture Faculty of Technical and Human Science Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania Tirgu‐Mures RomaniaDepartment of Zoology and Ecology Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Gödöllő HungaryAbstract In this study, our aim was to assess several traits of cavity‐nesting Hymenopteran taxa in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania. The study took place between May and August 2018 at eight study sites in the hilly mountainous central part of Romania, where the majority of the landscape is used for extensive farming or forestry. During the processing of the trap nest material, we recorded several traits regarding the nests of different cavity‐nesting Hymenopteran taxa and the spider prey found inside the nests of the spider‐hunting representatives of these taxa. We also evaluated the relationship between the edge density and proportion of low‐intensity agricultural areas surrounding the study sites and some of these traits. The majority of nests were built by the solitary wasp genus Trypoxylon, followed by the solitary wasp taxa Dipogon and Eumeninae. Solitary bees were much less common, with Hylaeus being the most abundant genus. In the nests of Trypoxylon, we mostly found spider prey from the family of Araneidae, followed by specimens from the families of Linyphiidae and Theridiidae. In the nests of Dipogon, we predominantly encountered spider prey from the family of Thomisidae. We found significant effects of low‐intensity agricultural areas for the genera of Auplopus, Megachile, Osmia, and the Thomisid prey of Dipogon. We also found that the spider prey of Trypoxylon was significantly more diverse at study sites with higher proportions of low‐intensity agricultural areas. Our results indicate that solitary bees seem to be more abundant in areas, where the influence of human activities is stronger, while solitary wasps seem to rather avoid these areas. Therefore, we suggest that future studies not only should put more effort into sampling in low‐intensity agricultural landscapes but also focus more on solitary wasp taxa, when sampling such an area.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7956landscape contextsolitary beessolitary waspsspider preyspider‐hunting waspstrap nests |
| spellingShingle | Károly Lajos Imre Demeter Róbert Mák Adalbert Balog Miklós Sárospataki Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania Ecology and Evolution landscape context solitary bees solitary wasps spider prey spider‐hunting wasps trap nests |
| title | Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania |
| title_full | Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania |
| title_fullStr | Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania |
| title_short | Preliminary assessment of cavity‐nesting Hymenopterans in a low‐intensity agricultural landscape in Transylvania |
| title_sort | preliminary assessment of cavity nesting hymenopterans in a low intensity agricultural landscape in transylvania |
| topic | landscape context solitary bees solitary wasps spider prey spider‐hunting wasps trap nests |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7956 |
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