SCAPE2020 Programme and Abstracts FINAL

SCAPE 2020
34th Annual Meeting

of the Scandinavian Association
for Pollination Ecology
6 – 8 November 2020
Virtual Conference
University of Northampton
UK
1
Welcome to SCAPE 2020!
This is the 34th annual meeting of the Scandinavian Association for Pollination Ecology.
Or is it the Scandinavian Association of Pollination Ecologists…..? No one really knows, for
the roots of SCAPE are shrouded in the mists of timeless Nordic mythology. What we do know
is that it’s the world’s longest-running annual conference devoted to pollinators and plant
reproduction. It was also the first international conference that I ever attended, as a young PhD
researcher back in 1991. Since then I’ve gone to as many SCAPEs as possible, watched it
grow in size and geographical spread, and it remains my favourite conference. That’s because
SCAPE is characterised by its hospitable and friendly atmosphere, and by the high quality of
the science that is presented. What more could you wish for from a conference?
For the first time in its history SCAPE is being hosted in the UK, what I like to think of
as “Wider Scandinavia”. You don’t need me to tell you what a challenging year 2020 has been.
So I won’t. Suffice to say that the conference couldn’t be face-to-face as originally intended,
and over the summer the decision was made to go virtual. This has presented its own
problems, but one of the advantages is that we can support many more attendees from a much
wider range of countries.
All the information that you need to access the SCAPE conference each day is provided
below. I’d like to say thanks to the people who have helped make SCAPE 2020 possible:
Yannick Klomberg for his work on developing the SCAPE website and supporting the
conference registrations; to Paul Egan for staffing the SCAPE Twitter account; all of the
colleagues who have stepped up to chair sessions and discussions; Lynn and Scott for
agreeing to be our excellent keynote speakers; the University of Northampton for its support,
especially our technical crew (Rob Farmer, Cleo Cameron, Liane Robinson and Rob Howe);
Pelagic Publishing for supplying gifts for the keynotes and prizes for the student competition;
my wife Karin Blak for her inspired ideas and help with putting together the programme; and
last but not least, to all the participants for making SCAPE what it is. And remember: once a
SCAPEr, always a SCAPEr.
If you are tweeting about the conference please use the hashtag #SCAPE2020 and tag
in @SCAPE_Poll_Ecol
I hope that you enjoy the great science that will be on show over the three days of the
conference!
Stay safe and stay healthy,
Jeff Ollerton
2
Joining SCAPE
Important: we recommend that you join the sessions using an up-to-date version of the
Chrome browser: https://www.google.com/chrome/update/
If you have any technical issues please email our support crew (not Jeff!):
[email protected]
Link for day 1: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/2e66113ef2f543c585b55d76e7bd1c04
Link for day 2: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/3707c1b50945429eb2b929e7d20adc83
Link for day 3: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/68fffc6059ab4052af67c54a59bea4e5
Please do not share these links with anyone: we will be checking attendees and removing
anyone who has not registered.
The SCAPE virtual rooms will be open from 08.00 GMT each day and will persist until 23.59.
If you click on them before this time, they will give a message telling you when the room will
be open.
Some presenters have videos associated with their talks and they can be viewed here:
https://scape-pollination.org/scape-2020/presentation-extra/
Journal announcements
Casper van der Kooi and colleagues are organising a special issue of Frontiers in Ecology
and Evolution on the Sensory Ecology of Plant-Pollinator Interactions, aimed at elucidating
the role of signals and perception in different facets of plant-pollinator interactions. More
details are available here: https://fro.ntiers.in/SensoryEcology
Alice Claßen and Jonas Kuppler are currently co-editing a special issue of Frontiers in
Ecology and Evolution on the effects of anthropogenic stressors on plant-pollinator and plant-
frugivore interactions - and the consequences for pollination and seed dispersal. The editors
are particularly interested in bringing together experts on both fields to try to gain new
insights by contrasting similarities and differences between these two processes. If you’re
interested follow this link: http://fro.ntiers.in/AnthStressors or email Alice: alice.classen@uni-
wuerzburg.de
3
Brief update from the Journal of Pollination Ecology
The Journal of Pollination Ecology (JPE) was founded following discussions at SCAPE some
years ago and has gone from strength to strength. The end of October finds considerable
activity at JPE. Editor-in-Chief James Thomson is primarily focused on overseeing the
review process for the eight submissions under consideration for the upcoming joint Special
Issue with the Nordic Journal of Botany (NJB) derived from last year’s SCAPE meeting. He
has opted to act as handling editor for all of them, to reduce the chance of the issue being
delayed by one or more lagging manuscripts. The submission that was received first is
already back with the authors for revision. Reviewers have been solicited for all manuscripts,
but some have not yet replied. As invited reviewers decline, James is attempting to issue
new requests within a day.
At NJB, the joint SCAPE Special Issue is edited by Anders Nielsen, Amy Parachnowitsch
and Stefan Andersson. They have sent the submitted manuscripts to reviewers. For
unforeseen reasons, one manuscript was not submitted. The first submitted manuscript is
ready for Editor’s decision. The joint Special Issues are planned to be published in spring
2021 and advertised in tandem with covers reflecting pollination ecology. We have an
agreement with the NJB publishers that all published SCAPE manuscripts in the Special
Issue will be freely available for a period after publication.
Meanwhile, Carolin Mayer and Peter Kevan have been working to raise JPE’s profile by
applying for listings at Scopus and Clarivate (formerly ISI). This follows our recent upgrading
to provide DOI numbers for JPE papers. These efforts should increase the visibility of our
authors’ publications, and help to distinguish JPE from for-profit vanity journals. We are also
seeking to upgrade our aging editorial management software, with anticipated funding from
the International Commission for Plant-Pollinator Relationships (ICPPR). More information
at: www.pollinationecology.org
4
SCAPE programme and protocol for attendees
The programme of talks is presented below. Talk types are:

K = Keynote
ST = Standard (10 minutes talk + 5 minutes for questions)
F = Flash talk (5 minutes, no questions)
• This virtual SCAPE is using the Collaborate platform for all sessions which
works best using the latest version of Chrome. If you have technical problems
email our support crew (not Jeff!): [email protected]
• Chairs have been asked to keep presenters strictly to time. Please be ready in
good time to give your talk.
• Presentations will be uploaded in advance, however speakers will have control

over their own presentations and be able to move from slide to slide as they
wish.
• All talk times are approximate. If for technical reasons a presenter is unable to
give their talk we will go immediately to the next speaker. If time permits, we will
go back to any “missing” speakers at the end of the session. Therefore, please
attend for the whole session in which you are speaking.
• All attendees will be muted except for presenters, chairs and moderators. For
the standard talks, questions can be asked using the chat function. The chair
will then select questions to ask according to how much time is left.
• When you join the session please use your full name. Any anonymous or
unregistered participants will be asked to leave.
• Details of the themed discussions and poster session will be released later in
the week. If you wish to host a themed discussion, please let us know.
• If anyone requires a receipt for the fee or a certificate of attendance, email Jeff
Ollerton after Monday 9th November: [email protected]
Prizes for student poster and presentations
If you are an undergraduate, Master’s or doctoral student you are eligible to be

considered for the prize of best poster, flash talk or standard talk at SCAPE. The prize
will be any book from Pelagic Publishing’s catalogue (https://pelagicpublishing.com/),
plus a copy of Jeff Ollerton’s new book Pollinators & Pollination: Nature and Society. If
you wish to be considered for a prize, send your name and category (standard or flash
talk, or poster) to Yannick Klomberg ([email protected]) by Sunday 8th
November. Voting will be by SCAPE participants and will open on Monday 9 th
November.
5
Friday 6th November - all timings are GMT (London) time
Link for day 1: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/2e66113ef2f543c585b55d76e7bd1c04
Timing Type Name Title Ref
09.00 – Jeff Ollerton Welcome to SCAPE 2020 and announcements
09.15
09.15 – K Lynn Dicks Understanding the risks to human well-being from pollinator K.01
10.15 decline
10.15 – Comfort break

10.30
Session 1 Chair: Agriculture - 1
Jeff Ollerton
10.30 – ST Ke Chen Indirect and additive effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi 1.01
10.45 on insect pollination and crop yield of raspberry under
different fertilizer levels
10.45 – ST Julia Osterman Enhancing mason bee populations for sweet cherry 1.02
11.00 pollination
11.00 – ST Idan Kahnonitch Viral distributions in bee communities: associations to 1.03
11.15 honeybee density and flower visitation frequency
11.15 – ST Anna Birgitte Milford Who takes responsibility for the bees? 1.04
11.30
11.30 – ST Emma Gardner Boundary features increase and stabilise bee populations 1.05
11.45 and the pollination of mass-flowering crops in rotational
systems
11.45 – ST Stephanie Maher Evaluating the quantity and quality of resources for 1.06
12.00 pollinators on Irish farms
12.00 – F Thomas Timberlake Pollinators and human nutrition in rural Nepal: experiences of 1.07
12.05 remote data collection during a global pandemic

12.15
Session 2 Chair: Agriculture - 2
Jane Stout
12.15 – ST Michael Image The impact of agri-environment schemes on crop pollination 2.01
12.30 services at national scale
12.30 – ST Nicola Tommasi Plant - pollinator interactions in sub-Saharan 2.02
12.45 agroecosystems
12.45 – ST Tal Shapira The combined effects of resource-landscape and herbivory 2.03
13.00 on pollination services in agro-ecosystems
13.00 – ST Márcia Motta Maués Despite the megadiversity of flower visitors, native bees are 2.04
13.15 essential to açai palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pollination at
the Amazon estuary
13.15 – ST Sabrina Rondeau Quantifying exposure of bumblebee queens to pesticide 2.05
13.30 residues when hibernating in agricultural soils
13.30 – F Maxime Eeraerts Landscapes with high amounts of mass-flowering fruit crops 2.06
13.35 reduce the reproduction of two solitary bees
13.35 – F Patricia Nunes-Silva Crop domestication, flower characteristics and interaction 2.07
13.40 with pollinators: the case of Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae)
13.40 – Lunch break

14.30
Session 3 Chair: Networks and communities
Mariano Devoto
14.30 – ST Kit Prendergast Plant-pollinator networks in Australian urban bushland 3.01
14.45 remnants are not structurally equivalent to those in
residential gardens
14.45 – F Kavya Mohan Structure of plant-visitor networks in a seasonal southern 3.02
14.50 Indian habitat
14.50 – F Opeyemi Adedoja Asynchrony among insect pollinator groups and flowering 3.03
14.55 plants with elevation
6
14.55 – ST Yael Mandelik Rangeland sharing by cattle and bees: moderate grazing 3.04
15.10 does not impair bee communities and resource availability
15.10 – ST Felipe Torres- Landscape change reduces pollen quality indirectly by 3.05
15.25 Vanegas shifting the functional composition of pollinator communities
15.25 – ST Isabela Vilella- Quantifying plant-pollinator interactions in the Prairie Coteau 3.06
15.40 Arnizaut

15.55
Session 4 Chair: Conservation perspectives - 1
Nina Sletvold
15.55 – ST Lise Ropars Seasonal dynamics of competition between honeybees and 4.01
16.10 wild bees in a protected Mediterranean scrubland
16.10 – ST Philip Donkersley A One-Health model for reversing honeybee (Apis mellifera 4.02
16.25 L.) decline
16.25 – ST Nicholas Tew Nectar supply in gardens: spatial and temporal variation 4.03
16.40
16.40 – ST Peter Graystock The effects of environmental toxicants on the health of 4.04
16.55 bumble bees and their microbiomes
16.55 – ST Hauke Koch Flagellum removal by a heather nectar metabolite inhibits 4.05
17.10 infectivity of a bumblebee parasite

17.25
Anders Nielsen
17.25 – ST Miranda Bane Pollinators on Guernsey and a Pesticide-free Plan 5.01
17.40
17.40 – ST Jamie Wildman Reintroducing Carterocephalus palaemon to England: using 5.02
17.55 the legacy of a locally extinct butterfly as a (morpho)metric of
future success
17.55 – ST Sjirk Geerts Invasive alien Proteaceae lure some, but not other nectar 5.03
18.10 feeding bird pollinators away from native Proteaceae in
South African fynbos
18.10 – ST Sissi Lozada Habitat quality and connectivity in kettle holes enhance bee 5.04
18.25 Gobilard diversity in agricultural landscapes

18.45
18.45 – Themed discussion
23.59 rooms open
7
Saturday 7th November - all timings are GMT (London) time
Link for day 2: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/3707c1b50945429eb2b929e7d20adc83
Timing Ty Name Title Ref
pe
08.55 – Jeff Ollerton Reminders and announcements
09.00
Jeff Ollerton
09.00 – ST Paolo Biella The effects of landscape composition and climatic 6.01
09.15 variables on pollinator abundances and foraging along a
gradient of increasing urbanization
09.15 – ST James Rodger Potential impacts of pollinator declines on plant seed 6.02
09.30 production and population viability
09.30 – ST Emilie Ellis Moth assemblages within urban domestic gardens 6.03
09.45 respond positively to habitat complexity, but only at a
scale that extends beyond the garden boundary
09.45 – ST Samuel Boff Novel pesticide class impact foraging behaviour in wild 6.04
10.00 bees

10.15
Jon Agren
10.15 – F Maisie Brett The impacts of invasive Acacias on the pollination 7.01
10.20 networks of South African Fynbos habitats
10.20 – F Joseph Millard Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator 7.02
10.25 biodiversity
10.25 – F Susanne Butschkau How does land-use affect the mutualistic outcomes of 7.03
10.30 bee-plant interactions?
10.30 – F Elżbieta Rożej-Pabijan Impact of wet meadow translocation on species 7.04
10.35 composition of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes)
10.35 – F Lorenzo Guzzetti May urbanization affect the quality of pollinators diet? A 7.05
10.40 case-study from Milan, Italy.
10.40 – F Emiliano Pioltelli Functional traits variation in two bumblebee species along 7.06
10.45 a gradient of landscape anthropization

11.00
Session 8 Chair: Pollinator behaviour - 1
Marcos Mendez
11.00 – ST Hema Somanathan Foraging on left-overs: comparative resource use in 8.01
11.15 diurnal and nocturnal bees
11.15 – ST Sajesh Vijayan To leave or to stay? Answers from migratory waggle 8.02
11.30 dances in Apis dorsata
11.30 – ST G.S. Balamurali Decision making in the Asian honeybee Apis cerana is 8.03
11.45 influenced by innate sensory biases and associative
learning at different spatial scales
11.45 – ST Gemma Villagomez Resource intake of stingless bee colonies in a tropical 8.04
12.00 ecosystem in Ecuador
12.00 – ST Ola Olsson Pollen analysis using deep learning – better, stronger, 8.05
12.15 faster

13.00
Session 9 Chair: Pollinator behaviour - 2
Magne Friberg
13.00 – ST Shuxuan Jing ‘Interviewing’ pollinators in the red clover field: foraging 9.01
13.15 behaviour
13.15 – ST Océane Bartholomée How to eat in the shade? Bumblebees' behavior in 9.02
13.30 partially shaded flower strips
8
13.30 – ST Manuela Giovanetti Megachile sculpturalis: insights on the nesting activity of 9.03
13.45 an alien bee species
13.45 – ST Zahra Moradinour The allometry of sensory system in the butterfly Pieris 9.04
14.00 napi
14.00 – F Pierre Tichit New insights into the visual ecology of bees 9.05
14.05
14.05 – F Fabian Ruedenauer Does pollinator dependence correlate with the nutritional 9.06
14.10 profile of pollen in plants?
14.10 – F Hannah Burger Floral signals involved in host finding by nectar-foraging 9.07
14.15 social wasps

14.30
Session 10 Chair: Floral scent
Amy Parachnowitsch
14.30 – ST Herbert Braunschmid Does the rarity of a flower´s scent phenotype in a 10.01
14.45 deceptive orchid explain its pollination success?
14.45 – ST Yedra García Ecology and evolution of spatial variation in scent 10.02
15.00 emission within flowers
15.00 – ST Manoj Kaushalya Floral scent evolution across the penstemons: does scent 10.03
15.15 Rathnayake change with pollination system?
15.15 – F Hanna Thosteman The chemical landscape of Arabis alpina 10.04
15.20
15.20 – F Laura S. Hildesheim Patterns of floral scent composition in species providing 10.05
15.25 resin pollinator rewards
15.25 – F Christine Rose-Smyth Does Myrmecophila thomsoniana (Orchidaceae) use 10.06
15.30 uncoupled mimicry to obtain pollination?

15.45
Session 11 Chair: Pollination ecology and floral evolution - 1
Renate Wesselingh
15.45 – ST Rachel Spigler Adaptive plasticity of floral display and its limits 11.01
16.00
16.00 – ST Wendy Semski Individual flowering schedules and floral display size in 11.02
16.15 monkeyflower: a common garden study
16.15 – ST Carlos Martel Specialization for tachinid fly pollination and the 11.03
16.30 evolutionary divergence between varieties of the orchid
Neotinea ustulata
16.30 – ST Marcela Moré Different points of view in a changing world: The tobacco 11.04
16.45 tree flowers through the eyes of its pollinators in native
and non-native ranges

17.00
17.00 – Poster discussion A chance to talk with the authors of the posters
18.00 rooms open
18.00 – Themed discussion
23.59 rooms open
9
Sunday 8th November - all timings are GMT (London) time
Link for day 3: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/68fffc6059ab4052af67c54a59bea4e5
Timing Ty Name Title Ref

pe
08.55 – Jeff Ollerton Reminders and announcements
09.00
09.00 – K Scott Armbruster Pollination accuracy explains the evolution of floral K.02
10.00 movements
10.00 - 10.15 Comfort break

Jeff Ollerton
10.15 – ST Kazuharu Ohashi Three options are better than two: complementary nature 12.01
10.30 of different pollination modes in Salix caprea
10.30 – ST James Cook Why size matters in fig-pollinator mutualisms 12.02
10.45
10.45 – ST Yuval Sapir Within-population flower colour variation: beyond 12.03
11.00 pollinator-mediated selection
11.00 – ST Henninge Torp Bie Flower visitation of the Sticky catchfly (Viscaria vulgaris) 12.04
11.15 on isles within isle.

11.30
Yuval Sapir
11.30 – ST Jonas Kuppler Impacts of drought on floral traits, plant-pollinator 13.01
11.45 interactions and plant reproductive success – a meta-
analysis
11.45 – ST Carmen Villacañas Cost/benefit ratio of a nursery pollination system in 13.02
12.00 de Castro natural populations: a model application
12.00 – ST Anna E-Vojtkó Floral and reproductive plant functional traits as an 13.03
12.15 independent axis of plant ecological strategies
12.15 – ST Camille Cornet Role of pollinators in prezygotic isolation between 13.04
12.30 calcicolous and silicicolous ecotypes of Silene nutans
12.30 – ST Courtney Gorman Phenological and pollinator-mediated isolation among 13.05
12.45 selfing and outcrossing Arabidopsis lyrata populations

13.45
Rocio Barrales
13.45 – ST Danae Laina Geographic differences in pollinator availability in the 14.01
14.00 habitats shape the degree of pollinator specialization in
the deceptive Arum maculatum L. (Araceae)
14.00 – ST Eva Gfrerer Is the inflorescence scent of Arum maculatum L. 14.02
14.15 (Araceae) in populations north vs. south of the Alps
locally adapted to a variable pollinator climate?
14.15 – ST Kelsey Byers Pollinators and visitors to Gymnadenia orchids: historical 14.03
14.30 and modern data reveal associations between insect
proboscis and floral nectar spur length
14.30 – ST Nina Jirgal Orientation matters: effect of floral symmetry and 14.04
14.45 orientation on pollinator entry angle
14.45 – ST Alice Fairnie Understanding the development, evolution and function 14.05
15.00 of the bullseye pigmentation pattern in Hibiscus trionum

15.15
10
Maria Clara
Castellanos
15.15 – ST Jon Ågren On the measurement and meaning of pollinator-mediated 15.01
15.30 selection
15.30 – ST Katarzyna Roguz Plants taking charge: Autonomous self-pollination as 15.02
15.45 response to plants-pollinator mismatch in Fritillaria
persica
15.45 – ST Mario Vallejo-Marin Bees vs flies: Comparison of non-flight vibrations and 15.03
16.00 implications for buzz pollination
16.00 – ST Agnes Dellinger Linking flower morphology to pollen-release dynamics: 15.04
16.15 buzz-pollination in Melastomataceae
16.15 – ST Lucy Nevard Are bees and flowers tuned to each other? Variation in 15.05
16.30 the natural frequency of buzz-pollinated flowers.
16.30 – F Gabriel Chagas An investigation of pollen movement and release by 15.06
16.35 Lanes poricidal anthers using mathematical billiards
16.35 – F Rebecca Höfer The magnitude of water stress and high soil nitrogen 15.07
16.40 decreases plants reproductive success
16.40 – F Marta Barberis May ecotonal plants attract less efficient pollinators to 15.08
16.45 stay on the safe side?

17.00
Agnes Dellinger
17.00 – ST Gabriela Doria Petal cell shape and flower-pollinator interaction in 16.01
17.15 Nicotiana
17.15 – ST Nathan Muchhala The long stems characteristic of bat-pollinated flowers 16.02
17.30 greatly reduce bat search times while foraging
17.30 – F Juan Isaac Moreira- Differential tolerance to heterospecific pollen deposition 16.03
17.35 Hernández in sympatric species of bat-pollinated Burmeistera
(Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae)
17.35 – F Juan José Does autopolyploidy shape plant-pollinator interactions? 16.04
17.40 Domínguez-Delgado
17.40 – F Caio Simões Ballarin How many animal-pollinated plants are nectar- 16.05
17.45 producing?
17.45 – F Ana Clara Ibañez Concerted evolution between flower phenotype and 16.06
17.50 pollinators in Salpichroa (Solanaceae)
17.50 – Jeff Ollerton Final announcements, conference handover and
18.00 close.
11
Posters – grouped into broad themes
https://scape-pollination.org/scape-2020/posters/
Agriculture
Manoela Lencino Sant Anna, Patrícia Nunes-Silva & Marcelo Zagonel-Oliveira
The effect of bee behavior during floral resource collection on blueberry pollination
(Vaccinium ashei Reade)
Pau Capera Aragones

Wild bee pollination services predicted by a PIDE model
Muhammad Amjad Bashir

The role of pollinators in yield and nutrition of tomatoes
Leila Bendifallah, Djamila Abdellaoui, Faiza Touatioui, Nicolas Leclercq & Nicolas J. Vereecken
Contribution to the knowledge of apple pollinators (Rosaceae) in the region of Northern
Algeria
Jordan Chetcuti
Bumblebee agricultural risk assessment using ALMaSS framework individual-based
modelling
Tara Dirilgen, Saoirse R. Tracy & Dara A. Stanley

From Roots to Pollinators: How above- and below-ground organisms interact through
plants
Shelby Gibson
Determining the plant-pollinator network in an Indigenous Three Sisters garden
Sajad Hussain Mir & Palatty Allesh Sinu

Interruption and exploitation competition exerted by floral ants on foraging behaviour of
pollinators in pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima
Francesca Laurini, Fabio Sgolastra, Laura Bortolotti, Marino Quaranta, Nicolas Leclercq, Nicolas
Vereecken, Denis Michez & Marta Galloni
Assessment of pollination service in four apple orchards in Emilia-Romagna region
(Italy)
Tania P. Palacios, Pedro M. Tognetti, Natacha P. Chacoff & Mariano Devoto

Dependence of soybean yield on insect pollination: a critical review of the evidence
Adara Pardo & Paulo A.V. Borges

Worldwide importance of insect pollination in apple orchards: A review
Jenna M. Walters & Rufus Isaacs

Determination of upper threshold temperatures of pollen germination and pollen tube
growth in northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum: Ericaceae)
12
Conservation perspectives
Hannah Brazeau
Manipulation of a floral landscape did not alter pollen transfer
Marika Brown
Effect of Glyphosate-based herbicide use on flowering plant and pollinator communities
in managed forests
Katherine Burns
Oh, honey! Potential effects of managed honeybee presence on bumblebee survival in
Irish heathlands
Manuela Giovanetti, Marino Quaranta, Emanuele Carpana, Piotr Medrzycki, Antonio Nanetti, Gennaro
Di Prisco & Laura Bortolotti
The Italian BeeNet project for the managed honeybee and the wild bees
Zachary Nolen
Assessing the impacts of changes in land use on the genetic diversity and adaptive
potential of pollinator species
Leticia De Santis & Mario Balzan

Local and landscape habitat variables influencing bee diversity
Tom Sloan, Jeff Ollerton & Gavin Ballantyne

Assessment of management cutting cycles on nectar sources in the Old Sulehay nature
reserve, Northamptonshire
Florian Straub & Markus Birkenbach

Effects of land use intensity on pollinator health and pollination services
Clara Stuligross
Larval pesticide exposure reduces adult wild bee reproduction
Linzi Jay Thompson

Effects of colony level exposure to a fungicide or herbicide on the bumblebee Bombus
terrestris: preliminary results
Diana Tixi
Do wild bees’ physiological or ecological traits influence their response (abundance and
diversity changes) to conservation strategies? A meta-analysis
Julia Weber
Preserving mobile insects in semi-natural grasslands - minding the Matrix
Theresia Widhalm, Veronica Hederström & Yann Clough

Pollination and herbivory in grassland plant communities along a landscape-scale land
use intensity gradient
13
Pollination ecology, networks, pollinator behaviour, floral evolution, and scent
Ellen Baker
How does the nutritional content of pollen affect bee foraging choices?
Christine Coppinger & Dara A. Stanley

Are pollinators important for the reproduction of miombo woodland trees?
Pactli F. Ortega González

Pollinators of Pilostyles thurberi (Apodanthaceae). An awesome endoparasitic plant!
Roni Heliczer
Physical models of heat reward in Oncocyclus irises
Judit Linka
How does caffeine influence the robbing behaviour of Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed
bumble bee?
Klaus Lunau
The backside of flowers - UV-absorbing properties differ between adaxial and abaxial
side of petals
Amy Parachnowitsch
Floral scent in a hybrid zone
Carolin Plos, Niklas Stelbrink, Christoph Rosche, Isabell Hensen, Tiffany Knight & Christine Römermann
The effect of temperature on nectar production and pollinator visitation rates in four
herbaceous species
Zubair Ahmad Rather

Structure of flower visitation web of Kashmir Himalaya
Justyna Ryniewicz
Geographic variation in nectar composition and its implications for insect visitors: the
case of a rare plant Polemonium caeruleum L.
Ruby E. Stephens
Functional biogeography of floral traits in Australia
James Thomson
A 30-year study of lily demography: pollination, costs of fruiting, and size dependent
mortality
Gayathri Venkatraman & Shivani Krishna

Capturing the Buzz: Characterising buzz pollinated plant species in the Indian
Subcontinent
Wujian Xiong, Jeff Ollerton, Sigrid Liede-Schumann, Wanyi Zhao, Qiancai Jiang, Hongmei Sun, Wenbo
Liao & Wenhui You
Specialized cockroach pollination in the rare and endangered plant Vincetoxicum
hainanense in China
14
SCAPE 2020 abstracts
Abstracts are arranged by type (Keynote Talks, Flash Talks, Posters, Standard Talks) then
alphabetically by surname of the presenter. To find a particular abstract search by name or
title of the presentation.
Keynote Talks
Lynn Dicks
[email protected]
University of Cambridge, UK
Understanding the risks to human well-being from pollinator decline
Pollinator decline has attracted global attention, largely because of the relative ease
with which a subset of pollinators can be allocated monetary value, for their services to crop
production. These small animals are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, worldwide, we are
told. Without them, we would face terrifying consequences, like ‘no more chocolate’ or
perhaps a third of our food supply dramatically restricted. As a result, substantial efforts are
underway to reverse pollinator decline around the world, through national pollinator
strategies and action plans. In the talk, I will provide an update on what is known about
pollinator decline, and consider what it really means for humanity, in terms of risks to human
well-being. I will report results of a global risk assessment exercise, in which we considered
how the risks from pollinator decline differ among regions. Overall, perceived risks were
substantially higher in the Global South. Despite extensive, research on pollinator decline,
our analysis reveals considerable scientific uncertainty about what this means for human
society.
15
Scott Armbruster
[email protected]
University of Portsmouth, UK & University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA
Pollination accuracy explains the evolution of floral movements
The theory of adaptive accuracy relates within-population variation in (multivariate)

morphology to variation in reproductive fitness based on estimated or calculated fitness
functions, where deviation from maximal population fitness (phenotypic “load”) comprises two
components: i) departure of the population mean from the optimum, and ii) imprecision
(variance) in the population. This approach can be used effectively to understand the
relationship between floral morphology and pollination fitness. I will focus on how various
movements of flowers and floral parts, during the life of a flower, act to improve pollination
accuracy and thereby fitness. Movements examined include secondary pollen presentation,
progressive movements of styles and stamens, and corrective reorientation of flowers and
flower parts after floral accidents.
Flash Talks
Opeyemi Adedoja
[email protected]
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
Asynchrony among insect pollinator groups and flowering plants with elevation
Mountains influence species distribution through differing climate variables

associated with increasing elevation, however, how varying environmental conditions across
elevation differentially influence the phenology of various insect groups is largely unknown.
We assess here how species composition and seasonal peaks in abundance among
different insect pollinator groups (bees, wasps, beetles and flies) and flowering plants differ
across four floristically distinct elevation zones. In terms of abundance, beetles were the
dominant group across the three lower zones, but declined in the summit, where flies and
bees were more abundant. Bee abundance peaked earlier than other groups across all
elevation zones. Bee abundance peaked earlier than flowering plants at the middle zone and
slightly later than flowering plants at the base zone, suggesting a mismatch. We conclude
that, while elevation shapes species distribution, it also differentially influences species
phenology. This may be of significance in long-term assessment of species distribution in
mountain ecosystems.
16
Caio Simões Ballarin, André R. Rech, Paulo E. Oliveira, Francisco E. Fontúrbel &
Felipe W. Amorim
[email protected]
São Paulo State University (UNESP), Campus Botucatu, Brazil
How many animal-pollinated plants are nectar-producing?
Many studies claim that "nectar is the main floral resource offered by plants to
pollinators". However, we have no information on how many flowering plants are nectar-
producing, neither their global distribution. To answer these questions we estimated the
number of animal-pollinated plants and tested whether latitude influences their global
distribution. For this, we evaluated 7,136 species (ca. 2% of zoophilic angiosperms),
distributed in 324 families, and 135 plant communities in different ecosystems over the world.
Altogether, 76.65% of zoophilic angiosperms offer nectar to floral visitors, emphasizing the
importance of this reward for plant-pollinator interactions. Latitude affected the global
distribution of nectar-producing plants (R² 1,135 = 0.285, p <0.0001) so that low latitude plant
communities presented a lower proportion of nectariferous zoophilic species than that of
higher latitudes. We suggest that the higher functional diversity of flowers observed in the
tropics are directly related to such a latitudinal trend.
Marta Barberis, G. Bogo, G. Ghisbain, S. Flaminio, M. Alessandrini & M. Galloni

[email protected]
Università di Bologna, Italy
May ecotonal plants attract less efficient pollinators to stay on the safe side?
The main alimentary resource offered by the ecotonal plant Buglossoides

purpurocaerulea to visitors is a hexose-dominant nectar, known to be preferred by dipterans
and short-tongued bees. In this study, we investigated (i) the reproductive strategies of the
species and (ii) the spectrum and efficiency as pollinators of the visitors in a population close
to Bologna. B. purpurocaerulea resulted to be a self-incompatible species relying on
pollinators for its sexual reproduction. According to the sugar nectar composition, Bombylius
represented one of the most frequent genus, along with hymenopterans of the genus Eucera.
Nevertheless, Bombylius spp. performed significantly less cross-movements among flowers
and carried on body a significantly lower number of total and conspecific pollen grains than
hymenopterans, contributing less efficiently to cross-pollination. We can hypothesize that the
plant, adapted to transitional habitats and used to vegetative propagation, may benefit more
from a mixed reproductive system than from a highly efficient crossing.
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Maisie Brett
[email protected]
University of Bristol, UK
The impacts of invasive Acacias on the pollination networks of South African Fynbos
habitats
Invasive Australian Acacias are a primary threat to the biodiversity and economies of
the Fynbos biome of South Africa, a biodiversity hotspot renowned for its floral diversity and
endemism. Their impact on insect communities and pollination of local plants remains largely
unknown, however. This study explores the impact of Acacias on local plant-pollinator
networks and insect communities through a combination of direct observation, passive
trapping and study of local seed sets. It was found that whilst overall insect visitation to local
plants increases at Acacia-invaded sites, seed set and pollinator diversity to certain plants
decreases. Coleoptera are the primary pollinators of invasive Acacias and are particularly
susceptible to change in local abundance due to Acacia invasion. Fynbos pollination
networks in general are grossly understudied, and this project presents the first
comprehensive networks for three endangered Fynbos vegetation types.
Hannah Burger
[email protected]
Ulm University, Germany
Floral signals involved in host finding by nectar-foraging social wasps
Social vespid wasps forage on flowers with easily accessible nectar. Among such
plants are species with a generalist pollination system. The aim of this study was to
investigate the role of olfactory and visual floral signals of Hedera helix (Araliaceae) and
Heracleum sphondylium (Apiaceae), both frequently visited by vespid wasps to collect
nectar. Our behavioural experiments showed that olfactory cues are key in attracting vespine
wasps to the inflorescences of both species. Visual traits increase the attractiveness of
olfactory signals. Most abundant floral compounds were 4-oxoisophorone, linalool and (E)-
linalool oxide furanoid, floral compounds known from plants with various pollination systems.
Wasps seem to be attracted to the studied plants by floral volatiles that are also attractants
for other flower visitors. We show for the first time, that those compounds are also involved in
communication between wasps and their host plants.
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Susanne Butschkau, Alexander Keller, Alejandra Parreno & Sara D. Leonhardt
[email protected]
Technical University of Munich, Germany
How does land-use affect the mutualistic outcomes of bee-plant interactions?
The decline of wild bee populations and other insects is a very contemporary issue
and threatens the pollination of animal-pollinated plant species. Bees need pollen and nectar
as food source and many plant species depend on pollination to reproduce. The stability of
this mutualistic relationship requires both a diverse plant and a diverse bee community.
Using established experimental plots of different land-use intensities within the framework of
the German Biodiversity Exploratories, we study the effects of land-use and landscape
components on plant and bee biodiversity and their reproductive success. Using pollen DNA-
metabarcoding we gain insight into differences of pollen-based plant-pollinator networks
between grassland habitats differing in land-use intensity. This project will help us to better
understand how pollination interaction networks respond to land-use intensity in terms of
stability and possibly predict the probability of survival of plant and pollinator species.
Juan José Domínguez-Delgado, Jesús Picazo-Aragonés, Javier López-Jurado, Anass

Terrab, Francisco Balao & Stefan Dötterl
[email protected]
Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Seville, Spain
Does autopolyploidy shape plant-pollinator interactions?
Polyploidy has mayor implications in plant evolution. The genetic, physiological and
morphological shifts that occur after polyploidization may alter the chemical communication
between plant and pollinators. In this regard, our study in Dianthus broteri provide new
insights into how the divergence in pollinator spectra might have been triggered by
autopolyploidization. This Iberian carnation polyploid complex encompasses four cytotypes
(2x, 4x, 6x and 12x). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses revealed that each
cytotype shows a distinctive volatile emission. In addition, field observations suggest
changes in the pollinator spectrum. Although pollinator behaviour tests in mixed populations
are needed, coupled gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection trials
demonstrated that two of these pollinators (Autographa gamma and Macroglossum
stellatarum) can discriminate among scent bouquets of polyploids. These results point out
that pollinator-mediated selection could play a key role in the establishment and divergence
of autopolyploids.
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Maxime Eeraerts
[email protected]
Ghent University, België
Landscapes with high amounts of mass-flowering fruit crops reduce the reproduction
of two solitary bees
Recent studies in mass-flowering oilseed crops show that mass-flowering crops

reduce the offspring reproduction of bees after mass-flowering. In our study we quantified the
reproductive output of two solitary bee species (Osmia spp.) during and after mass-flowering
of fruit crops (MFFC). Ten trap nests were placed in landscapes with independent gradients
of semi-natural habitat and MFFC in the proximity. We also identified the composition of the
collected pollen. For both bee species, we found that the number of constructed brood cells
after mass-flowering significantly decreased with increasing proportions of mass-flowering
fruit crops within 200 m of the surrounding landscape. During mass-flowering no effects were
found, probably because O. cornuta collects significant amount of Prunus spp. and Pyrus
spp. pollen and because O. bicornis collects Malus spp. pollen. The negative effect is clearly
detrimental to O. bicornis, as well as for other pollinators that are active in late spring or
summer.
Lorenzo Guzzetti, Paolo Biella, Elena De Nigris, Luca Campone, Massimo Labra &
Andrea Galimberti
[email protected]
University of Milano Bicocca, Italy
May urbanization affect the quality of pollinators diet? A case-study from Milan, Italy.
Flowers provide trophic rewards to pollinators for fulfilling their metabolic needs.
However, little is known on how landscape modifications and habitat alteration affect the
quality of flowers rewards. In this study, the production of sugars in nectars from different
flowering species was evaluated in about 40 sites distributed in semi-natural, agricultural or
urban areas around the city of Milan, Italy. Species-specific patterns were identified for the
content of sugars in nectars. For instance, the cinquefoil Potentilla reptans L. nectary sugars
were found to be negatively affected by the level of urbanization, while the opposite trend
was identified for the clover Trifolium pratense L. Further investigations were implemented on
pollen grains hand-collected from the anthers, which also showed the impact of landscape
type on the nutraceutical properties of pollen. Our research deals with key aspects of
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pollinator nutritional ecology and will evaluate which land use type provides the best
opportunities to contrast anthropogenic activities and stressors in pollinators.
Laura S. Hildesheim
[email protected]
University of Lund, Sweden
Patterns of floral scent composition in species providing resin pollinator rewards
Floral scent can serve as a pollinator attractant or reward and evolve in response to
shifts in pollinator communities. Small changes in the floral scent profile can lead to the
attraction of a set of different pollinators. In the genus Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae) flowers
are pollinated mainly by Euglossine bees, which collect resin- and scent rewards. Pollinator
shifts from resin-collecting female Euglossine bees to scent-collecting male bees have
occurred 3 to 4 times independently. The scent rewards may have evolved by modifying
scent advertisements produced in different floral tissues. I study how the pollinator shifts and
the evolution of scent rewards occurred in this genus by quantifying variation in floral scent
composition in a greenhouse common garden and mapping it onto a phylogeny of the genus.
Starting with species providing resin rewards and using scent as an attractant, I study scent
variation among species, populations, individuals, and floral tissues.
Rebecca J. Höfer, Manfred Ayasse & Jonas Kuppler

[email protected]
Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Germany
The magnitude of water stress and high soil nitrogen decreases plants reproductive
success
Reduced precipitation and drought events can alter floral traits with cascading effects
on flower-visitor interactions and plant fitness. Generally, soil nitrogen can reduce plants’
drought stress but in high concentrations amplify this stress. However, the interplay of
magnitudes of water stress and soil nutrient on floral traits, interactions and reproductive
success are poorly understood. In a field experiment, we tested how reduced mean
precipitation and prolonged dry periods, modulated by nitrogen, affect floral morphology,
phenology, scent, colour, flower-visitor interactions and seed set. We found, that the effects
on floral traits were dependent on strength of drought stress, as with decreasing soil
humidity, e.g. the plants grew smaller and had lesser siliques. However, flower number, floral
21
size and number of visits were not affected. Further, nitrogen treatment additionally
increased the influence of drought stress. Overall, drought stress had negative effects on
plants’ reproductive success with high soil nitrogen amplifying this effect.
Ana Clara Ibañez, Marcela Moré & Andrea A. Cocucci

[email protected]
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Argentina
Concerted evolution between flower phenotype and pollinators in Salpichroa

(Solanaceae)
Available comparative results are ambiguous about the association between variable
sets of floral traits and specific groups of pollinators. Here, we tested whether interspecific
variation in floral traits is associated with concerted changes in pollination modes using both
analytic and comparative approaches in Salpichroa (Solanaceae) a small Andean genus with
a remarkable variation in floral phenotype and mainly pollinated by hummingbirds or moths.
We quantified five floral traits (shape, size, fragrance, corolla reflectance, and nectar)
relevant to the attraction of and functional fit with pollinators. Phylogenetic comparative
analyses revealed significant association between floral traits and pollination mode. Overall
flower variation showed two distinct groups, one comprised by the hummingbird-pollinated
species, and another by moth-pollinated species. Ancestral reconstructions of floral traits and
pollination modes suggest that ornithophilous syndrome would have evolved recently. Our
results suggest that floral diversification in the genus Salpichroa is mainly concomitant with
an adaptation to different pollinators groups.
Gabriel Chagas Lanes¹, Matheus Hansen², Edson D. Leonel³ & Vinicius L. G. Brito¹
[email protected]
1Instituto de Biologia - UFU, Uberlândia - MG, Brazil
2Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia - UNIFESP, São José dos Campos - SP, Brazil
3Departamento de Física - UNESP, Rio Claro - SP, Brazil
An investigation of pollen movement and release by poricidal anthers using

mathematical billiards
Although the interaction between vibrating bees and pollen flowers in buzz pollination
is well known, little is said about how such vibrations affect the pollen movement within
anthers as well as its release. Using a dynamical system known as a billiard, our goal was to
22
create and validate a mathematical model that reproduces the vibration of poricidal anthers
and the movement and release of pollen grains. Such a model represents the anther as a
rectangular billiard with a pore in its tip, and the pollen grains as a set of non-interacting
particles. Using this model, we study the pollen escape rate after applying an orthogonal
perturbation to the anther. We retrieve some previously published empirical results that show
the influence of vibration properties like frequency and amplitude on the pollen release. With
this model, we hope to generate new insights in pollen movement and release by poricidal
anthers.
Joseph Millard, Charlotte L. Outhwaite, Robyn Kinnersley, Robin Freeman, Richard D.

Gregory & Tim Newbold
[email protected]
University College London, United Kingdom
Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator biodiversity
Pollinating species are reported to be in decline globally, with land use an important
driver. However, most of the evidence on which these claims are made is patchy, and
generally based on studies with low taxonomic and geographic representativeness. Further
research incorporating a broader spectrum of taxa and geographies is required. Here, we
model the effect of land-use type and intensity on global pollinator biodiversity, using a
database of local-scale biodiversity covering 340 studies, 12,968 sites, and 5,151 likely
pollinating species. We show that differences in pollinator biodiversity among land-use types
are relatively small. However, increasing land-use intensity was associated with an overall
decrease in pollinator species richness and total abundance, across all anthropogenic land-
use types. Our findings confirm widespread loss of pollinator biodiversity, most significantly in
the tropics, where land use is predicted to change rapidly in the coming decades.
Kavya Mohan N1, Asmi Jezeera M1, Almut Kelber2 & Hema Somanathan1
[email protected]
1Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, India
2Lund University, Sweden
Structure of plant-visitor networks in a seasonal southern Indian habitat
Studies on community plant-flower visitor interactions are poorly represented from the
Asian tropics except for a few locations. In a tropical dry deciduous community in the Eastern
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Ghats, India, we studied factors structuring these interaction networks. We built quantitative
plant - visitor group interaction networks for 189 plant species and examined seasonal
changes in network topology. We examined correlations between visitor taxa and traits such
as floral morphometry, nectar volume and colour. Preliminary results suggest highly
generalised interactions with multiple visitor groups including ants, bees, butterflies, birds,
beetles, bugs, flies, moths, wasps and squirrels. Bees, especially social species significantly
dominated interactions across seasons. Data are currently being analysed examining
seasonal changes in network structure and the similarity of interactions in plants with
multiple, sub-annual flowering events.
Juan Isaac Moreira-Hernández

[email protected]
University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA
Differential tolerance to heterospecific pollen deposition in sympatric species of bat-

pollinated Burmeistera (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae)
Nectar-feeding bats often carry pollen from many species on their fur and thus some
bat-pollinated flowers commonly experience heterospecific pollen deposition (HPD). Closely
related sympatric species frequently exposed to each other’s pollen may evolve tolerance to
its negative effects on fruit and seed production. We investigated the relative impact of
increasing HPD on female reproduction on sympatric species of bat-pollinated Burmeistera
bellflowers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae) that experience pollen transfer between them by
their shared bat pollinators in Ecuador’s cloud forests. We found asymmetric impacts on
female reproduction between the study species, with the species that most commonly
receives foreign pollen exhibiting greater tolerance to HPD. Ongoing work is exploring how
different isolation mechanisms contribute to this differential tolerance to HPD. We further
hypothesize that tolerance to heterospecific pollen deposition may be a common response
among sympatric closely related plant species pollinated by bats and other low-fidelity
pollinators.
24
Patricia Nunes-Silva1, Matheus S. Rocha1, Manoela Santanna1, Charlotte Coates2, D.
Susan Willis Chan2 & Peter G. Kevan2
[email protected]
1University of the Sinos River Valley, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil.
2School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph. Guelph, Canada.
Crop domestication, flower characteristics and interaction with pollinators: the case of
Cucurbita pepo (Cucurbitaceae)
The development of new crop cultivars can alter flower characteristics, impacting plant-
pollinator interactions. Cucurbita pepo presents flowers of several sizes and forms. We
investigated if floral traits (petal length; tube width and length; nectar volume and
concentration) influence the bee visitation rate (number of bees per number of observed
flowers) on four C. pepo cultivars, 'Black Beauty', 'Celebration', 'Pik-a-Pie' and 'Spaghetti
Squash'. Flower traits differed among cultivars (MANOVA; P<0.001). Flower visitation was
best explained by cultivars (F2,189 = 7.902, P<0.001), bee species (F3,316 = 8.824,
P<0.001), and time interval (F2,93 = 3.915, P=0.02). ‘Celebration’ received more visits than
‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Pik-a-Pie’, but not ‘Spaghetti Squash’ (P<0,001). This may be explained
by the higher nectar concentration in ‘Celebration’ and ‘Spaghetti Squash' and their shallower
corollas. This indicates that the agronomic development of new cultivars can lead to changes
in flower traits and, consequently, flower visitation rates.
Emiliano Pioltelli, Nicola Tommasi, Paolo Biella, Davide Magnani, Massimo Labra &
Andrea Galimberti
[email protected]
Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2,
Milano, 20126, Italy
Functional traits variation in two bumblebee species along a gradient of landscape

anthropization
Landscape anthropization represents the principal cause of natural habitats loss and
fragmentation with intensive agriculture and urbanization as the major drivers of land-use
changes. The effects of urban habitats on species functional traits are still poorly understood.
Through a geometric morphometric approach we assessed the impacts of environmental
conditions, associated to land-use change and temperature, on both body size and shape
and size asymmetry of front wings in two model species of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris
and B. pascuorum) sampled at 47 sites along a gradient of landscape anthropization within
the metropolitan area of Milan. Results show a species-specific response, with higher
25
temperatures in cities determining a phenotypic shift towards smaller size in B. pascuorum
and higher asymmetry in B. terrestris. These shifts could indicate an impaired dispersal
capability of these two pollinator species that could negatively affect the service of pollination
in urbanized areas.
Christine Rose-Smyth
[email protected]
Independent researcher, Cayman Islands
Does Myrmecophila thomsoniana (Orchidaceae) use uncoupled mimicry to obtain

pollination?
Orchids are renowned for obtaining pollination services via food reward, food
deception, and sexual deception. The Australia genus Caledenia is considered unique in that
its members exhibit all three mechanisms. Further, some Caledenia deceive with “uncoupled
mimicry”, luring male wasps with semiochemicals but completing pollination by engaging
food seeking behaviour in the insect. Myrmecophila thomsoniana (Laeliinae) is a Cayman
Islands endemic epiphyte. Direct and camera trap observation of the array of visitors to its
flowers suggest that all three attraction mechanisms are in play. Unusually, it is pollinated
principally by native and non-native flower beetles (Cetoniinae), and honeybees. Pollination
by three other beetle species and pollinia removal by an endemic anole lizard, a flower-
piercing bird, and a Centris bee have also been recorded. These results lay the foundation
for testing uncoupled mimicry in M. thomsoniana through analysis of its intermittent floral
scent, extrafloral nectar, and semiochemical activity.
Elżbieta Rożej-Pabijan, Dominika Chmolowska & Waldemar Celary

[email protected]
Institute of Biology, Pedagogical University, Kraków, Poland
Impact of wet meadow translocation on species composition of bees (Hymenoptera:

Apoidea: Apiformes)
The study was carried out on wet meadows translocated seven years ago from the
area of Katowice-Pyrzowice airport to the Silesian Botanical Garden in Radzionków.
Relocation was undertaken to protect the valuable ecosystem of wet meadows, which would
be destroyed as a result of the enlargement of the airport. The aim of the study was to
compare the species composition of bees on meadows near the airport and relocated ones.
26
Most bee species (20) were found on relocated meadows. The second in species richness
was the vicinity of the botanical garden. The lowest species diversity was recorded near the
airport - seven species. The results indicate that relocation helped to maintain high species
diversity on wet meadows, however the inflow of bee species from the vicinity of the
botanical garden is noticeable. Further research on the effectiveness of translocation as a
protection method is needed.
Fabian A. Ruedenauer1, Johannes Spaethe2, Casper van der Kooi3 & Sara D.
Leonhardt1
[email protected]
1Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technical University of Munich, Freising,
Germany
2Department of Zoology II, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
3Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, AG Groningen, The
Netherlands
Does pollinator dependence correlate with the nutritional profile of pollen in plants?
Pollinator dependence differs between different plant species. Some plant species do
not at all depend on pollinators, while others exclusively rely on them for reproduction.
Pollinator dependent plant species typically try to attract pollinators by offering a reward,
mostly nectar. However, in particular bees, a highly important pollinator group, also rely on
pollen to raise offspring, as pollen provides nutrients lacking in nectar, e.g. lipids or sterols.
Offering nectar as only reward may thus not be sufficient to attract bee pollinators. In theory,
plants may increase visitation rates by pollinators through offering pollen of suitable quality.
We investigated pollen nutritional profiles in relation to pollinator dependence in 139 local
and introduced plant species. We found that protein, polypeptide and free amino acid
contents were much higher in plants that depend on pollinators than on pollinator-
independent plant species. Moreover, more nutrients correlated with other nutrients or
nutrient groups in pollinator-dependent plants, potentially facilitating nutritional quality
assessment by pollinators. We therefore suggest that pollinators can influence the nutrient
content of pollen, potentially exerting a selection pressure on those plants that rely on them
for their reproduction.
27
Thomas Timberlake
[email protected]
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Pollinators and human nutrition in rural Nepal: experiences of remote data collection
during a global pandemic
Nepal is on the front line of climate change, placing both its people and its pollinators
at risk. Declines in pollinators are predicted to have negative impacts on human health as
key dietary micro-nutrients in insect pollinated crops such as vitamin A and folate are lost
from the diet. With no viable alternatives to home-grown foods and limited access to vitamin
supplements, rural Nepali communities cannot afford to lose their pollinators. Our team of
ecologists, climate modelers and nutritionists are working to understand the links between
pollinators and human health in Nepal and mitigate the long-term effects of climate change.
But 2020 has taken overseas travel off the menu, so we are adapting to some novel methods
of remote fieldwork. Data collection apps, training videos and talented local assistants are
the new order of the day and we discover some unexpected benefits, which could make this
the new normal.
Hanna Thosteman
[email protected]
Lund University, Sweden
The chemical landscape of Arabis alpina
Floral scent is a complex plant trait which co-evolves with interacting insect species
as the compounds emitted can attract efficient pollinators or repel unwanted visitors. There is
ample evidence for interspecific variation in which compounds are emitted and to what
amount, as well as their role when attracting or repelling insects. Recent studies into alpine
rockcress (Arabis alpina L. Brassicaceae) have revealed significant intraspecific variation in
floral scent, where populations differ similar to the interspecific variation. To extend our
knowledge of the chemical landscape of A. alpina, we expand our studies of the chemical
compounds emitted by A. alpina to include the stress related compounds glucosinolates and
constitutive/induced green leaf volatiles. If local floral scent variation is driven by local
variation in pollinator composition, then variation in the GLVs and glucosinolates should be
less pronounced and unrelated to the floral scent variation.
28
Pierre Tichit
[email protected]
New insights into the visual ecology of bees
Bees are key pollinators that rely heavily on vision to fly, navigate and locate flowers.
Thus, the visual abilities of pollinators represent a fundamental property that constrains a
bee’s ability to exploit floral resources in different habitats. Nonetheless, the relationship
between the visual abilities of bees and their pollination ecology remains mostly unexplored.
To start to bridge this knowledge gap and unravel what information bees can extract from the
visual world, I established together with my collaborators a high throughput method based on
advanced X-ray micro-tomography and optical analysis. This method enables to swiftly
measure visual parameters over the entire field of view of bees, and thus to understand how
the visual perception of objects such as flowers may differ between species. In this
presentation, I will explain how I have applied this promising method to study the visual
ecology of two important groups of pollinators: stingless bees and bumblebees.
Posters
Pau Capera Aragones

[email protected]
University of British Columbia, Canada
Wild bee pollination services predicted by a PIDE model
Bumblebees provide valuable pollination services to crops around the world.

However, bumblebees and the pollination services they provide have declined in several
regions. Here we develop a partial integro-differential equation model to predict the spatial
distribution of foraging wild bees in dynamic heterogeneous landscapes. The foraging
population is divided into two subpopulations engaged in intensive search mode (modelled
by diffusion) and extensive search mode (modelled by advection) respectively. Our model
considers the effects of resource-dependent transition rates between movement modes,
resource depletion, central-place foraging behaviour and the effects of memory in the spatial
distribution of foraging bees. We use the model to study the benefits that planting wildflowers
adjacent to a crop can have on crop's pollination services and use it to quantify the benefits
as a function of the location, quantity and type of the planted wildflowers.
29
Ellen Baker
[email protected]
University of Oxford, UK
How does the nutritional content of pollen affect bee foraging choices?
Pollen is a key nutritional resource for bees however there is considerable variability
in its composition between floral species. As a result, foragers may exhibit preferences for
particular flowers and can fail to develop properly if supplied with unsuitable pollen. Sterols,
constitute a key nutritional component of pollen, supporting important biochemical processes
including the production of key hormones. Early work has shown sterol content and
requirements to be variable between floral and bee species respectively, posing the question
of whether this influences foraging choices. My PhD project seeks to investigate this question
by quantifying the sterol content of a range of UK wildflowers and the requirements of select
UK bee species. I hope to analyse this data in the context of different planting schemes and
distributional data to better understand the pollen nutritional landscape for bees.
Muhammad Amjad Bashir

[email protected]
Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan Punjab, Pakistan
The role of pollinators in yield and nutrition of tomatoes
No abstract available.
30
Leila Bendifallah1, Djamila Abdellaoui1, Faiza Touatioui1, Nicolas Leclercq2 & Nicolas J.
Vereecken2
[email protected] and [email protected]
[email protected] [email protected]
1Laboratory of Soft Technologies, Valorization, Physico-chemistry of Biological Materials and

Biodiversity, Faculty of Sciences, M’hamedBougara University of Boumerdes, Avenue de
l’Indépendance, 35000, Boumerdes, Algeria
2AgroecologyLab, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Boulevard du Triomphe CP 264/02, B-1050

Brussels, Belgium
Contribution to the knowledge of apple pollinators (Rosaceae) in the region of

Northern Algeria
The present work consists in carrying out a census of the useful species of insects
associated with the apple tree in the region of Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou. We investigated
the insect communities visiting apple orchards during the blooming period using three
common survey methods: coloured pan traps (yellow, blue and white), netting, and direct
contact captures. Our results indicate the presence of pollinators with greater abundance in
the two study areas. The number of individuals (ni) collected with pan traps was higher
compared to other types of traps (ni = 518). Furthermore, we recorded a total of 78 species
divided into 7 taxonomic orders and 17 families. The Hymenoptera showed the highest
number of individuals collected with a relative abundance of 60.45. Also, the honey bee Apis
mellifera ssp. intermissa was the most frequent species in apple orchards.
Hannah Brazeau
[email protected]
University of New Brunswick, Canada
Manipulation of a floral landscape did not alter pollen transfer
The diversity of floral landscapes can play an important role in the pollination of
individual species. Evidence is accumulating for both competitive and facilitative effects, with
the experimental removal or addition of co-flowering species being a common approach to
understanding these dynamics. However, these experiments may not always produce the
intended effect and may be complicated by the spatial scales of pollinator foraging. Here, we
present data on the quantity of conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposited on stigmas in
an artificial community of Chamerion angustifolium. We used a blocked design in conjunction
31
with hand and open pollination treatments and found that neither the presence or absence of
co-flowering neighbours or pollination treatment produced any appreciable differences in
conspecific or heterospecific pollen loads. Our results suggest that neighbour
removal/addition experiments may be complicated by the spatial scales at which pollinators
forage, particularly when a generalist plant is the focal species.
Marika Brown
[email protected]
Effect of Glyphosate-based herbicide use on flowering plant and pollinator

communities in managed forests
Land management can have unintended effects on non-target organisms. A branch of

non-target research is concerned with evaluating the potential indirect effects on non-target
organisms from changes within the target communities. Within managed forests, vegetation
management objectives are met through silviculture techniques with the focus being on
improving conditions for the harvestable lumber. The most common technique in promoting
softwood production in North America is the application of a Glyphosate-based herbicide
(GBH) which targets competitive vegetation. The suppression of competitive species helps to
promote optimal growing conditions for planted coniferous species that are of higher value to
the forestry industry. However, the suppression of competitive species shifts the natural
regeneration pattern of disturbed forests which can dramatically change the plant
communities. I am evaluating what effect GBH use has on managed forest ecosystems over
a 15 year period in New Brunswick, Canada. Specifically, I will address what effect GBH use
has on flowering plant communities and the potential indirect effects this could have on
native pollinators. I have surveyed 37 harvest blocks that were either sprayed (22N) or not
sprayed (15N) and will present the preliminary findings on the pollinator communities found
within each forest practice. My preliminary data suggests that it is beneficial to have a mosaic
of management practices within managed forests to support native pollinators throughout
their foraging season.
32
Katherine Burns
[email protected]
University College Dublin, Ireland
Oh, honey! Potential effects of managed honeybee presence on bumblebee survival in

Irish heathlands
In European heathlands, late-blooming ericaceous species provide vital foraging

resources for wild bumblebees, as well as the managed honeybees that are brought to
heathlands in late summer for heather honey production. However, given the limited floral
diversity and increased honeybee activity in these habitats in late summer, there is potential
for niche overlap and competition between honeybees and bumblebees, which may have
negative impacts on local bumblebee survival. To assess the potential effects of honeybee
presence on bumblebee survival, we conducted a study in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland to
determine the effect of distance (250m and 1000m) and density (0-35 hive gradient) of
honeybee hives on (i) honeybee abundance, (ii) bumblebee diversity and abundance, (iii)
honeybee and bumblebee foraging preferences, (iv) nectar availability, and (v) bumblebee
worker size. The results of our study will inform future management initiatives to both
conserve wild insect pollinator populations and maintain profitable honey production.
Jordan Chetcuti
[email protected]
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Bumblebee agricultural risk assessment using ALMaSS framework individual-based

modelling
The Animal, Landscape and Man Simulation System (ALMaSS) agent-based model,
has been used to look at the risk from pesticides and agricultural practice on insects, such as
beetles and spiders, which provide pest controlling ecosystem services. We are now
extending the framework to include bee species, which supply pollinator services, to perform
an agricultural risk assessment and analyse bee health. Agent-based models can range from
the simplistic to the complex, tailored to the complexity or generalisability of questions. The
final model aims to then integrate multiple stressors, including explicit incorporation of
pesticide-related effects to predict impacts of changed agricultural management on
bumblebees. Our findings will help to ensure the safe use of pesticides while protecting
wildlife, health, and the environment internationally. Additionally, we hope to gain insights
into the biology of bumblebees through the parameterising analysis.
33
Christine Rose Coppinger & Dara A. Stanley
[email protected]
School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Are pollinators important for the reproduction of miombo woodland trees?
Miombo woodland is the most widespread dry forest type in southern-central Africa,
covering an area of ca2.7 million km2 and spanning seven countries. Despite being a
globally significant carbon sink and centre of plant biodiversity, which supports over 65
million livelihoods and provides vital ecosystem goods and services, the ecology of miombo
woodlands is relatively poorly understood. Although genetic studies have found miombo
species to harbour considerable diversity, promoting resilience to disturbance, almost
nothing is known of the importance of pollinators for miombo tree reproduction and therefore
the maintenance of this diversity. The breeding systems of two miombo species were studied
as a first step towards addressing this research gap. Flower abortion rate, seed set, and
seed and fruit weight were compared between three experimental groups: open-pollinated
flowers; manually self-pollinated flowers; and manually cross-pollinated flowers. Information
on the role of pollinators for maintaining miombo woodlands will affect future conservation
practices.
Tara Dirilgen1,2, Saoirse R. Tracy1,2 & Dara A. Stanley1,2

[email protected]
1School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
2Earth Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
From Roots to Pollinators: How above- and below-ground organisms interact through
plants
While the value of biodiversity to agriculture is being increasingly recognized, such as

the role of below-ground organisms to healthy soils, and the contribution of insect pollination
to crops, there is increasing recognition that the above- and below-ground terrestrial sub-
systems are linked. This research aims to investigate how below-ground interactions (soil
biodiversity and plant roots) might alter floral traits and in turn affect pollinator behavior, and
how these interactions may be affected by pesticide use. A manipulation experiment will be
used to create a soil biodiversity gradient (sterile to field realistic communities) and test its
effects on floral traits. A pollinator choice experiment will investigate the preference of a key
group of pollinators, bumblebees, for one plant over another. This study will be the first to
34
investigate soil-plant-pollinator interactions (i) in a multi- species setting, (ii) incorporate the
plant root system and (iii) in a pesticide contamination context.
Shelby Gibson & Sheila R. Colla

[email protected]
York University, Canada
Determining the plant-pollinator network in an Indigenous Three Sisters garden
Studying the basic biology of culturally significant Indigenous food and medicine
plants is an important step towards ensuring the persistence of these plants on the
landscape. This is linked to Indigenous food sovereignty and the use of traditional medicines.
This study examines the plant-pollinator network in an Indigenous polyculture practice using
beans, corn, and squash, referred to as a Three Sisters garden. This method of growing is
part of a refugia of sustainable agriculture practices and knowledge, that may become
increasingly more important in the future as conventional agriculture becomes destabilized.
Data from 2019 and 2020 show both Eucera and Bombus as being key pollinator genera
within this system. Baseline data on the important and required pollinators in the Three
Sisters garden will be useful in ensuring successful pollination into the future on a changing
landscape. These data will also lend support to the conservation efforts of various pollinator
species.
Pactli F. Ortega González

[email protected]
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Pollinators of Pilostyles thurberi (Apodanthaceae). An awesome endoparasitic plant!
Pilostyles thurberi (Apodanthaceae) is an endoparasitic plant that lacks a visible or

defined vegetative body but have an endophytic system that is embedded inside the stems of
Dalea species (Fabaceae). Generally, the sexual system of P. thurberi is dioicous and its
flowers break the host bark to emerge and perform its reproduction once a year. The dioecy
as a sexual system implies a dependence on pollinators for pollen transport, in order to
fertilize and thus, produce seeds. After two years of monitoring various Mexican populations,
its registered small bees of Augochlora and Lasioglossum (Halictidae), as well as potter
wasps (Eumeninae) as pollinators. Unlike other floral visitors, these insects actively forage
35
the flowers touching the sexual structures of male and female flowers. Besides, they move
among flowers or nearby individuals. This research shows the importance of P. thurberi for
these hymenopteran insects which play a vital role in their reproduction.
Manuela Giovanetti, Marino Quaranta, Emanuele Carpana, Piotr Medrzycki, Antonio

Nanetti, Gennaro Di Prisco & Laura Bortolotti
[email protected]
CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Bologna, Italy
The Italian BeeNet project for the managed honeybee and the wild bees
A current bottleneck in addressing the decline of insect pollinators in the EU regards

monitoring data on pollinators status, diversity and trend. BeeNet is an Italian project funded
under FEASR 2014-2020 (Rete Rurale Nazionale 2014-2020) that CREA Research Centre
for Agriculture and Environment will implement in the following years. BeeNet will employ
monitoring techniques to correlate environmental quality to bee occurrence, abundance,
diversity, population trends and health. The project will differently tackle the complexity of
situations of the managed honeybee and the wild bees, but it will be based on an
environmental common denominator that will help to highlight differences and similarities:
i.e., geographical proximity to intensely farmed - or protected areas. On honeybees,
environmental features will also include: the influence of agrochemicals and hive pathogens,
employing high-tech hives. On wild bees, BeeNet will advance taxonomic validation of wild
bee specimens and the implementation of 3-years data for population estimates.
Theresia Widhalm, Veronica Hederström & Yann Clough

[email protected] & [email protected]
Pollination and herbivory in grassland plant communities along a landscape-scale

land use intensity gradient
Pollinator declines in response to land-use intensification have raised concerns about

the persistence of plant species dependent on insect pollination for their reproduction.
Recent studies show that reduced pollinator abundance decreases seedling densities of
insect-pollinated plants, which could potentially change the composition of grassland plant
communities. To which extent and under which conditions this is the case, and which
cascading effects on ecosystem functioning this may have, is yet unexplored. We investigate
36
the effects of pollinator declines on grassland plant communities and ecosystem functions
using a long-term experimental setup consisting of 18 sites along a land-use intensity
gradient.
Here, we report:
1. Criteria used to select sites on the land-use intensity gradient

2. How this gradient correlates with pollinator abundance, diversity and activity as
well as flower resource cover and herbivory in the selected sites
3. Effects of exclusion cages compared to control plots on pollination and herbivory
Roni Heliczer
[email protected]
The Botanical Garden, School of Plant Sciences and Food Security, Tel Aviv University,
Physical models of heat reward in Oncocyclus irises
Flowers of the Oncocyclus irises are nectarless and are utilized as night-sheltering
“motel” for their pollinators, solitary male bees. The reward to the pollinators is heat. The
tunnels are getting warmer faster than the environment after sunrise, enabling the bees to fly
earlier. The heating process is passive - based on direct sunlight, yet it is unclear how sun
radiation is translated and transformed into the pollination tunnels. We hypothesize that the
black patch on the tunnel’s entrance was evolved to facilitate the heating process. We
propose a few (not mutually exclusive) physical models regarding the patch's role, based on
texture, optics, heat flow and tunnel's structure. We will test the theoretical models on flowers
in the wild, using optical methods and manipulations of floral parts, in order to partition
between the possible mechanisms. The study will enable to understand the evolution of this
unique pollination system.
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Francesca Laurini, Fabio Sgolastra, Laura Bortolotti, Marino Quaranta, Nicolas
Leclercq, Nicolas Vereecken, Denis Michez, Marta Galloni
[email protected]
University of Bologna, Italy
Assessment of pollination service in four apple orchards in Emilia-Romagna region

(Italy)
Apple production is one of the most important fruit crops globally. Its cultivation
entails a high use of pesticides which has a negative effect on pollinator diversity with
possible consequences on pollination service. In the framework of an international project,
CliPS (Climate change and its effects on Pollination Services), we assessed the pollination
service and pollinator community in four apple orchards in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy)
characterized by different cultivars and management practices. Despite the lack of pollination
deficit in the four monitored fields we found important variations in pollinator contribution and
diversity. These variations can mainly be explained by different apple variety, farming
practices (e.g. pest management and colony renting) and landscape diversity. In conclusion,
we highlight the importance to assess pollination deficit as routinely tool for a sustainable
farming system in the IPPM (Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management) framework.
Judit Linka
[email protected]
Natural Resources Institute University of Greenwich, United Kingdom
How does caffeine influence the robbing behaviour of Bombus terrestris, the buff-
tailed bumble bee?
Alkaloids are commonly present in the nectar of flowering plants and can influence
the behaviour of the flower visitors which are feeding on the nectar. The research focuses on
the primary robbing behaviour of caffeinated vs. non-caffeinated Bombus terrestris bees.
Data will be presented from experiments from two years, the first year using 2 hives and the
second year 6 hives to control for any hive effect. Data was analysed for when first primary
robbing occurred caffeinated vs. non-caffeinated bees. Preliminary analyses suggest that
caffeine had no effect on primary robbing behaviour. Further analysis will look at all robbing
behaviours occurring during observations.
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Klaus Lunau
[email protected]
Institute of Sensory Ecology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany
The backside of flowers - UV-absorbing properties differ between adaxial and abaxial
side of petals
Studies of the signalling and protective functions of flower colours along an altitudinal
gradient ranging from 2700m to 4200m in the Hengduan Mountains revealed a yet largely
unexplored phenomenon: In many flowers the abaxial side of petals forming the outermost
layer of flower buds is absorbing ultraviolet light even in flowers known to reflect UV-light for
pollinator attraction. UV-photography of flower buds and adaxial as well as abaxial sides of
petals of open flowers show permanently different-coloured petals rather than a floral colour
change. The following hypotheses are discussed: 1. Signalling for pollinators to enable
discrimination of open flowers and flower buds. 2. Camouflage to hide vulnerable flower buds
from herbivores. 3. Protection of pollen and reproductive organs against UV-radiation.
Sajad Hussain Mir1 & Palatty Allesh Sinu2

[email protected]
1Division of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST-Kashmir, Wadura campus, Sopore-193201,
India
2Department of Animal Science, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod-671316, India
Interruption and exploitation competition exerted by floral ants on foraging behaviour

of pollinators in pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima
Pumpkin is a honey bee-mediated cross-pollinated monoecious plant that produces

disproportionately very few pistillate flowers. Pumpkin plants set fruit only if pollinated by
honeybees, and fruit quality is enhanced by intensive pollinator activity. Male flowers produce
nectar and pollen, while female flowers offer higher quantities of nectar but no pollen. The
presence of invasive ants in pumpkin flowers has negative effects such as pollinator
harassment or flower avoidance by pollinators. We compared the duration of visits of
pollinators between the staminate and pistillate flowers, and there seems to be no significant
variation in the visit duration. The time spent by the honey bees in antless flowers was
significantly higher compared to the flowers with ants. Of those pumpkin plants that had ants
in flowers, the native and invasive ants were more abundant in pistillate flowers (77%)
compared to staminate flowers (46%). The visitation frequency by honey bees was
significantly lower in antless flowers as compared to the flowers infested by ants. This
39
indicates that the floral visitors have a strong preference for the antless flowers compared to
the ant flowers. The visitation frequency was significantly affected by the number of ants too.
The results revealed that both native and invasive ants in the flowers can affect the visitation
rate and foraging time of honey bees in the flowers, the fruit set in pumpkins, and can exert
predatory pressure on the honey bees if the bees linger in ant-colonized flowers.
Zachary Nolen
[email protected]
Assessing the impacts of changes in land use on the genetic diversity and adaptive
potential of pollinator species
Many insect species are undergoing rapid population decline in due to anthropogenic
changes to natural landscapes. Pollinator declines in particular have far reaching effects due
to the services these species provide to plant communities. Here, I outline how I plan to
examine the evolutionary consequences of decline in a generalist pollinator, the Common
Blue Butterfly. Using museum specimens, I will establish a baseline measure of genetic
diversity before the onset of large-scale agriculture in Sweden and compare this to modern
levels of diversity. By mapping this data to an annotated reference genome, I will be able to
determine if the prevalence of deleterious mutations has increased over time. Using
phenotypic measurements, I will establish a measure of current adaptive potential, and
compare this between populations in habitats with varying levels of fragmentation. These
results can then help to inform on the effects for similar, but more specialized species.
Tania P. Palacios, Pedro M. Tognetti, Natacha P. Chacoff & Mariano Devoto

[email protected]
FAUBA – CONICET, Argentina
Dependence of soybean yield on insect pollination: a critical review of the evidence
Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] has been traditionally considered an autogamous
crop. However, several recent studies reported that insect pollination can increase its yield,
and thus the issue remains unresolved. Our objective was to critically review the evidence
published on the matter. We assessed the quality (design and execution of the experiment
that minimize bias and inferential error) and generality (extent to which the conclusions can
40
be extrapolated to different contexts) of 19 papers that encompass a diverse array of
experimental approaches to study soybean dependence. Although most studies claim that
soybean yield increases with insect pollination, many failed in key items thus limiting the
validity of the conclusions. In light of this, it is necessary to apply standard robust protocols
that facilitate the synthesis of results which in turn lead to reliable management
recommendations.
Amy Parachnowitsch
[email protected]
Floral scent in a hybrid zone
Hybrid species pose an excellent natural study system to understand ecological and
evolutionary processes. While many aspects of floral traits have been studied across hybrid
zones, the patterns that floral scent plays in distinguishing species are poorly understood.
Here we examine the floral scent of two Penstemon species that have overlapping but
different pollinator communities. These species form a hybrid zone in the Sierra Nevada
mountains where P. davidsonii (low altitude) and P. newberryi (high altitude) meet at mid-
altitudes. We show that although distinct species, these two closely related species show
strong overlap in their scent profiles. However, scent does differ between the species and
hybrids appear to have intermediate phenotypes. Our work show that scent alone is unlikely
to keep these two species evolutionarily distinct and adds to our understanding of the effects
of hybridization on floral scent.
41
Adara Pardo1,2 & Paulo A.V. Borges1
[email protected]
1cE3c - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes/Azorean Biodiversity Group,
Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering,
Universidade dos Açores, PT-9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Açores, Portugal
2Forestry Research Group- INDEHESA, University of Extremadura, Plasencia, 10600, Spain
Worldwide importance of insect pollination in apple orchards: A review
Apple (Malus domestica) is one of the most important fruit crops globally, and it depends
greatly on insect pollination. We review the published research on the contribution of insects
to apple pollination, addressing the following questions: i) Are there gaps in data availability
across regions and research topics? ii) What is the importance of insect pollination for yield
and fruit quality? iii) What is the contribution of wild insects vs. honeybees? iv) What is the
influence of landscape and v) of agricultural management? Results showed that there were
gaps across regions and research topics. Substantial evidence proves that insect pollination
is essential for ensuring both yields and fruit quality, and a significant proportion of studies
demonstrated that wild pollinators are abundant and frequently more effective than
honeybees. Current findings suggest a critical role of semi-natural habitats to sustain healthy
pollinator communities, while the effect of local management was less consistent.
Carolin Plos, Niklas Stelbrink, Christoph Rosche, Isabell Hensen, Tiffany Knight &
Christine Römermann
[email protected]
Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
The effect of temperature on nectar production and pollinator visitation rates in four
herbaceous species
Understanding how plant-pollinator interactions respond to changing temperature is

essential when aiming to predict effects of climate changes on biodiversity. Here, we focus
on the relationship between nectar production, pollinator visitation rates and temperature.
More specifically, we ask if both parameters respond in the same way to temperature and if
we find consistent patterns across different plant species. In an observational case study, we
measured nectar production and, in parallel, observed flower visiting pollinators on four plant
species (Dictamnus albus, Lamium album, Salvia officinalis and Vincetoxicum hirundinaria).
We could show that for two out of the four species, nectar production significantly decreased,
42
and pollinator visitation rates significantly increased with increasing temperature. However,
there was no correlation between nectar production and visitation rates in these species. We
concluded that plant-pollinator interactions are determined by temperature in a species-
specific way, eventually leading to shifts in plant communities with ongoing climate changes.
Zubair Ahmad Rather

[email protected]
University of Kashmir, India
Structure of flower visitation web of Kashmir Himalaya
Current study presents structure of flower visitation web of Kashmir Himalaya by

analyzing diversity, modularity and functional roles of native and non-native pollinator and
forage plant species, and the way non-native forage plant species integrate into the native
web. A total of 302 interacting species were recorded including 227 forage plant species and
75 flower-visitor species, resulting in 1940 species-species links in the web.64.8% forage
plant and 98.7% flower-visitor species are native where 35.2% and 1.3% are non-native
respectively. Trifolium pratense and Malus domestica formed strongest network hubs in
native and non-native forage plant species respectively whereas Apis cerana (native) and A.
mellifera (non-native) were the strongest network hub visitors. Ten native visitor species
(Vespidae and Meloidae) served as peripherals in the native web. Out of seven strongly
defined modules, module 5 was the largest containing a mix of bees, hoverflies and other
Diptera, whereas module 6 was the smallest and dominated by two large carpenter bees.
Justyna Ryniewicz
[email protected]
University of Warsaw Botanic Garden, Polska
Geographic variation in nectar composition and its implications for insect visitors: the
case of a rare plant Polemonium caeruleum L.
Floral nectar is a key factor in shaping plant–pollinator interactions, however little is

known about the variability in nectar traits, which could potentially affect pollinators and the
reproduction of the species. To investigate this issue, we analyzed nectar traits in 14
populations of a Red-listed plant species Polemonium caeruleum. In 2018 we collected
nectar samples from populations of P. caeruleum involved in our study. Using HPLC, we
43
determined the nectar sugar and amino acid composition and concentration. For each
population we also recorded some basic habitat parameters, and in seven selected
populations, we investigated the taxonomic composition of the insects visiting flowers. Our
observations revealed that nectar production was male-biased, and there is significant
interpopulation variability in nectar traits in P. caeruleum caused by environmental factors.
The studied nectar characters, however, had little effect on insects visiting flowers.
Manoela Lencino Santanna*, Patrícia Nunes-Silva & Marcelo Zagonel-Oliveira

[email protected]
University of the Sinos River Valley (Unisinos), Brazil
*Space Ecology Laboratory
The effect of bee behaviour during floral resource collection on blueberry pollination
(Vaccinium ashei Reade)
Blueberry flowers have bell-shaped corolla; thus nectar is inaccessible to some

visitors, which may obtain this resource through perforations on the corolla (thefts). We
compared the bee behaviour during floral resource collection among six blueberry cultivars
(Climax, Bluegem, Bluebell, Powerblue, Britteblue and Woodard) that present differences in
corolla traits. For that, we counted the number of thefts and legitimate collections for one
minute per bush (n=3/cultivar) at 11am, 1pm and 3pm for three days. The number of pollen
grains deposited on the stigma was compared between robbed and non-robbed flowers
(with/without perforation). The frequency of theft was similar between cultivars (p=0.238).
Perforated flowers showed a higher number of pollen grains on the stigma (p=0.01), except
Bluegem, which presented more pollen grains on non-robbed flowers (p=0.07). The results
indicate that theft does not prevent pollination but improves it.
Leticia De Santis & Mario Balzan

[email protected]
Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), Malta
Local and landscape habitat variables influencing bee diversity
This study assesses the impacts of local and landscape habitat composition on wild
and managed bee abundance in the Maltese Islands. A total of 78 transect walks were
carried out during spring 2019, and a total of 2532 flower visits recorded covering 71 plant
species. The highest wild bee abundance was recorded in agricultural habitats but there was
44
substantial variation between different functional groups, when categorised according to
nesting, pollen transport and body size functional traits. Wild bee abundance was negatively
associated with honeybee abundance. At the landscape scale, wild bee abundance was
positively associated with agricultural habitats whilst for A. mellifera agricultural, garrigue,
urban and woodland cover was significantly associated with increased abundance. A
negative association between landscape diversity and bee abundance was recorded. These
results provide first evidence of potential interspecific competition arising from high honeybee
density in Malta and are used to identify potential conservation measures.
Tom Sloan
[email protected]
Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland
Assessing the impact of roadside vegetation management on nectar resources
Roadside margins are well known to have a significant ecological impact on flora and
fauna, with studies commonly reporting their negative effect. However, they have the
potential to be important habitats for flowering plant species, thus supporting pollinating-
insects. This study aimed to ascertain how cutting regimes impact nectar sources along such
margins, with the main ride through the Old Sulehay forest cut back on a 1-year, 2-year and
4-year basis for the duration of the study. This was to identify which management cycle
produced the greatest and highest quality nectar resources. Preliminary results indicate that
there was no significant difference in abundance, richness or diversity of flowering plants
under different management cycles, contrary to what was expected - yearly cutting providing
the greater nectar resources. Assessment of the quality of nectar sources is ongoing, where
it is expected that sites cut yearly will have the greatest overall nectar sugar content.
Ruby E. Stephens
[email protected]
Macquarie University, Australia
Functional biogeography of floral traits in Australia
Floral traits affect plant reproductive success and the interaction of flowering plants
with pollinators. Despite this, floral traits have rarely been considered in studies of trait
variation along environmental gradients, or functional biogeography. Our project examines
how floral traits vary across the Australian landscape by targeting two key floral traits: (i)
45
duration of flowering; and (ii) flower symmetry. We combine plant composition and
abundance data from sites across Australia with data on species symmetry and flowering
duration. We then assess whether environmental variables such as temperature, rainfall and
soil impact the distribution of floral traits in Australia. We predict a relationship between site
productivity, which may affect the availability of pollinators in the landscape, and flowering
duration. Further, we hypothesise a functional relationship between flowering duration and
symmetry, whereby bilaterally symmetric flowers, which typically experience more efficient
pollen transfer, may open for a shorter duration than less specialised flowers.
Florian Straub & Markus Birkenbach

[email protected] & [email protected]
Ulm University, Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Deutschland
Effects of land use intensity on pollinator health and pollination services
Pollinators provide essential ecosystem services and are currently threatened by a

variety of anthropogenic influences and changing environmental conditions. In intensively
used agricultural areas, pollinators suffer from resource limitation, exposure to pesticides and
habitat loss. These stressors could affect pollinator health (e.g. increased pathogen loads,
developmental changes), which might in return result in a loss of pollination services (e.g.
decreased foraging activity, change of behaviour), posing a severe threat to pollinators and
pollination. We aim to understand the links between land use intensity, pollinator health and
pollination services to help preserving ecosystem functioning in land-use intensive areas. To
achieve this, we will investigate pollinator health indicators (viral loads, pheromone
composition, fluctuating asymmetry) and foraging behaviour of two common pollinator
species (Bombus lapidarius & Episyrphus balteatus) in 150 grasslands with varying land use
intensity and management regimes embedded in an agricultural landscape.
Clara Stuligross
[email protected]
University of California, Davis, USA
Larval pesticide exposure reduces adult wild bee reproduction
Bees experience stressors across landscapes, such as pesticides, as they forage for
pollen and nectar. Determining the consequences of persistent or variable stressors is critical
for understanding the long-term potential effects on populations. We investigated the effects
46
of larval and adult pesticide exposure on the foraging and reproduction of the solitary bee,
Osmia lignaria. We established nesting females in field cages containing wildflowers treated
with or without imidacloprid. As larvae, these parent bees were reared on provisions
containing imidacloprid or controls. Larval and adult pesticide exposure directly affected bee
nesting activity. Bees exposed to pesticides as adults were less likely to start nesting and
produced fewer offspring. Additionally, larval pesticide exposure reduced offspring production
regardless of adult pesticide exposure. Our research provides experimental evidence of the
effects of pesticide exposure on solitary bees across multiple life stages, a critical step in
understanding mechanisms underlying pollinator health.
James Thomson
[email protected]
University of Toronto
A 30-year study of lily demography: pollination, costs of fruiting, and size dependent
mortality
By late summer, the spring-blooming Erythronium grandiflorum retracts into a
dormant corm that can be exhumed, measured, and replanted. Since 1991, I have performed
annual exhumations of ca. 250 plants in an outdoor garden where they are protected from
gopher predation. In conjunction with recently published experiments on pollination
sufficiency, I have placed the demographic records in a public archive. The primary findings
are: flower and fruit production scale with corm size; plants regulate their corm size by fruit
production and occasional splitting; mortality is rare, and is concentrated in the smallest and
largest size classes. Evidence for senescence is scant.
Linzi Jay Thompson

[email protected]
University College Dublin, Ireland
Effects of colony level exposure to a fungicide or herbicide on the bumblebee Bombus

terrestris preliminary results
Fungicides and herbicides are pesticides designed to target non-insect pests, such as
fungal diseases and competing plants. They are commonly applied in both agroecosystems
and urban landscaping and are some of the most applied pesticides globally. However,
increasing research suggests that these pesticides may have harmful effects on bees, but
more research is required to understand the risks these pesticides pose and is necessary for
47
ensuring future sustainable pesticide use. In this study, commercial Bombus terrestris
colonies received a field realistic chronic dose of either the fungicide prothioconazole or the
herbicide glyphosate. Colonies were then placed outside and allowed to forage freely, with
their growth and activity levels monitored over a 4-week period. Here we show the
preliminary results, including observed trends in colony level foraging activity, colony
production, and reproductive output.
Diana Tixi
[email protected]
Natural Resources Institute, United Kingdom
Do wild bees’ physiological or ecological traits influence their response (abundance

and diversity changes) to conservation strategies? A meta-analysis
Some pollinators’ physical or ecological traits confer higher robustness against

habitat changes and inputs such as pesticides, while others have traits that render them
more sensitive (Williams et al. 2010). If such traits commonly predict species’ responses to
disturbances, then we predicted that some physical or ecological traits in different species of
wild bees are predictive of their likelihood of responding to conservation and habitat
restoration. Here we use meta-analysis to synthesise the literature, following standard
protocols, to identify published studies of wild bees’ responses to conservation as it varies
according to those bees’ traits. We searched Web of Science, GreenFILE, ProQuest and
SciELO, covering the time from 1st of January 2001 to 31st of August 2019 in English and
Spanish for studies evaluating the impact of conservation measures on bee groups with
specified or inferred traits. Preliminary analysis indicates that groups of bees with particular
traits respond more strongly to conservation strategies than others.
Gayathri Venkatraman1 & Shivani Krishna2

[email protected]
1Shiv Nadar University, India
2Ashoka University, India
Capturing the Buzz: Characterising buzz pollinated plant species in the Indian
Subcontinent
Bees are known to extract pollen from flowers that have specialised morphologies
such as poricidal anthers by repeated vibrations and the resultant pollination is known as
buzz pollination. Poricidal anthers occur in approximately 65 plant families which represent
48
about 6-8% of angiosperms. India is a megadiverse country with 18,000 species of
angiosperms across diverse habitats and rich bee fauna. However, little is known about the
distribution of buzz pollinated species and their associated characteristics in Indian
subcontinent. As a first step towards understanding this, we use literature review and plant
databases to characterize the species of angiosperms relying either exclusively on or to
varying degrees on buzz pollination, their morphologies and their distribution. Our preliminary
analysis shows that majority of these species were of Solanaceae family, white or pink
coloured and prevalent in the Western and Eastern Himalayas, and the Southern Western
Ghats region.
Jenna Walters & Rufus Isaacs

[email protected]
Michigan State University, USA
Determination of upper threshold temperatures of pollen germination and pollen tube

growth in northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum: Ericaceae)
Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme heat events,
such as heat waves. A short period of extreme heat during blueberry bloom in Michigan
during 2018 led to 30% yield reduction, prompting this investigation. We sought to answer
the following questions: (1) how does blueberry pollen germination and growth respond to
temperature?, and (2) what are the upper threshold temperatures inhibiting pollen
germination and growth? To answer these questions, we plated blueberry pollen from four
common highbush blueberry cultivars (Bluecrop, Elliott, Jersey, and Liberty) on a nutrient
medium and exposed them to 10, 20, 30, or 40°C conditions and measured the germination
and growth at 4 and 24 hours after exposure. We found that blueberry pollen germination
and growth were completely inhibited at 40°C. To determine the threshold for this inhibition,
we exposed the same cultivars to 30, 32.5, 35, 37.5, or 40°C and measured germination and
growth. We determined the upper inhibition threshold for pollen germination and growth
occurs at 37.5°C in all cultivars.
49
Julia Weber
[email protected]
Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden
Preserving mobile insects in semi-natural grasslands - minding the Matrix
To mitigate loss of farmland biodiversity, including insect pollinators, much effort has
been spent on preserving semi-natural grasslands. However, already lost grasslands are
difficult to restore and costly to manage for increased benefits to biodiversity. Previously
often mowed semi-natural grasslands are today mostly managed by grazing, resulting in a
lack critical floral resources for many insects during summer. I therefore take an alternative
approach and investigate if proper management of the surrounding landscape can enhance
the conservation value of grasslands for flower-visiting mobile insects. I will present the
outlines of my first study design, focusing on measures that create
complementary/supplementary food resources, particularly late in the season when
grasslands are often heavily grazed, and thereby potentially reduce extinction risks and
enhance population sizes of pollinating insects in semi-natural grasslands. I focus on
consequences of availability and management of leys that produce nectar and pollen
resources.
Wujian Xiong1, Jeff Ollerton2, Sigrid Liede-Schumann3, Wanyi Zhao4, Qiancai Jiang5,
Hongmei Sun5, Wenbo Liao4 & Wenhui You1
[email protected]
1School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, China
2Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, University of Northampton, UK
3Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Germany
4School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, China
5Zhongshan State-owned Forest Resources Protected Center, Zhongshan, China
Specialized cockroach pollination in the rare and endangered plant Vincetoxicum

hainanense in China
Species of Apocynaceae are pollinated by a diverse assemblage of animals. Here
we report the first record of specialized cockroach pollination in the family, involving an
endangered climbing vine species, Vincetoxicum hainanense in China. Experiments were
designed to provide direct proof of cockroach pollination and compare the effectiveness of
other flower visitors. Globally, only 11 plant species are known to be cockroach-pollinated.
Because their range of floral features encompass similarities and differences, defining a
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“cockroach pollination syndrome” is difficult. One commonality is that flowers are often
visited by insects other than cockroaches, such as beetles, that vary in their significance
as pollinators. Cockroach pollination is undoubtedly more widespread than previously
thought and requires further attention. For a summary of the published study see:
https://jeffollerton.co.uk/2020/10/27/cockroaches-as-pollinators-a-new-example-just-
published/
Standard talks
Jon Ågren & Nina Sletvold

[email protected]
Department of Ecology and Genetics, EBC, Uppsala University, Sweden
On the measurement and meaning of pollinator-mediated selection
Understanding the agents and targets of selection and how they vary among
populations remains a central problem in evolutionary biology and is required for informed
predictions regarding the evolutionary consequences of global change. Several studies have
by now demonstrated current pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits by comparing
phenotypic selection among open-pollinated control plants and among plants receiving
supplemental hand-pollination. When pollinator-mediated selection has been detected, this
has been attributed to trait effects on attraction of pollinators and pollen transfer efficiency at
each visit, or effects on capacity for autonomous self-pollination. However, we here argue
that also indirect effects of mean pollen limitation on opportunity for selection, costs of floral
traits, and interactions with antagonists may influence this measure of pollinator-mediated
selection and should be critically evaluated. We will outline how the relative importance of
these mechanisms can be assessed experimentally.
Miranda Bane
[email protected]
University of Bristol, UK
Pollinators on Guernsey and a Pesticide-free Plan
The Guernsey Pollinator Project is working with the States of Guernsey government
to implement a 'Pesticide Free Island' plan. The aim is to stop the commercial and personal
use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, through legislation and encouraging ecologically
51
safe alternatives. This creates a unique opportunity to study the effect of a 'pesticide-free'
transition on pollinators at island-scale. We are currently collecting the baseline data for this
study, sampling pollinator communities on 4 of the Channel Islands: Guernsey, Jersey,
Alderney and Sark. Baseline data does not exist for the Channel Islands which in itself
should prove interesting as the islands are known to host a subset of both UK and
continental species. Here we present our initial findings and outline our future plans to launch
the project and encourage research interest in the Channel Islands.
Océane Bartholomée
[email protected]
Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, Sweden
How to eat in the shade? Bumblebees' behaviour in partially shaded flower strips
Many studies have worked on crepuscular pollinators’ activity in relation to light

conditions, but little have been done to test the effects of light variations on diurnal
pollinators’ activity. In this context, we tried to answer: how does the daily variation in light-
shade conditions impact the behaviour of bumblebees? We worked on flower strips (Skåne,
Sweden) had similar plant communities but could vary in light conditions. Our field design
consisted on transect pairs: one shaded part of the day and one “control” always on the
sunlight. Each pair was visited five times. At each visit, both transects were observed in three
or four conditions combining: both transects in the sun or one shaded and the other in the
sun with low or high light intensities. First results showed that bumblebee abundance was
higher under high light conditions independently from the shade condition, but it was also
higher for control transect.
Samuel Boff
[email protected]
University of Würzburg, Germany
Novel pesticide class impact foraging behaviour in wild bees
Sulfoxaflor is a competitive modulator of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) in

insects. Despite structural differences to the worldwide commonly used neonicotinoids, both
substances bind to nAChR and seems to similarly affect negatively foraging in wild bees.
During Scape 2020 I aim to present how effects of field realistic dose of this novel pesticide
impact bee foraging behaviour at indoor and outdoor settings. Different doses of sulfoxaflor
reduces the outcome of foraging and flight performance. The observed disruption in foraging
52
behaviour may impair important features for fruit and seed production of cross-pollinated
plant species and colony development.
Henninge Torp Bie

[email protected]
University of Oslo, Norge
Flower visitation of the Sticky catchfly (Viscaria vulgaris) on isles within isle
Island biogeography explains how size and distance to land affect island ecosystems.
Today, McArthur &Wilson’s theory can be applied both to oceanic islands and to fragmented
terrestrial systems. The latter, human induced habitat fragmentation, is one of the greatest
threats to biodiversity and ecosystem function. Pollination is found to be affected by habitat
fragmentation. As pollination is crucial for both human welfare and ecosystem function,
understanding these effects is of great interest. Eløen is a volcanic island in the outer
Oslofiord. Its flora and avian fauna have been extensively mapped, but its pollination
systems and insect fauna remain understudied. This summer, I assessed flower visitation of
Viscaria vulgaris in continuous and patchy populations on Eløen. Flower visitations were
recorded and resulting seed set was counted. Species of Hymenoptera were caught by net
and pan traps for identification. On SCAPE2020, I will present my methods and some
preliminary results and reflections.
Paolo Biella, Nicola Tommasi, Emiliano Pioltelli, Massimo Labra, Maurizio Casiraghi &
Andrea Galimberti
[email protected]
ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza
della Scienza, 2, 20126, Milan, Italy.
The effects of landscape composition and climatic variables on pollinator abundances

and foraging along a gradient of increasing urbanization.
Urbanization is growing steadily all over the world and pollinators are suffering from
population decline. Therefore, it is relevant to explore how urbanization and landscape
modification impact pollinators, in order to provide suggestions aimed at reaching
sustainability. In this study, we surveyed pollinator abundances with passive trapping and
plant-pollinator interactions with netting and HTS DNA metabarcoding of pollen in about 35
sites along a gradient from seminatural to urbanized habitats in Northern Italy. The results
indicate linear and nonlinear dependencies to the landscape structure and to the climatic
53
variables in wild bees and hoverflies abundances. Furthermore, urbanization altered plant-
pollinator networks in ways indicating more simple networks of pollinators converging on
fewer flowers in highly urbanized areas than in areas with less cementification. Overall, this
research highlights how habitat alteration and particularly the process of urbanization are
impacting both the foraging dynamics and the population size of wild pollinators.
Herbert Braunschmid & Stefan Dötterl

[email protected]
Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg, Austria
Does the rarity of a flower´s scent phenotype in a deceptive orchid explain its
pollination success?
In deceptive plants, variation in traits involved in pollinator attraction is assumed to be

maintained by negative frequency-dependent selection. This has been tested in floral color
traits, but so far not in the multivariate and/or continuous characteristics of floral scent
bouquets. We investigated in the deceptive orchid Cypripedium calceolus whether flowers
with rare scent phenotypes are more likely to produce a fruit than those with more common
ones. Scent of single flowers was collected in two natural populations, and from the same
flowers it was recorded whether they set fruits. We introduced a measure of rarity for the
scent phenotype of single flowers. We found that the rarity of floral scent phenotypes greatly
varied among flowers but was not a predictor of whether flowers set fruits in neither of the
populations. Our approach to calculate the rarity of single phenotypes is also applicable to
other univariate and multivariate traits.
Kelsey Byers
[email protected]
John Innes Centre, United Kingdom
Pollinators and visitors to Gymnadenia orchids: historical and modern data reveal
associations between insect proboscis and floral nectar spur length
Assessing pollination systems takes detailed fieldwork, and distinguishing floral

visitors from effective pollinators even more so, yet both are critical to understanding the role
of pollination in floral evolution. The orchid genus Gymandenia contains species in two main
morphotypes. Using historical data, I show that average proboscis length differs between
visitors to long-spurred G. conopsea and to short-spurred G. rhellicani. However, these data
54
are largely based on visitation observations rather than verified carriage of pollinia. To gather
modern data and assess verified pollinator identity, we collected pollinators of both species,
showing that the major pollinators are Lepidoptera for G. conopsea and Lepidoptera and
Hymenoptera for G. rhellicani. Pollinia are carried in different positions on the proboscis
between the two species, and proboscis length of effective pollinators differs between
species. These results demonstrate the validity of historical data in assessing proboscis:
nectar spur associations, while also demonstrating the importance of validating visitor
effectiveness.
Carmen Villacañas de Castro

[email protected]
University of Bremen, Deutschland
Cost/benefit ratio of a nursery pollination system in natural populations: a model

application
Nursery pollination systems are a type of mutualism in which pollinating insects also
use the host plant to reproduce. The S. latifolia–H. bicruris system fluctuates along a gradient
between mutualism and antagonism, depending on the ecological context. Our aim is to
understand the origin of such conditionality. We analysed pollination behaviour of H. bicruris
moths, collected field data and analysed pollination, infestation rates, and parasitism rate by
a natural enemy. Then we applied a theoretical model to determine interaction outcomes.
Our results show that male pollination benefits are essential for the stability of the system.
Pollination, infestation and parasitism rates vary between fields, although some of the factors
causing such variability remain unclear. The amount of co-pollination is a good predictor for
the outcome of the system. Overall, third parties associated to the system ―specially co-
pollinators and natural enemies― play an important role modifying the outcome of the
interaction.
55
Ke Chen, David Kleijn, Jeroen Scheper & Thijs P.M. Fijen
[email protected]
Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University & Research
Netherlands
Indirect and additive effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on insect pollination and
crop yield of raspberry under different fertilizer levels
Insect pollinators and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can provide vital ecosystem
services for crop production, but it remains unknown whether their effects interact and how
their effects are influenced by fertilizer availability. To test the combined effects of pollination,
AMF and fertilizer inputs, we conducted a pot-field experiment on raspberry (Rubus idaeus
L.), adopting a full-factorial randomized block design with two levels of pollination (open
pollination vs pollinator exclusion) and two levels of AMF treatments (AMF inoculated vs non-
mycorrhizal treatment), receiving four levels of fertilizer. We found that AMF inoculation
increased yield with 43%, and additionally increased yield indirectly by increasing insect
pollination rates. Insect pollination increased crop yield on average 55%, and these effects
were stronger (up to 90%) with increasing fertiliser levels. Our results indicate that AMF
inoculation can be a novel agricultural management practice that increases raspberry crop
yield directly, and indirectly through increasing insect visitation rate.
James Cook
[email protected]
Western Sydney University, Australia
Why size matters in fig-pollinator mutualisms
The mutualisms between fig trees (Ficus) and their pollinator wasps (Agaonidae) are
a classic case of coevolution. The wasps are the only pollen vectors for figs; which, in turn
provide the only sites where wasp offspring develop. However, this highlights a conflict –
wasp offspring eat fig seeds, so how do figs protect seed production? Previous studies on
different fig-wasp systems suggest multiple possible mechanisms. A potential general
explanation incorporates and reconciles these mechanisms through allometric scaling
relationships and predicts that foundress wasps in Ficus species with small figs introduce
more pollinator wasp eggs per flower, leading to higher plant/pollinator conflict. We analysed
data from 23 monoecious fig tree-fig wasp mutualisms and found that the potential for
pollinator wasp exploitation of their hosts is indeed a negative function of fig size. These
56
results suggest a greater importance of physical and/or chemical barriers to oviposition in
Ficus species with smaller figs.
Camille Cornet, Nausicaa Noret & Fabienne Van Rossum.

[email protected]
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Role of pollinators in prezygotic isolation between calcicolous and silicicolous

ecotypes of Silene nutans
The moth-pollinated Silene nutans (Caryophyllaceae) consists of a cryptic species

complex, including two strongly differentiated eastern (E1) and western (W1) genetic
lineages. Several barriers to reproduction between them have been demonstrated, including
strong hybrid inviability. In southern Belgium, the E1 and W1 lineages come into secondary
contact and form a calcicolous and a silicicolous ecotype, respectively. Given possible
mating costs (pollen loss and inviable progeny) involved in inter-ecotypic pollination,
pollinator isolation might have evolved between ecotypes. To determine if pollinator isolation
represents a barrier to reproduction between the two ecotypes of S. nutans, pollen dispersal
between populations was studied using fluorescent powdered dyes as pollen analogues, and
nocturnal moth pollinators were observed using infrared cameras. Overall, no evidence of
pollinator isolation was found, since intra- and inter-ecotypic pollen flows were similar.
Moreover, Hadena albimacula, a nursery pollinator specialized on S. nutans in Belgium,
visited both ecotypes.
Agnes Dellinger
[email protected]
University of Vienna, Austria
Linking flower morphology to pollen-release dynamics: buzz-pollination in

Melastomataceae
Buzz-pollination is a functionally specialized pollination strategy where bees remove

pollen from flowers through vibrations. Although buzz-pollination occurs in ca. 8% of
angiosperms and has been associated with high evolutionary success, its functionality and
evolution remain poorly understood. Melastomataceae represent the largest radiation of
buzz-pollinated flowers, with a tremendous diversity in floral morphology. In this talk, I
explore the idea that flowers of different sizes and architectures are adapted to exploiting
different bee-buzz-pollination niches, and that small flowers are tuned to release pollen at
57
lower amplitudes (produced by small bees) than larger flowers. I applied artificial vibrations
across a range of amplitudes and frequencies to 11 Melastomataceae species with
contrasting floral architectures. Against expectation, most pollen was released at high
amplitudes and frequencies around 200 Hz, regardless of flower size and architecture. I
discuss these findings in the light of empirical observations of pollinator behaviour and
outline future experiments.
Philip Donkersley
[email protected]
Lancaster Environment Centre, United Kingdom
A One-Health model for reversing honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) decline
Global insect decline impacts ecosystems resilience; pollinators such as honeybees

(Apis mellifera L.) have suffered extensive losses over the last decade, threatening food
security. Research has focused discretely on in-hive threats (e.g. Nosema and Varroa
destructor) and broader external causes of decline (e.g. agrochemicals, habitat loss). This
has notably failed to translate into successful reversal of bee declines. Working at the
interdisciplinary nexus of entomological, social and ecological research, we posit that
veterinary research needs to adopt a “One-Health” approach to address the scope of crises
facing pollinators. We demonstrate that reversing declines will require [1] integration of hive-
specific solutions, [2] a reappraisal of engagement with the many stakeholders whose
actions affect bee health and [3] recontextualising both of these within landscape scale
efforts.
Gabriela Doria
[email protected]
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK
Petal cell shape and flower-pollinator interaction in Nicotiana
Petal epidermal cell shape has been shown to affect pollination success in flowering
plants. Conical epidermal cells may increase grip for insect pollinators and enhance flower
colouration compared to non-conical cells. Nicotiana presents a diverse range of petal cell
shapes. Interestingly, sister species in at least two phylogenetically distinct clades of the
genus have contrasting petal epidermal cell shapes (conical vs. non-conical). This provides a
unique opportunity to explore the evolution of conical cells. Using a combination of
58
molecular, morphological and behavioural ecology tools I studied the development, evolution
and function of petal cell shape in Nicotiana. Differential expression of candidate regulatory
genes rather than amino acid sequence differences in the proteins, might explain contrasting
cell shapes between sister species. Flower choice experiments with bumblebees, using
biomimetic replicates of petals, indicate that the bumblebees can discriminate flowers of
contrasting texture using visual cues alone as well as tactile cues alone.
Emilie Ellis1 & Tom L. Wilkinson2

[email protected]
1Department of Animal and Plant Science, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
2School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin
Moth assemblages within urban domestic gardens respond positively to habitat

complexity, but only at a scale that extends beyond the garden boundary
This study uses light-trapping to examine the response of moth assemblages to
domestic gardens that are assessed in terms of their habitat complexity (simple and
complex) both within the garden and extending out to a 30m radius that includes surrounding
habitats. The results clearly show that moth assemblages were influenced by complex
habitats, but only at a scale that extended beyond the garden boundary to include the
surrounding area. In other words, neither the complexity of the habitat within the garden or
the size of the garden had any influence on the abundance or diversity of the moth
assemblage. These results have implications garden management– if domestic gardens are
to be a useful component of strategies to reduce biodiversity loss within the urban
environment then they should provide good habitat quality and be managed as a network of
interconnected patches rather than as individual units.
Anna E-Vojtkó
[email protected]
Department of Botany, University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic
Floral and reproductive plant functional traits as an independent axis of plant

ecological strategies
The search for the set of traits capturing most of the variation in plant forms and
related ecological functions is still ongoing. A global study has found that the majority of trait
variation can be described by two main axes: plant size and the leaf economic spectrum,
using only a limited array of plant traits. Therefore, we ask whether i) less frequently studied
59
i.e. clonal and bud bank, floral and sexual reproduction traits explain a unique part of the
variation, ii) these patterns are universal by using three different datasets and iii) phylogeny
explains part of this variation. We confirmed the most important axes based on vegetative
traits found before. Moreover, we found that floral traits explain a unique part in plant form
and function, which was consistent in the three datasets. However, floral traits tend to be
more dependent of phylogenetic relationships among species compared to other traits.
Alice Fairnie
[email protected]
Cambridge University, UK
Understanding the development, evolution and function of the bullseye pigmentation

pattern in Hibiscus trionum
Colourful petal patterns act in pollinator interactions but their formation and evolution
is not well understood. Hibiscus trionum has a bullseye pattern produced by restricting
production of pigmented tabular cells with a striated surface to the petal base. Variation in
bullseye size between H. trionum relatives results mostly from differences in pigmentation
restriction. My PhD aims to characterise the gene regulatory network restricting pigment
production to the bottom of the petal and how alterations to this network lead to bullseye size
variation during evolution. My results indicate that differences in the expression patterns of
two MYB genes could account for the strong bullseye reduction observed in H. richardsonii,
the sister-species of H. trionum. My PhD also investigates pollinators’ ability to perceive
differences in bullseye patterning and I am currently characterising bumblebees’ response to
artificial flowers of varying bullseye size.
Yedra García1, Magne Friberg2 & Amy L. Parachnowitsch1,3

[email protected]
1University of New Brunswick, Canada
2Lund University, Sweden
3Uppsala University, Sweden
Ecology and evolution of spatial variation in scent emission within flowers

Floral scent is an important long-distance signal that attracts pollinators, but also has been
suggested to function at shorter distances such as within-flower nectar guides. To support
the theory of functions within the flower, in some species, the floral scent emission is
60
compartmentalized as certain compounds are exclusively emitted from certain tissues.
Whereas other species emit scent evenly from the entire flower. We summarize the current
evidence on floral scent compartmentalization by combining a literature review with data from
17 species. Results show that floral scent compartmentalization is frequent, occurring in
species from distant groups. We report varying levels of compartmentalization involving
tissue-specific emissions and/or variation in the proportions of volatile compound groups in
different floral parts. We discuss adaptive and non-adaptive hypotheses underlying floral
scent compartmentalization. Our synthesis provides a foundation for future studies on the
functional ecology of floral scent and reinforces the idea of high complexity in floral chemical
signals.
Emma Gardner
[email protected]
University of Reading, UK
Boundary features increase and stabilise bee populations and the pollination of mass-
flowering crops in rotational systems
Pollinators experience large spatio-temporal fluctuations in resource availability when

mass-flowering crops are rotated with resource-poor cereal crops. Yet, few studies have
considered the effect this has on pollinator population stability, nor how this might be
mitigated to maintain consistent crop pollination services. We use a state-of-the-art, process-
based pollinator model to assess the potential of boundary features (field margins and
hedgerows) to support and stabilise bee populations and pollination service in agricultural
landscapes under crop rotation. Using a sample of 117 study landscapes in England, we
show the stabilising effect of boundary features on bee populations strongly depends on bee
life-history and mobility. Despite this, predicted visitation rates to field bean and oilseed rape
were still significantly more stable with boundary features present than absent (up to 25%
reduction in predicted variability in some landscapes). Based on our findings, we recommend
ways to maximise the stabilising benefits of boundary features.
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Courtney Gorman
[email protected]
University of Konstanz, Germany
Phenological and pollinator-mediated isolation among selfing and outcrossing

Arabidopsis lyrata populations
Transitions from outcrossing to selfing have been a frequent evolutionary shift in

plants and clearly play a role in species divergence. However, many questions remain about
the initial mechanistic basis of reproductive isolation during the evolution of selfing. For
instance, how important are pre-pollination mechanisms (e.g. changes in phenology and
pollinator visitation) in maintaining reproductive isolation between newly arisen selfing
populations and their outcrossing ancestors? To test whether changes in phenology and
pollinator visitation isolate selfing populations of Arabidopsis lyrata from outcrossing
populations, we conducted a common-garden experiment with plants from selfing and
outcrossing populations as well as their between-population hybrids. Specifically, we asked
whether there was isolation between outcrossing and selfing plants and their hybrids through
differences in 1) the timing or intensity of flowering; and/or 2) pollinator visitation. We found
that phenology largely overlapped between plants from outcrossing and selfing populations.
There were also no differences in pollinator preference related to mating system.
Additionally, pollinators preferred to visit flowers on the same plant rather than exploring
nearby plants, creating a large opportunity for self-fertilization. Overall, this suggests that pre-
pollination mechanisms do not strongly reproductively isolate plants from selfing and
outcrossing populations of Arabidopsis lyrata.
62
Sjirk Geerts1, Opeyemi Adedoja1*, Laimi Erckie2, J. Stephen Boatwright2 & Ernita van
Wyk3,4
[email protected]
1Department of Conservation and Marine Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O.
Box 652, Cape Town 8000, South Africa
2Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town,
South Africa
3South African National Biodiversity Institute. Cape Town, South Africa
4Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa
Invasive alien Proteaceae lure some, but not other nectar feeding bird pollinators
away from native Proteaceae in South African fynbos
Invasive alien plants can lure pollinators away from and reduce the reproductive
output of native plant species. This is well studied for insect pollinated species, but whether
the same is true for bird pollinated species is largely unknown. Here, we address this by
considering the impact of an invasive alien plant species (Banksia speciosa, Proteaceae) on
visitation rates of nectar-feeding bird pollinators to the native Protea compacta in the Cape
Floristic Region of South Africa. We quantified pollination rates to B. speciosa and P.
compacta in areas of co-occurrence and compared this with a control site. Sugarbird
visitation to P. compacta was significantly lower in the presence of B. speciosa, whilst
sunbirds mostly avoided B. speciosa. Despite this, there was no reduction in seed set in P.
compacta. The long-term effect of reduced pollinator visitation may reduce fitness in P.
compacta whilst pollinators enhance the invasive potential of B. speciosa by increasing seed
set.
Eva Gfrerer, D. Laina, M. Gibernau, A.C. Hörger, H.P. Comes & S. Dötterl
[email protected]
University of Salzburg, Austria
Is the inflorescence scent of Arum maculatum L. (Araceae) in populations north vs.

south of the Alps locally adapted to a variable pollinator climate?
Local adaptation can arise from differing environmental conditions among populations
through divergent selection pressures. In a recent study, we found that the inflorescence
scent of brood-site-deceptive Arum maculatum shows signatures of region-specific
phenotypic selection between populations north vs. south of the Alps, potentially reflecting
the geographic pattern in pollinator availability and their different scent preferences. Here, we
63
ask if scent in A. maculatum is locally adapted to the different pollinators north vs. south of
the Alps. To address this question, we reciprocally transplanted plants between and within
regions and tested if the visiting pollinator composition, fruit set, and olfactory attractiveness
to pollinators differed between plants “local vs. foreign”. We show whether local plants
attracted pollinators more effectively and had a higher fruit set. Our study provides novel
insights into ecological effects of intraspecific trait variation and fosters our understanding of
local adaptation in deceptive plants.
Manuela Giovanetti1, Laura Zavatta1, Rosa Ranalli1, Simone Flaminio1, Sergio

Albertazzi1, Gherardo Bogo2 & Laura Bortolotti1
[email protected]
1CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Via di Saliceto n. 80, 40128 Bologna, Italia
2Grupo de Ecología de la Polinización, INIBIOMA (Universidad Nacional del Comahue‐CONICET),

Quintral 1250, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
Megachile sculpturalis: insights on the nesting activity of an alien bee species
The giant resin bee, Megachile sculpturalis (Megachilidae), is a species alien to

Europe that easily adopts bee hotels in city gardens. In Italy, we are carrying out a
monitoring project at CREA bee hotel. Starting in 2016, we monitored emergence and
defined nest structure and pollen; estimated the number of nests completed by each female,
and recorded nesting activity. Males emerge first, the second half of June, and quickly
disperse in a couple of weeks. Dominant pollen in the cells belong to Sophora japonica
(Fabaceae), abundant in parks of Bologna. Females resulted highly philopatric (only the 5%
possibly dispersed). They used and re-used drilled cavities in woody blocks or reeds, moving
in and out material and gathering pollen, and using more than a cavity along the season.
Present data point in the direction of nesting flexibility that can partly justify the quick spread
of the species in Europe.
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Peter Graystock
[email protected]
Imperial College London, United Kingdom
The effects of environmental toxicants on the health of bumble bees and their
microbiomes
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are important and widespread insect pollinators, but the
act of foraging on flowers can expose them to harmful pesticides and chemicals such as
oxidizers and heavy metals. These toxicants in floral nectar and pollen take many forms yet
how they influence pollinator health not fully understood. Here we explore how bee health
may be influenced by exposure to cadmium, copper, selenate, the neonicotinoid pesticide
imidacloprid, and hydrogen peroxide – all of which have all been identified in floral nectar and
pollen. We look at their direct toxicity, their influence on the bee gut microbiome and the
potential for the microbiome to detoxify these toxicants.
Michael Image
[email protected]
University of Reading, United Kingdom
The impact of agri-environment schemes on crop pollination services at national scale

Agri-environment schemes are contractual agreements between landholders and
governments that create and maintain semi-natural habitat within agricultural landscapes.
Previous work has shown that individual agri-environment features can provide floral and
nesting resources for wild pollinators, thus indirectly supporting visitation to nearby crops.
However, the effect of an entire scheme on this ecosystem service at national scale has
never previously been studied. We use a state-of-the-art, process-based pollinator model to
examine if the current uptake of agri-environment agreements in England has enhanced
pollinator abundance and visitation rates to four pollinator-dependent crops. Results show
significant increases in pollinator populations and some localised areas of significant crop
visitation increase. However, the overall change in crop pollination at national scale was not
significant. Analysis suggests that current schemes provide adequate floral resources but
insufficient nesting resources in key locations. Implications for future scheme design and
targeting are discussed.
65
Shuxuan Jing, Per Kryger & Birte Boelt
[email protected]
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
‘Interviewing’ pollinators in the red clover field: foraging behaviour
Monitoring foraging behaviour of pollinators in flowering red clover is difficult under field
condition. In this study, we succeeded in ‘interviewing’ pollinators by using portable camera
and fresh cut flowers to explore the correlation of the foraging behaviour (number of florets
visited per flower head) between the 1st and the 2nd visiting bee. We interviewed 240 bee
individuals during the peak flowering time (late-June to mid-July, 2020). We found that the
discrimination behaviour of the 2nd bee was positively related to the flower head exploitation
rate of the 1st bee. Further, we found a negative correlation of the flower head exploitation
rate between the 1st and 2nd visiting bee, indicating scent marks left by the 1st bee may
negatively influence the foraging behaviour of the 2nd bee. Foraging behaviour also differed
among pollinator species when offering a new flower head, where B. pascuorum, B.
terrestris, B. hortorum, and B. muscorum visited relatively higher number of florets per flower
head compared to B. lapidarius and A. mellifera.
Nina Jirgal1 & Kazuharu Ohashi2

[email protected]
1University of Manchester, United Kingdom
2University of Tsukuba, Japan
Orientation matters: effect of floral symmetry and orientation on pollinator entry angle
Sprengel (1793) observed that flowers with one plane of symmetry seemed to restrict
pollinator approach, allowing for more precise pollen placement onto the pollinator’s body.
Other researchers have suggested that horizontal flowers could have a similar effect.
However, little is known about the relative importance of floral symmetry and orientation, as
well as their interactions on the stabilisation of pollinator entry angle. In a laboratory study,
we compared the variance in entry angle of Bombus ignitus workers foraging on artificial
flowers with nine different combinations of floral symmetry (radial/bilateral/dissymmetry) and
orientation (upward/horizontal/downward). Our results show that horizontal orientation
significantly reduced variance in entry angle, while floral symmetry did not. Floral symmetry
also has no significant interaction with orientation. These results may contradict the
traditional view on the evolutionary advantage of bilaterally symmetric flowers.
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Idan Kahnonitch1, 2, Naama Arkin2, 3, Achik Dorchin 4, Tal Erez1, 5, Nor Chejanovsky5,
Michelle Flenniken6, Asaf Sadeh2 & Yael Mandelik1
[email protected]
1The Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2Agroecology Lab, Newe Ya’ar Research Center, ARO, Israel
3Bar Ilan University, Israel
4The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Israel
5Entomology Department, ARO, The Volcani Center, Israel
6Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA.
Viral distributions in bee communities: associations to honeybee density and flower

visitation frequency
Viruses infect a wide range of bee species and spread within and between wild and
managed bee communities, with shared flowers as a probable site of interspecific
transmission. The aim of this study is to characterize factors that are associated with the
spread of viruses in bee communities. We conducted a field survey across 8 sites with
varying densities of honeybee foragers and flower diversity. The presence and abundance of
select viruses (DWV, BQCV, SBV and LSV) were assessed in individual honeybees and
Andrena bees. Using a model selection framework, we determined that the occurrence of the
monitored viruses in Andrena bees was positively related to the density of total and infected
honeybees and flower visitation frequency, thus supporting the hypothesized importance of
flowers in the interspecific virus transmission.
Hauke Koch
[email protected]
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom
Flagellum removal by a heather nectar metabolite inhibits infectivity of a bumblebee

parasite
Parasites can threaten pollinators, either by themselves as emergent pathogens, or in

combination with other anthropogenic stressors like habitat destruction and pesticides. Anti-
parasitic metabolites in pollen or nectar could reduce the impact of parasites, but so far little
is known on which plants could serve this role for pollinators, and through which mechanism
they could do so. We here present results of a novel screening method to identify
antimicrobial nectar compounds from 17 major bee foraging plants in Europe. We describe
67
callunene, a metabolite from heather (Calluna vulgaris) nectar, with strong activity against
the common bumblebee gut parasite Crithidia bombi (Trypanosomatida). We show that
callune can reduce the likelihood of bumblebees becoming infected, likely by inducing the
loss of the flagellum, used by the parasite for locomotion and attachment in the host.
Widespread loss of heath lands in Europe may thus reduce the availability of a major anti-
parasitic pollinator ""medicine"".
Jonas Kuppler
[email protected]
Ulm University, Germany
Impacts of drought on floral traits, plant-pollinator interactions and plant reproductive

success – a meta-analysis
Climate change-induced alterations in precipitation will decrease water availability in

many regions across the globe. This reduced water availability, i.e. drought, can cause
physiological stress in plants which can affect floral development leading to changes in floral
morphology, production of resources or scent; traits that mediate interactions with pollinators.
As pollinators can detect small changes in trait expressions, it is likely that drought-induced
changes in floral traits affect visitation patterns of pollinators. These effects on plant-
pollinator interactions are mediated by various abiotic and biotic factors, such drought
severity, soil conditions or species identity. To summarise our current knowledge and
highlight future research directions, I conducted a meta-analysis of primary studies exploring
the effects of experimental drought on floral traits, plant-pollinator interactions and plant
reproductive success. Thus, this study provides an up-to-date assessment and summary on
the sign and magnitude of drought effects on the floral phenotype and plant-pollinator
interactions.
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Danae Laina1, Eva Gfrerer1, Valerie Scheurecker1, Roman Fuchs1, Carina Zittra2,
Rüdiger Wagner3, Marc Gibernau4, Hans-Peter Comes1, Stefan Dötterl1 & Anja C.
Hörger1
[email protected]
1Department of Biosciences, Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

2Department of Limnology and Bio-Oceanography, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
3Department of Limnology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
4Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, Ajaccio, Corsica
Geographic differences in pollinator availability in the habitats shape the degree of

pollinator specialization in the deceptive Arum maculatum L. (Araceae)
Most flowering plants are pollinated by animals, with pollinator abundance, pollinator
composition, and degrees of specialization often varying among sites within plant species. It
remains unclear whether geographic differences in pollinator spectra result from site-specific
strategies of plants and/or merely mirror differences in pollinator availability in the habitats.
We address these questions in Arum maculatum, which exhibits different compositions and
abundances of visiting pollinator taxa (Psychodidae, Diptera) north vs. south of the Alps. We
also explore how pollinator spectra affect the fruit set between the two regions. Our findings
show that differences in pollinator availability explain most of the variability in pollinator
spectra. Specialized interactions towards one psychodid species were observed when its
availability in the habitats was high, whereas a low pollinator availability resulted in more
generalized interactions, including other dipteran families. Fruit set increased with increasing
pollinator abundance, but random patterns appeared when the latter was too high.
Lise Ropars
[email protected]
Aix Marseille University, France
Seasonal dynamics of competition between honeybees and wild bees in a protected

Mediterranean scrubland
Many conservation measures focused only on honeybees, leading to an increase in

the installation of hives in natural areas. In this context, within a Mediterranean protected
area, Calanques National Park, we studied the impact of honeybees within plant-pollinator
networks. On 17 sites and over 2 years, we counted the number of visits realized by
honeybees and wild bees within a scrubland habitat. We observed a competition for floral
69
resources induced by honeybees especially in early spring. This competition results in a
competitive exclusion of large wild bees (body size >1cm). Likewise, the presence of
honeybees also leads to a modification of wild bee foraging behaviour and floral diet. This
study highlights the need to mitigate the establishment of honeybee colonies in protected
areas such as national parks, in particular to release the pressure of competition between
large wild bees and honeybees.
Sissi Lozada-Gobilard, Carlos Landivar Albis, Karolina Beata Rupik, Marlene Pätzig,
Sebastian Hausmann, Ralph Tiedemann & Jasmin Joshi
[email protected]
University of Potsdam, Germany
Habitat quality and connectivity in kettle holes enhance bee diversity in agricultural
landscapes
The decline of wild bees endangers pollination services worldwide. In this study, we
evaluate wild bee diversity in wetland habitats (kettle holes) embedded in agricultural
landscapes and study the relationship of area, isolation, and habitat diversity. We sampled
36 kettle holes using color traps and identified 77 species. Our results showed that the
combination of kettle-hole area and density of neighboring kettle holes enhanced bee
diversity. Habitat quality (i.e. higher flower availability) within the kettle holes positively
influenced bee diversity; while dense vegetation and presence of trees were negatively
associated with bee-species richness. Wild bee community responded differently to the
environment according their functional traits and was mainly represented by solitary,
polylectic, belowground species. Area and isolation did not affect eusocial diversity while
surrounding habitat diversity was negatively correlated with solitary bee abundances only.
Body size was not associated with any environmental condition. Our study stresses the need
for a combination of large quality habitats within the kettle holes providing with a high
availability of insect pollinated flowers and a high density kettle-hole network to enhance wild
bee diversity in these intensive agricultural landscapes.
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Stephanie Maher1, Ruth Kelly1,2, Sara Ruas3, Simon Hodge1,7, Karzan Ahmed4, Alan
Lee5, Blánaid White5, Mike Gormally4, James Moran3, Daire Ó hUallacháin6 & Jane
Stout1
[email protected]
1Dept. of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
2Agri-food and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland
3Dept. of Natural Sciences, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ireland
4Applied Ecology Unit, National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
5Dept. of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University, Ireland
6Teagasc, Ireland
7School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Ireland
Evaluating the quantity and quality of resources for pollinators on Irish farms
The aim of this project was to evaluate empirically the quantity and quality of natural
resources for pollinators (bees and hoverflies) on Irish farms. Data were collected from two
geographical regions, Sligo in the West of Ireland and Wexford in the Southeast, and from a
mix of farm types. Between May and August 2019, fifteen farms in each region were
surveyed five times to establish pollinator abundance, species richness and diversity (via pan
trapping and transects) and floral resource availability. Preliminary results show that the
availability of both floral and nesting resources on the farm was important for pollinators.
Stonewalls, ditches and earth banks provided useful nesting habitat for wild bees, and
hedgerows were heavily utilised for forage. However, the quality of these habitat features
varied significantly between farms. In short, both the quantity and quality of habitats for
pollinators needs to be monitored, improved and incentivised on Irish farms.
Yael Mandelik
[email protected]
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Rangeland sharing by cattle and bees: moderate grazing does not impair bee
communities and resource availability
Rangelands are a main driver of natural habitat loss worldwide. Land sharing, the
integration of agricultural production and biodiversity conservation, may provide a platform
for managing rangelands to fulfil multiple ecosystem services. We investigated the effect of
cattle grazing on bee communities and their resources in Mediterranean rangelands. The
availability of floral and nesting resources for bees was unaffected or positively affected by
71
grazing. Similarly, wild bee abundance, species richness and composition were not affected
by grazing, nor was honeybee activity level impaired by grazing. Moreover, our results
indicate the potentially important role of ungrazed patches in increasing nectar and pollen
diversity and availability in rangelands for both honeybees and wild bees in the spring. Our
findings support the notion of rangeland sharing by cattle and bees in Mediterranean
ecosystems under moderate grazing intensities, mimicking the coexistence of honeybees,
wild bees and cattle in Mediterranean ecosystems on an evolutionary timescale.
Carlos Martel
[email protected]
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru
Specialization for tachinid fly pollination and the evolutionary divergence between
varieties of the orchid Neotinea ustulata
The European orchid Neotinea ustulata has been known to consist of two
phenologically divergent varieties (var. ustulata and var. aestivalis), from which detailed
studies of their reproductive biology have been lacking. This study aimed to characterize the
floral traits (i.e. morphology, colour and scent chemistry) and reproductive biology of N.
ustulata varieties. Neotinea ustulata varieties differ in their floral traits and pollinator
assemblages; var. ustulata appears to be pollinated mainly by both bees and flies, whereas
var. aestivalis is pollinated almost entirely by tachinid flies and only very occasionally by
bees. Tachinids were also found to be much more effective than bees in removing pollinaria,
and they use the modified dark inflorescence top as a cue for approaching inflorescences.
Neotinea ustulata varieties seem to represent a transition from functional generalization to
more specialized dependence on tachinids for pollination. This may be driven by spatial and
temporal pollinator availability and effectiveness.
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Márcia Motta Maués, L.A Bezerra, A.J. Campbell, T.F. Brito & C. Menezes
[email protected]
Embrapa Eastern Amazon, Brazil
Despite the megadiversity of flower visitors, native bees are essential to açai palm
(Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pollination at the Amazon estuary
Açai palm (Euterpe oleracea) is a non-timber forest product and the most important
native crop in the Amazon estuary. Its inflorescences are visited by a megadiversity of
insects. Understanding the functional roles of different pollinators is crucial to the
development of sustainable farming practices in pollinator-dependent crops. We assessed
the pollen loads of insect visitors from pistillate inflorescences at eight sites, four managed
floodplain forests and four plantations. Pollinator Importance Value Index (PIVI) and Relative
Importance (RI) scores were calculated for common visitor taxa (≥ 10 individuals) using sum
visit frequencies and median pollen loads. Pollen load analyses revealed that over seventy
species, including bees, flies, beetles, wasps and ants, were effective pollen vectors. Native
bees were the most efficient ones, with median pollen loads at least eight times higher than
the others, thus essential to açaí pollination and should be the primary focus of pollinator
management in açaí production systems.
Anna Birgitte Milford1, Bjørn Arild Hatteland1 & Lars Øystein Ursin2
[email protected]
1Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Norway
2NTNU, Norway
Who takes responsibility for the bees?
The worldwide decline in bees and other pollinating insects is a threat to biodiversity
and food security, and it is urgent to take action. One of the causes for insect decline is the
use of harmful pesticides in agriculture. In the presented study we use Norwegian apple
production as a case-study to investigate which of the three groups: farmers, consumers and
public authorities, have the most responsibility for protecting bees against harmful pesticides.
The questions are investigated empirically with qualitative data material from Norwegian
apple farmers, consumers and public authorities, and survey data from consumers and
farmers. Our results indicate that consumers see public authorities and farmers as equally
responsible for protecting the bees, while farmers are inclined to see themselves as more
responsible. Neither groups consider consumers to have any large responsibility. Among the
consumers there is also a high level of trust in both farmers and public authorities.
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G.S. Balamurali
[email protected]
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Decision making in the Asian honeybee Apis cerana is influenced by innate sensory
biases and associative learning at different spatial scales
Visual detection and discrimination of flowers against complex backgrounds is

challenging for insect pollinators due to the limited resolution of their compound eyes. Bees
use either achromatic or both chromatic and achromatic cues to detect flowers at different
spatial scales. Knowledge of these thresholds of detection, which are species-specific, is
important in understanding the visual ecology of insect pollinators. We estimated single
object target detection thresholds in the Asian honeybee Apis cerana and conducted
behavioural experiments in the laboratory to validate field observations of honeybee decision
making and pollination success in a floral colour changing tree (Catunaregum spinosa) in the
Western Ghats, India. Our results demonstrate that the bees rely on innate biases and
learned associations at different spatial scales. The tree exploits the sensory bias of the bees
through colour change to attract them from a distance and at close proximity the tree
honestly signals reward availability to increase its fitness.
Zahra Moradinour
[email protected]
Stockholm University, Sweden
The allometry of sensory system in the butterfly Pieris napi
Habitat destruction is one of the main issues attributed to the population decline of
pollinators over the last decades. The proper function of sensory systems and their
adaptation to the modified habitat determine the foraging success and, thus, the survival of
the pollinators in that environment. The size of the sensory traits is one of the factors that
play an essential role in the adaptation of sensory traits for perceiving necessary sensory
cues for foraging activity. To better understand how the size of the sensory traits change with
body size, we studied the allometry of sensory systems in the butterfly (Pieris napi). Our
results from both sexes didn’t show any significant increase or decrease of the sensory
organs in relation to body size; however, proboscis length had an increase trend with body
size in females. We also found males notably own larger eyes compare to females,
regardless of body size.
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Marcela Moré1, Antonella Costa1, Valeria Paiaro1, Eugenia Drewniak1 & Anina Coetzee2
[email protected]
1Instituto
Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba,
Argentina
2University of Cape Town, South Africa
Different points of view in a changing world: The tobacco tree flowers through the
eyes of its pollinators in native and non-native ranges.
Different pollinators show distinct visual and cognitive abilities that can influence floral
colour evolution. Nicotiana glauca is a South American hummingbird-pollinated plant that has
become a significant invasive of semi-arid parts of the world, where it is visited by local
animals like sunbirds in South Africa or diurnal hawkmoths in Spain. We measured corolla
reflectance spectra from native and non-native populations encompassing the different
pollination contexts. Flower colour loci were represented in the visual space of tetrachromatic
birds and trichromatic hawkmoths. Variation in corolla reflectance spectra was revealed, both
across pollination contexts and among populations. From the pollinators’ point of view
(hummingbirds, sunbirds and hawkmoths), flowers from native populations were, in general,
significantly discriminated from those of the non-native populations, which mostly were not
discriminated as different from each other. We discuss our findings under the hypothesis of
pollinator-mediated colour selection and alternative evolutionary processes that may occur
during invasions.
Nathan Muchhala
[email protected]
University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA
The long stems characteristic of bat-pollinated flowers greatly reduce bat search
times while foraging
Botanists have long noted that bat-adapted flowers tend to be particularly well-
exposed, with long stems that position them away from other foliage. The selective
advantage of this trait, however, has remained obscure. We captured nectar-feeding bats in
cloud forests of Colombia and held them in flight cages to test the effects of floral exposure
on foraging time (to find flowers of Burmeistera succulenta). Ten bats were exposed to four
treatments: long or short floral stems, in either simple or complex backgrounds (i.e.,
surrounded by foliage). In simple backgrounds, bats showed no difference for long vs. short
stems, while in complex backgrounds, bats took twice as long to locate short-stemmed
75
flowers. This suggests that increased flower exposure allows bat echolocation to better
distinguish floral echoes from background clutter echoes. This, in turn, would favour the
evolution of long stems to ensure flowers are discovered by bats and thus can successfully
reproduce.
Lucy Nevard
[email protected]
University of Stirling, UK
Are bees and flowers tuned to each other? Variation in the natural frequency of buzz-
pollinated flowers
Bees use vibrations to remove pollen from buzz-pollinated flowers. Vibrations at the
natural frequency of stamens are amplified through resonance, resulting in higher
amplitudes. Because pollen release depends on vibration amplitude, bees could increase
pollen removal by vibrating at the natural frequency. Few studies have characterized the
natural frequencies of stamens and compared them to bee vibration frequencies. We use
laser vibrometry to characterise stamen natural frequency of six morphologically diverse,
heterantherous Solanum. We also compare the frequency of bumblebee buzzes produced
on two Solanum species with different natural frequencies. Stamen morphology and plant
identity explain variation in natural frequencies, which fall between 45-295 Hz with most
species <190 Hz, only partly overlapping bee vibrations. Our bumblebees buzz at 345 Hz,
without changing frequency to match the stamen natural frequency. Our results suggest that
pollen release induced by vibrations at stamen natural frequencies is not key to most buzz-
pollination interactions.
Kazuharu Ohashi1 & Andreas Jürgens2

[email protected]
1University of Tsukuba, Japan
2Technical University Darmstardt, Germany
Three options are better than two: complementary nature of different pollination
modes in Salix caprea
We studied four field populations of a dioecious willow, Salix caprea, which employs
three different pollen vectors, i.e., wind, diurnal bees, and nocturnal moths. By comparing
seed set among six bagging treatments, we found wind pollination was most strongly limited
76
by the distance to the nearest mate, as well as by the directional diversity of nearby mates.
Nocturnal pollination was much less effective than diurnal pollination but significantly
increased total seed set in populations where wind pollination was ineffective. The onset of
flower anthesis peaked at sunset, which may be considered an adaptation to prioritize the
visits by nocturnal moths over pollen wasting bees. Thus, S. caprea could reduce the risk of
reproductive failure by combining the complementary pollination modes, while at the same
time minimizing potential conflicts among them by opening flowers at dusk. The possible
roles of such "adaptive generalization" in floral evolution deserve more attention.
Ola Olsson
[email protected]
Pollen analysis using deep learning – better, stronger, faster
We present a new high throughput, automated method for pollen analysis, based on
deep learning (convolutional neural networks, CNN). We have tested the method in a series
of experiments, and performance of the CNN models is high with up to 98% accuracy for a
model with 83 species. We have also validated the method using samples collected from
bumblebees (which is a more challenging kind of test), and then obtained accuracies up to 8
% for 29 pollen types (species grouped based on how humans can separate them). Our
digital pollen reference library, of fuchsine stained fresh pollen on scanned microscope
slides, currently consists of over 100 plant species, with at least 1000 labelled pollen grains
per species. Our system, if operated by a single person, can readily analyse (from slide
preparation to data) up to 100 samples per day.
Julia Osterman
[email protected]
Institute for Biology, Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Enhancing mason bee populations for sweet cherry pollination
Pollination services are provided by a mix of wild and managed pollinators. The most
prominent managed pollinator, the Western honeybee, still faces high colony winter
mortalities and in addition it might not be the most suitable pollinator across all crops. Sweet
cherry (Prunus avium) is an economically important crop, but the early flowering period often
with inclement weather conditions, is threatening sufficient pollination services by
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honeybees. Mason bees have been shown to be efficient pollinators of sweet cherry flowers,
are easy to manage and are active during lower temperatures compared to honeybees.
However, little is known about how the active management of a mason bee species, Osmia
cornuta, is affecting sweet cherry yield. Our preliminary results show that by providing
artificial nesting material, mason bees are more frequently visiting sweet cherry flowers.
However, we could not detect an effect of their abundance on pollination service provisioning
in sweet cherry orchards.
Kit Prendergast
[email protected]
Curtin University, Australia
Plant-pollinator networks in Australian urban bushland remnants are not structurally

equivalent to those in residential gardens
Urbanisation may disrupt the interactions between pollinators such as bees and the
flowering plants that they visit. We used a network approach, which goes beyond simple
metrics of abundance and species richness, to understand how the structure of plant-
pollinator communities were affected by urbanisation. We compared pollination networks
between seven native vegetation (bushland) remnants and seven residential gardens in the
urbanised southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot. Extinction slope, network robustness
and nestedness were higher for bushland remnants, suggesting these networks had greater
integrity, but if disrupted, more cascading extinctions could occur. Pollinator-level niche
overlap was higher in residential gardens, suggesting greater competition for resources. The
only species-level property that differed between habitats, normalised degree, was higher in
bushland remnants. In conclusion, pollination networks in managed residential gardens are
not structurally equivalent with those in bushland remnants. Removal of remnant native
vegetation for residential development may disrupt the integrity of plant-pollinator
assemblages.
78
Manoj Kaushalya Rathnayake
[email protected]
Floral scent evolution across the penstemons: does scent change with
pollination system?
A classic view of bird and insect pollination is that floral scent plays little role in bird
pollination but is important for insect pollination. However, few studies have directly
measured floral scents across these pollination syndromes. Therefore, we set out to test the
hypotheses that the floral scent bouquets, as an attractive trait to pollinators, reflect their
pollinators. Here we analyse floral scent bouquets of 29 species of the genus Penstemon
that differ in whether they are pollinated by insects (mainly bees) or hummingbirds. Initial
results showed that total scent did not dramatically differ between pollinator syndromes, but
the devil is in the details. Here we tested whether there is a direct association between
individual scent compounds and scent compound classes with pollinator syndromes. Our
results show that floral scent bouquets do not necessarily follow simple predictions for
pollination syndromes and suggest these simple hypotheses may need revisiting.
James Rodger
[email protected]
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Potential impacts of pollinator declines on plant seed production and population

viability
Widespread declines in the abundance and diversity of pollinating animals may

threaten plant diversity and ecosystem function, yet the impact of pollinator decline is not
clear because some plants can produce seeds without pollinators by self-fertilisation and
declines in plant reproduction do not necessarily translate into declines in population size.
We compiled a global dataset quantifying seed production in the presence and absence of
animal pollinators for 1174 animal-pollinated plants to assess the contribution of animal
pollinators to plant seed production. This dataset showed that in the absence of animal
pollinators, a third of flowering plant species would not reproduce by seed at all and half
would have 80% less seed production. In addition, we explore impacts on population growth
rate and population viability during recovery from disturbances (transient dynamics). Despite
considerable impacts of reduced reproduction on transient phase population growth rates,
79
reduced reproduction exacerbates extinction risk more strongly through asymptotic than
transient dynamics.
Katarzyna Roguz & Yuval Sapir

[email protected]
University of Warsaw Botanic Garden, Poland
Plants taking charge: Autonomous self-pollination as response to plants-pollinator

mismatch in Fritillaria persica
Floral colour is a visual cue to pollinators and of great importance in shaping plant-
pollinator interactions. Directional selection creates uniformity of floral colour, but rare cases
of colour variation are important to study the evolution of floral colours. In the geophyte
Fritillaria persica, both cream-greenish and purple floral colour morphs were described. We
tested the hypothesis that existence of both colour morphs is maintained through differential
pollinator spectrum and visitation rate, due to differences in colour perception and nectar
properties (sugar and amino acids). We propose also increased autonomous self-pollination
is response to seasonal mismatch between flowering and pollinator emergence, and/or to
differences in the pollination efficiency, which is hypothesized to vary between colour
morphs.
Sabrina Rondeau & Nigel Raine

[email protected]
University of Guelph, Canada
Quantifying exposure of bumblebee queens to pesticide residues when hibernating in

agricultural soils
In temperate regions, bumblebee (Bombus spp.) queens hibernate underground for

several months, potentially putting them at high risk of exposure to soil contaminants. To
generate field pesticide exposure estimates for overwintering bumblebee queens, we
sampled soils adjacent to agricultural fields, corresponding to likely hibernation sites, from 19
diversified farms and apple orchards throughout Southern Ontario (Canada) in early autumn
2019. Multi-pesticide residue analyses (UPLC-MS/MS) detected pesticide residues in all 36
soil samples: herbicides were the most frequently detected (92% of samples), followed by
insecticides (86%), and fungicides (67%). Residue levels were highest in orchard soil
samples, and our results suggest bumblebee queens hibernating in agricultural areas may
80
be at a high risk of exposure to low-moderate levels of a broad range of pesticide residues in
soil. The exposure estimates generated in our study will be used to design realistic
experiments to investigate the potential effects of such exposure for bumblebees.
Yuval Sapir
[email protected]
Tel Aviv University, Israel
Within-population flower colour variation: beyond pollinator-mediated selection
Flower colour is among the most conspicuous and highly diverse traits in nature.
Most flowering plant populations have uniform floral colours, but a minority exhibit within-
population flower colour variation, either discrete (polymorphic) or continuous. We discuss
the evolutionary drivers that create and maintain within-population flower colour variation.
Colour variation most commonly is maintained by balancing selection through multiple
pollinators, contrasting biotic and abiotic selection regimes, or fluctuating selection. Variation
can be also maintained by heterozygote advantage and frequency-dependent selection.
Neutral processes, or lack of selection, may maintain variation, although this remains largely
untested. We suggest several prospective research directions in the area of flower colour
evolution and propose that such work may provide insight into the evolutionary theory
regarding drivers of variation and its maintenance in nature.
Wendy Semski, Randy Mitchell & Jeff Karron

[email protected]
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA
Individual flowering schedules and floral display size in monkeyflower: a common

garden study
Flowering phenology is crucial to reproductive success. However, most studies

examine singular components of flowering phenology in natural populations, such as date of
onset or flower abundance, and fail to account for individual variation in flowering schedule.
Additionally, studies of among-plant variation in patterns of flower deployment can provide
important insights concerning mating patterns. In this study, we raised plants from 9
populations of Mimulus ringens in a common garden. Flowers in this species last for a single
morning. We recorded the daily floral display for the duration of the flowering period, and
quantified components of flowering phenology, including date of initiation, total abundance,
81
duration, and synchrony. Individual flowering schedules vary widely within and among
populations. Plants that flower early also flower for longer and therefore have greater
fecundity. Within populations, flowering synchrony varies markedly and may influence mate
diversity and effective population size.
Tal Shapira1, Sonja Fischer2, Neal Jeuken2, Frank Schurr2, Moshe Coll1 & Yael
Mandelik1
[email protected]
1The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
2University of Hohenheim, Germany
The combined effects of resource-landscape and herbivory on pollination services in

agro-ecosystems
Distribution of foraging resources across habitats in agricultural landscapes is

expected to shape the activity of ecosystem service providers. However, little is known about
the role of resource-landscape on pollination services and how it is affected by herbivory.
Here we combined empirical and statistical neighbourhood modelling to explore the effect of
flower cover and aphid herbivory on pollination in agricultural landscapes. In each of 25
Mediterranean landscapes, spanning a gradient of land-use intensity, we established a pair
of arrays of potted model plants that were either aphid-infested or aphid-free. In each array,
we recorded insect flower visitor activity and seed-set. Simultaneously, we recorded flower
density 1 km around each array. Neighbourhood analyses revealed a negative (competitive)
effect of flower cover on pollinators activity and seed set of model plants, but this effect was
stronger on aphid-infested than aphid-free plants. Our results highlight the importance of
resource-landscape for mapping pollination services.
Hema Somanathan
[email protected]
Foraging on left-overs: comparative resource use in diurnal and nocturnal bees
Some bees have evolved adaptations for a nocturnal lifestyle, representing a poorly
understood and recent niche. Sustenance within this niche was studied by examining flower-
use in a nocturnal carpenter bee (Xylocopa tranquebarica) in comparison to diurnal
congenerics. Flower observations and body pollen loads indicate that X. tranquebarica is
82
opportunistic on residual resources from day-opening flowers and substantially overlaps with
diurnal bees. The greater pollen load diversity on individual foragers indicates lower floral
constancy in X. tranquebarica compared to diurnal species. Reduced foraging on darker
moon phases suggests constraints despite well-known visual adaptations. The salience of
nocturnal bees as night-time pollinators is not fully understood, however these results
suggest a role in the reproductive assurance of plants with nocturnal and even diurnal
anthesis.
Rachel Spigler
[email protected]
Temple University, USA
Adaptive plasticity of floral display and its limits
Floral longevity, the amount of time a flower remains open and receptive, is thought
to be shaped by selection, with the outcome hinging on the rate and shape of fitness gain
curves balanced by floral maintenance costs. In variable pollination environments, plasticity
of floral longevity in response to pollination could enable plants to respond to shifting gain
curves and thus track shifting optimal longevity. We experimentally demonstrated how
plasticity in floral longevity can be adaptive in a wild biennial plant. Plants under reduced
pollinator visitation had slower rates of pollen accumulation but longer-lived flowers that
ultimately arrived at similar total pollen loads and seed set as plants under high pollinator
visitation. However, we also illustrate a decline in the ability to maintain longer floral lifespans
across the season and costs of delayed fertilization, which together place strong limits to
achieving optimal longevity.
Nicholas Tew
[email protected]
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Nectar supply in gardens: spatial and temporal variation
Residential gardens are a valuable habitat for insect pollinators and cover a
substantial area in aggregate, approximately a fifth to a third of UK cities and 3.5% of
England. We repeatedly surveyed 59 urban gardens in Bristol, UK, to investigate how nectar
supply varies in space and time. We found substantial variation in nectar production among
gardens and only a relatively weak temporal effect, with production peaking in summer.
83
However, despite strong variation among gardens, nectar supply was relatively stable
through time at a landscape scale due to the ‘portfolio effect’, in which fluctuations among
gardens tend to ‘average out’ at aggregated scales. Turnover in species composition among
gardens drives the extremely high flowering plant richness found in urban landscapes and
we also identified important differences the species composition of the nectar supply through
the year. Our results help us develop evidence-based management recommendations for
conserving pollinators in urban areas.
Nicola Tommasi, Paolo Biella, Lorenzo Guzzetti, Julius Vincent Lasway, Henry Njovu &
Andrea Galimberti
[email protected]
University of Milano Bicocca, Italia
Plant-pollinator interactions in sub-Saharan agroecosystems
The global awareness about the pollinator insects decline is enhancing the need for a
deeper comprehension of the effects related to human activities, especially in those areas
facing rapid changes of natural landscapes. In the present study we combined field
observation with GIS-landscape description and DNA-based approaches to analyse how
urban and peri-urban agriculture affect plant-pollinator community composition and
interactions in 26 farms in the district of Arusha, north Tanzania. Our results highlight that
pollinator-plant communities’ composition and interactions are affected by the level of
urbanization around farmland, with fewer insects and higher overlap in the collected
resources in highly urbanized farms. Plant resource density and richness were also found to
positively affect the presence of pollinators and, indirectly, the overall stability of interaction
networks. Overall, we offered new insights for the conservation of pollinator insects in a
country where the awareness about the importance of pollinators in agriculture is starting to
grow.
84
Felipe Torres-Vanegas, Adam S. Hadley, Urs G. Kormann, F. Andrew Jones, Matt G.
Betts & Helene H. Wagner
[email protected]
University of Toronto, Canada
Landscape change reduces pollen quality indirectly by shifting the functional

composition of pollinator communities
Landscape change can reduce plant reproductive success by limiting pollen quality.
These effects may be direct, when landscape change reduces the availability of pollen
donors, or indirect, when decreased pollen quality results from shifts in the composition of
the pollinator community. We quantified the direct, pollen-donor-mediated and indirect,
pollinator-mediated effects of landscape change on pollen quality in Heliconia tortuosa, a
tropical herb pollinated by low- and high-mobility hummingbirds. Although we did not detect
any significant direct, pollen-donor-mediated effects of landscape change on pollen quality,
reductions in forest cover and patch size resulted in functional shifts that filtered out high-
mobility hummingbirds from the pollinator community, thereby reducing pollen quality
indirectly. Our results indicate that pollen quality strongly depends on the functional
composition of the pollinator community. Functional shifts that filter out highly mobile
pollinators reduce the transfer of genetically diverse pollen loads from unrelated plants.
Mario Vallejo-Marin
[email protected]
University of Stirling, Scotland
Bees vs flies: Comparison of non-flight vibrations and implications for buzz

pollination
Buzz pollination, a pollination syndrome involving flowers with specialised

morphology and insects that use vibrations to remove pollen from anthers, is widespread
across angiosperms. The ability to buzz-pollinate is almost entirely restricted to female bees.
Flies, despite being important flower visitors are not usually known to apply vibrations for
pollen removal. Here we compare the non-flight thoracic vibrations produced by different
species of bees (Hymenoptera) and hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) and determine their
capacity to achieve peak acceleration magnitudes previously shown to elicit pollen release
from buzz-pollinated flowers. We discuss hypotheses to explain why flies, and some bees,
do not buzz pollinate.
85
Isabela Vilella-Arnizaut
[email protected]
South Dakota State University, USA
Quantifying plant-pollinator interactions in the Prairie Coteau
Community structure contributes to ecosystem persistence and stability. To

understand the mechanisms underlying pollination and community stability in a human
influenced landscape, a reliable understanding of the interaction patterns between plants and
pollinators in disturbed landscapes is needed. The Northern Great Plains still retain tracts of
remnant northern tall grass prairie habitat within a matrix of varying land-uses. We used a
network-based approach to quantify how prairie attributes and landscape heterogeneity
influence plant-pollinator community structure. We also quantified pollinator diversity,
abundance, and floral diversity to assess the functional role of prairie attributes and the
surrounding landscape on the plant-pollinator community. We found that the amount of local
plant sugar and increased proportions of certain land-uses contribute to pollinator diversity
that in turn influences the structure of interactions between plants and pollinators.
Understanding the factors contributing to plant-pollinator networks can benefit management
decisions resulting in resilient plant-pollinator communities and conserve the stability of
pollination services.
Gemma N. Villagomez1, Alexander Keller2, Claus Rasmussen3 & Sara D. Leonhardt1,4

[email protected]
1University
of Würzburg, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, 97074
Würzburg, Germany
2University
of Würzburg, CCTB - Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Molecular Ecology
Group, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
3Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, 8830 Tjele, Denmark
4Technical University of Munich, Department of Ecology and Ecosystem management, Plant-Insect-
Interactions Group, 85354 Freising, Germany
Resource intake of stingless bee colonies in a tropical ecosystem in Ecuador
Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) represent one major pollinator group in tropical
forests. Tropical forests are undergoing extreme habitat changes and losses, which affect
floral communities and put at risk biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, such as
pollination provided by stingless bees. Even though, stingless bees pollinate a large
spectrum of tropical plant species, we often know little about their foraging behaviour and
resource intake. A better understanding of species-specific differences in resource intake is
86
essential for unravelling their role in tropical plant-pollinator interaction networks, and to
improve conservation programs aimed at supporting these pollinators in altered ecosystems.
Here we show how foraging strategy (group or solitary) and percentage of collected resin can
influence the foraging activity, pollen and nectar intake, and richness of floral sources visited
(obtained from collected pollen via DNA-metabarcoding) by eleven stingless bee colonies
(seven different species) in two nature reserves in the Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador.
Sajesh Vijayan
[email protected]
To leave or to stay? Answers from migratory waggle dances in Apis dorsata
Honeybees use waggle dances to transfer spatial information about resource

availability to hive-mates. Previous studies have shown that nest movement in artificially
induced swarms are preceded by waggle dances in which waggle runs show high variation in
the distance signalled and have been termed as migratory dances. Earlier studies on this
behaviour have employed artificially generated swarms during which colonies had no choice
but to migrate immediately. We revisit migration by decoding dances in colonies of the giant
honeybee Apis dorsata across two Indian habitats. We show here that ‘migratory dances’ are
not a sufficient indicator of ensuing migration. We conclude that migratory dances may serve
more than one purpose and may be part of a larger response of honeybee colonies towards
environmental stress, and presence of floral resources all year round, such as in urban green
spaces, can potentially delay migration in A. dorsata.
Jamie Wildman
[email protected]
University of Northampton, United Kingdom
Reintroducing Carterocephalus palaemon to England: using the legacy of a locally

extinct butterfly as a (morpho)metric of future success
Reintroduced to Rockingham Forest in 2018 as part of the Butterfly Conservation-led

Back from the Brink project ‘Roots of Rockingham’, the chequered skipper butterfly
Carterocephalus palaemon has returned to its former English stronghold in
Northamptonshire for the first time in 42 years after the translocation of adult stock from
Belgium. Causes of the native English butterfly’s decline and eventual extirpation in 1976 are
87
poorly understood however and researching the history and ecology of a locally extinct
species that existed exclusively in a pre-digital age is challenging. An interdisciplinary
approach to data collection is required to assess how abundance and distribution was
influenced by environmental factors over centuries. Novel methods are utilised, including
analysis of the external morphology of generations of digitally catalogued specimens using
landmarking to identify variations in taxonomic features between (meta)populations. Findings
will explain why local extinction occurred and help to predict the likelihood of reestablishment
in England.
See you in 2021

th
for the 35 annual
SCAPE meeting!
88

SCAPE2020 Programme and Abstracts FINAL

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SCAPE 2020

34th Annual Meeting

Stay safe and stay healthy,

Link for day 1: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/2e66113ef2f543c585b55d76e7bd1c04

Link for day 2: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/3707c1b50945429eb2b929e7d20adc83

Link for day 3: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/68fffc6059ab4052af67c54a59bea4e5

The programme of talks is presented below. Talk types are:

• Presentations will be uploaded in advance, however speakers will have control

Prizes for student poster and presentations

If you are an undergraduate, Master’s or doctoral student you are eligible to be

10.15 – Comfort break

12.05 – Comfort break

13.40 – Lunch break

15.40 – Comfort break

17.10 – Comfort break

18.25 – Comfort break

10.00 – Comfort break

10.45 – Comfort break

12.15 – Lunch break

14.15 – Comfort break

15.30 – Comfort break

16.45 – Comfort break

Timing Ty Name Title Ref

10.00 - 10.15 Comfort break

11.15 – Comfort break

12.45 – Lunch break

15.00 – Comfort break

16.45 – Comfort break

Pau Capera Aragones

Muhammad Amjad Bashir

Tara Dirilgen, Saoirse R. Tracy & Dara A. Stanley

Sajad Hussain Mir & Palatty Allesh Sinu

Tania P. Palacios, Pedro M. Tognetti, Natacha P. Chacoff & Mariano Devoto

Adara Pardo & Paulo A.V. Borges

Jenna M. Walters & Rufus Isaacs

Leticia De Santis & Mario Balzan

Tom Sloan, Jeff Ollerton & Gavin Ballantyne

Florian Straub & Markus Birkenbach

Linzi Jay Thompson

Theresia Widhalm, Veronica Hederström & Yann Clough

Christine Coppinger & Dara A. Stanley

Pactli F. Ortega González

Zubair Ahmad Rather

Gayathri Venkatraman & Shivani Krishna

Understanding the risks to human well-being from pollinator decline

Pollination accuracy explains the evolution of floral movements

The theory of adaptive accuracy relates within-population variation in (multivariate)

Mountains influence species distribution through differing climate variables

How many animal-pollinated plants are nectar-producing?

Marta Barberis, G. Bogo, G. Ghisbain, S. Flaminio, M. Alessandrini & M. Galloni

The main alimentary resource offered by the ecotonal plant Buglossoides

Floral signals involved in host finding by nectar-foraging social wasps

How does land-use affect the mutualistic outcomes of bee-plant interactions?

Juan José Domínguez-Delgado, Jesús Picazo-Aragonés, Javier López-Jurado, Anass

Does autopolyploidy shape plant-pollinator interactions?

Recent studies in mass-flowering oilseed crops show that mass-flowering crops

Patterns of floral scent composition in species providing resin pollinator rewards

Rebecca J. Höfer, Manfred Ayasse & Jonas Kuppler

Ana Clara Ibañez, Marcela Moré & Andrea A. Cocucci