The difference in pollen harvest between Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in a Tibetan alpine meadow  

作　　者：HU Lei WU Xin-wei 

机构地区：[1]Department of Ecology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University

出　　处：《Journal of Mountain Science》2019年第7期1598-1605,共8页山地科学学报（英文）

基　　金：financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470482);the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

摘　　要：To explore the difference in pollen harvest between the western honey bee Apis mellifera and a native eastern honey bee A.cerana in the Zoige alpine meadows in the northeastern part of the QinghaiTibetan Plateau,we investigated species diversity of the harvested pollen and the amount of harvested pollen per bee for both species,and calculated the niche overlap(in terms of similarity in harvested pollen)between the two bee species during the flowering season from June to August 2016.Results showed that the species diversity of the harvested pollen was indistinguishable between the two bee species.Nevertheless,A.mellifera carried more(although not significant)pollens per bee than A.cerana.Moreover,pollen composition differed between the two bee species:A.mellifera mainly foraged on Anemone rivularis,Saussurea nigrescens and Anemone trullifolia,while A.cerana foraged on Anemone rivularis,Stellera chamaejasme,and Pedicularis longiflora.Consistently,the niche overlap between the two honeybee species was particularly small in several observations.Our results indicate a niche separation in pollen resource between the two honeybee species in a Tibetan alpine meadow.To explore the difference in pollen harvest between the western honey bee Apis mellifera and a native eastern honey bee A. cerana in the Zoige alpine meadows in the northeastern part of the QinghaiTibetan Plateau, we investigated species diversity of the harvested pollen and the amount of harvested pollen per bee for both species, and calculated the niche overlap(in terms of similarity in harvested pollen) between the two bee species during the flowering season from June to August 2016. Results showed that the species diversity of the harvested pollen was indistinguishable between the two bee species. Nevertheless, A. mellifera carried more(although not significant) pollens per bee than A.cerana. Moreover, pollen composition differed between the two bee species: A. mellifera mainly foraged on Anemone rivularis, Saussurea nigrescens and Anemone trullifolia, while A. cerana foraged on Anemone rivularis, Stellera chamaejasme, and Pedicularis longiflora. Consistently, the niche overlap between the two honeybee species was particularly small in several observations. Our results indicate a niche separation in pollen resource between the two honeybee species in a Tibetan alpine meadow.

关 键 词：APICULTURE INTRODUCED BEES NICHE separation POLLEN richness Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Alpine MEADOW 

分 类 号：P[天文地球]