Species-specific differences in bumblebee worker body size between different elevations: Implications for pollinator community structure under climate change

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26786/1920-7603(2024)779

Keywords:

Bombus, body size, climate change, elevation gradient, functional traits, rising temperatures

Abstract

Pollinator populations face growing threats from global climate change, particularly in alpine environments with rapidly rising temperatures. Understanding how bumblebees, critical alpine pollinators, respond to these temperature changes is therefore an important goal. Predicting species’ responses to climate change requires several different approaches, one of which is to compare processes at different elevations, which experience different temperature regimes. Bumblebee body size is linked to fitness through its influence on nutritional requirements and foraging capacity. It is also a highly plastic trait that depends on ecological factors such as temperature. Thus, understanding how body size varies at different elevations may help predict bumblebee fitness under climate change. We collected bumblebee workers from five species in a single growing season, at two distinct elevations in the Swiss Alps. Our study aimed to examine whether body size responses differed among species and across functional traits related to foraging and nesting. Larger body size is thought to confer an advantage under cold conditions; we therefore expected greater body size with elevation, but with species-specific relationships. Contrary to our expectation, not all species were larger at high elevations. Specifically, while two species were significantly larger at high elevation, one (Bombus terrestris) was significantly smaller at high elevation, and two showed no size differences with elevation. Additionally, interspecific variation in body size was greater at low elevations. This suggests a divergence of body size with warming, although local factors may also play a role in shaping functional traits.

References

Aguirre-Gutiérrez J, Kissling DW, Carvalheiro LG, Wallis De Vries MF, Franzén M, Biesmeijer JC (2016) Functional traits help to explain half-century long shifts in pollinator distributions. Scientific Reports 6:24451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05248-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24451

Aldridge G, Inouye DW, Forrest JRK, Barr WA, Miller-Rushing AJ (2011) Emergence of a mid-season period of low floral resources in a montane meadow ecosystem associated with climate change: Seasonal low in montane flowering. Journal of Ecology 99:905–913. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01826.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01826.x

Austin MW, Dunlap AS (2019) Intraspecific variation in worker body size makes North American bumble bees (Bombus spp.) less susceptible to decline. The American Naturalist, 194: 381-394. https://doi.org/10.1086/704280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/704280

Austin MW, Tripodi AD, Strange JP, Dunlap AS (2022). Bumble bees exhibit body size clines across an urban gradient despite low genetic differentiation. Scientific Reports, 12: 4166. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08093-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08093-4

Barthell K, Resasco J (2023) Bumble bee niche overlap along an elevation gradient: how traits can inform novel competitive pressures under climate change. PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2958420/v1] DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2958420/v1

Bartomeus I, Ascher JS, Wagner D, Danforth BN, Colla S, Kornbluth S, Winfree R (2011) Climate-associated phenological advances in bee pollinators and bee-pollinated plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108:20645–20649. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115559108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1115559108

Brunet J, Van Etten ML (2019) The Response of Floral Traits Associated with Pollinator Attraction to Environmental Changes Expected under Anthropogenic Climate Change in High-Altitude Habitats. International Journal of Plant Sciences 180:954–964. https://doi.org/10.1086/705591 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/705591

CaraDonna PJ, Petry WK, Brennan RM, Cunningham JL, Bronstein JL, Waser NM, Sanders NJ (2017) Interaction rewiring and the rapid turnover of plant–pollinator networks Jordan F (ed). Ecology Letters 20:385–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12740 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12740

Cane, J (1987) Estimation of bee size using intertegular span (Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 60:145-147

Couvillon MJ, Dornhaus A (2010) Small worker bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) are hardier against starvation than their larger sisters. Insectes Sociaux 57:193–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-010-0064-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-010-0064-7

Cueva Del Castillo R, Sanabria‐Urbán S, Serrano‐Meneses MA (2015) Trade‐offs in the evolution of bumblebee colony and body size: a comparative analysis. Ecology and Evolution 5:3914–3926. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1659 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1659

Fitzgerald JL, Ogilvie JE, CaraDonna PJ (2022) Ecological drivers and consequences of bumble bee body size variation. Environmental Entomology 51:1055–1068. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvac093 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvac093

González‐Tokman D, Córdoba‐Aguilar A, Dáttilo W, Lira‐Noriega A, Sánchez‐Guillén RA, Villalobos F (2020) Insect responses to heat: physiological mechanisms, evolution and ecological implications in a warming world. Biological Reviews 95:802–821. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12588 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12588

Goulson D, Sparrow KR (2009) “Evidence for competition between honeybees and bumblebees; effects on bumblebee worker size”, Journal of insect conservation, 13:177-181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9140-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-008-9140-y

Hagen M, Dupont YL (2013) Inter-tegular span and head width as estimators of fresh and dry body mass in bumblebees (Bombus spp.). Insectes Sociaux 60:251–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-013-0290-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-013-0290-x

Hegland SJ, Nielsen A, Lázaro A, Bjerknes A-L, Totland Ø (2009) How does climate warming affect plant-pollinator interactions? Ecology Letters 12:184–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01269.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01269.x

Herrmann JD, Haddad NM, Levey DJ (2018) Mean body size predicts colony performance in the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens). Ecological Entomology 43:458–462. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12517 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12517

Inouye DW (2020) Effects of climate change on alpine plants and their pollinators. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1469:26–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14104

Maihoff F, Friess N, Hoiss B, Schmid‐Egger C, Kerner J, Neumayer J, Hopfenmüller S, Bässler C, Müller J, Classen A (2023) Smaller, more diverse and on the way to the top: Rapid community shifts of montane wild bees within an extraordinary hot decade. Diversity and Distributions 29:272–288. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13658 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13658

Maurer K, Weyand A, Fischer M, Stöcklin J (2006) Old cultural traditions, in addition to land use and topography, are shaping plant diversity of grasslands in the Alps. Biological Conservation 130:438–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.005

McCabe LM, Cobb NS, Butterfield BJ (2019) Environmental filtering of body size and darker coloration in pollinator communities indicate thermal restrictions on bees, but not flies, at high elevations. PeerJ 7:e7867. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7867 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7867

Memmott J, Craze PG, Waser NM, Price MV (2007) Global warming and the disruption of plant-pollinator interactions. Ecology Letters 10:710–717. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01061.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01061.x

Miller-Struttmann NE, Geib JC, Franklin JD, Kevan PG, Holdo RM, Ebert-May D, Lynn AM, Kettenbach JA, Hedrick E, Galen C (2015) Functional mismatch in a bumble bee pollination mutualism under climate change. Science 349:1541–1544. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab0868 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aab0868

Morales CL, Arbetman MP, Cameron SA, Aizen MA (2013) Rapid ecological replacement of a native bumble bee by invasive species. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11:529–534. https://doi.org/10.1890/120321 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/120321

Nagamitsu T, Kenta T, Inari N, Kato E, Hiura T (2007) Abundance, body size, and morphology of bumblebees in an area where an exotic species, Bombus terrestris, has colonized in Japan. Ecological Research 22:331–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0029-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0029-5

Noroozi J, Talebi A, Doostmohammadi M, Rumpf SB, Linder HP, Schneeweiss GM (2018) Hotspots within a global biodiversity hotspot - areas of endemism are associated with high mountain ranges. Scientific Reports 8:10345. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28504-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28504-9

Ogilvie JE, Griffin SR, Gezon ZJ, Inouye BD, Underwood N, Inouye DW, Irwin RE (2017) Interannual bumble bee abundance is driven by indirect climate effects on floral resource phenology. Ecology Letters 20:1507–1515. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12854 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12854

Osorio-Canadas, S., Flores-Hernández, N., Valiente-Banuet, A. (2022). Changes in bee functional traits at community and interspecific levels along an elevation gradient in a Mexical-type scrubland. Oecologia 200:145-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05248-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05248-y

Peat J, Darvill B, Ellis J, Goulson D (2005). Effects of climate on intra‐and interspecific size variation in bumble‐bees. Functional Ecology, 19:145-151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0269-8463.2005.00946.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0269-8463.2005.00946.x

Pradervand J-N, Pellissier L, Randin CF, Guisan A (2014) Functional homogenization of bumblebee communities in alpine landscapes under projected climate change. Climate Change Responses 1:1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40665-014-0001-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40665-014-0001-5

R Core Team (2023) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. [online] URL: https://www.R-project.org/

Rasmont P, Coppee A, Michez D, De Meulemeester T (2008) An overview of the Bombus terrestris (L. 1758) subspecies (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N.S.) 44:243–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2008.10697559 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00379271.2008.10697559

Rasmont P, Ghisbain T, Terzo M (2021) Bumblebees of Europe and neighbouring regions, 3rd edn. NAP Editions, Verrières-le-Buisson, France.

Richman SK, Levine JM, Stefan L, Johnson CA (2020) Asynchronous range shifts drive alpine plant–pollinator interactions and reduce plant fitness. Global Change Biology 26:3052–3064. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15041 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15041

Rubalcaba JG, Olalla‐Tárraga MÁ (2020) The biogeography of thermal risk for terrestrial ectotherms: Scaling of thermal tolerance with body size and latitude. Journal of Animal Ecology 89:1277–1285. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13181 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13181

Scaven VL, Rafferty NE (2013) Physiological effects of climate warming on flowering plants and insect pollinators and potential consequences for their interactions. Current Zoology 59:418–426. https://doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/59.3.418 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/59.3.418

Sladen FWL (1912) The humble-bee. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Spaethe J, Weidenmüller A (2002) Size variation and foraging rate in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Insectes Sociaux 49:142–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8293-z DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-002-8293-z

Tommasi N, Pioltelli E, Biella P, Labra M, Casiraghi M, Galiberti A (2022). Effect of urbanization and its environmental stressors on the intraspecific variation of flight functional traits in two bumblebee species. Oecologica 199: 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05184-x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-022-05184-x

Totland Ø (1993) Pollination in alpine Norway: flowering phenology, insect visitors, and visitation rates in two plant communities. Canadian Journal of Botany 71:1072–1079. https://doi.org/10.1139/b93-124 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/b93-124

Zaragoza‐Trello C, Vilà M, Botías C, Bartomeus I (2021) Interactions among global change pressures act in a non‐additive way on bumblebee individuals and colonies. Functional Ecology 35:420–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13703 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13703

Published

2024-06-12

How to Cite

Massa, C., Hille Ris Lambers, J., & Richman, S. K. (2024). Species-specific differences in bumblebee worker body size between different elevations: Implications for pollinator community structure under climate change. Journal of Pollination Ecology, 36, 112–121. https://doi.org/10.26786/1920-7603(2024)779

Issue

Section

Short Communications

Similar Articles

<< < 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.