Aspects and consequences of competition; The effects of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on wild bee populations

Suurd, Tamara (2020) Aspects and consequences of competition; The effects of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on wild bee populations. Bachelor's Thesis, Biology.

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Abstract

Pollinator populations have been experiencing increasing pressures in recent years, leading to population declines. Decreases in abundance of wild bee and honey bee populations have sparked the interest in conserving and protecting pollinators. In addition to the existing danger of diseases, pesticides, parasites, and predators, the introduction of honey bees has been thought to threaten native pollinators. This leads to the question "How do honey bees (Apis mellifera) affect native bee populations?". To answer this question, different aspects of competition and their consequences have been discussed, including inter- and intraspecific interactions resource overlap and harvesting, visitation rates, aggressive interactions, and resource partitioning. Furthermore, it has been discussed whether or not the effects of honey bees differ depending on whether they were introduced within or outside of their natural distribution. Most competitive interactions between honey bees and native pollinator populations result in negative or no impacts on the native species. It seems that impact of honey bees introduced outside of their natural distribution are mainly negative, whereas introduction within the natural distribution seems to mainly have no impact. Aggressive interactions are mainly interspecific, but occur as intraspecific as well. Resource partitioning could limit competition between honey bees and wild populations, however, this may only be possible in rich, heterogeneous sites.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Hammers, M.
Degree programme:	Biology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	02 Jun 2020 10:37
Last Modified:	02 Jun 2020 10:37
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/21986

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