Impact of introduced honey bees on native pollination interactions of the endemic Echium wildpretii (Boraginaceae) on Tenerife, Canary Islands

• Published in: Biological conservation Vol. 118; no. 3; pp. 301 - 311
• Main Authors: Dupont, Yoko L., Hansen, Dennis M., Valido, Alfredo, Olesen, Jens M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2004; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Apidae; Apis mellifera; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Boraginaceae; Conservation; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Disruption of native mutualisms; Echium wildpretii; Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Interspecific competition; Atlantic Ocean Islands; Canary Islands; Canary Is; Apis mellifera; Interspecific competition; Disruption of native mutualisms; Conservation; Endemic species; Insecta; Apidae; Mutualism; Apoidea; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Native species; Aculeata; Introduced species; Social insect; Boraginaceae; Pollination; Echium; Animal plant relation; Arthropoda; Spermatophyta; Hymenoptera; Invertebrata; Environmental protection; Interspecific relation
• ISSN: 0006-3207; 1873-2917
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2003.09.010

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of introduced honey bees ( Apis mellifera) on native pollination interactions of Echium wildpretii ssp. wildpretii in the sub-alpine desert of Tenerife. We selected two study populations, one dominated by honey bees, while the other was visited by many native insects. During peak activity period of insects, nectar was nearly completely depleted in flowers of the first, but not the latter population. Thus, a high abundance of honey bees may have suppressed visitation by native animals due to exploitative competition. Honey bees stayed longer and visited more flowers on the same inflorescence than native bees, thus potentially promoting self-pollination of the plants. Level of seed set and viability was similar in the two study populations. However, we cannot rule out long-term changes in genetic population structure due to changes in gene-flow patterns caused by foraging behaviour of honey bees vs. native flower-visitors.