Impact of cucurbit crop management techniques on the foraging behavior of honeybees and hoverflies in Morogoro, Tanzania

IF 3.4 Q1 Agricultural and Biological Sciences

BMC Evolutionary Biology Pub Date : 2024-01-17 DOI:10.1186/s12862-024-02202-9

Elvillah William Rweyemamu, Maulid Walad Mwatawala, George Muhamba Tryphone, Marc De Meyer, Sija Kabota, Patroba Masatu Bwire

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Poor agricultural practices have drastically threatened insect pollinators’ biodiversity. Little is known in Tanzania about how different agricultural practices affect pollinators’ foraging behavior. This study investigated the effects of the agroecological zone, season, cucurbit species and management practices on visitation frequency, visitation rate and time spent on cucurbit flowers by five pollinator species viz. Apis mellifera, Eristalinus megacephalus, Mesembrius caffer, Paragus borbonicus and Toxomerus floralis. The experiment was designed as a 5 × 3 × 3 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. GAMOUR-Agroecology was tested against conventional practices and untreated control. This study revealed significant effects of agroecological zone × season × cucurbit species × management practice on pollinators’ visitation frequency (p = 0.007) and time spent on flowers (p = 0.005). Also, agroecological zone × season × cucurbit species × pollinator species significantly (p < 0.0001) affected pollinators’ visitation frequency. Agroecological zones × season × cucurbit species × cucurbits management practices × pollinators significantly (p = 0.001) affected pollinators’ visitation rate. Apis mellifera was the most frequent visitor in Cucurbita moschata plots treated with GAMOUR- Agroecology in the plateau zone, also, visited higher number of Cucumis sativus plots under GAMOUR-Agroecology practices in the mountainous zone during the October–November season. Furthermore, it has been found that pollinators spent much in cucurbit flowers on plots with GAMOUR-Agroecology practices and control. Pollinators’ foraging behavior were enhanced by GAMOUR-Agroecology practices. Therefore, this study recommended that cucurbit growers should consider management practices that positively influence pollinator foraging activities for sustainable cucurbit production.

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葫芦科作物管理技术对坦桑尼亚莫罗戈罗蜜蜂和食蚜蝇觅食行为的影响

不良的农业生产方式严重威胁了昆虫授粉者的生物多样性。在坦桑尼亚，人们对不同的农业生产方式如何影响传粉昆虫的觅食行为知之甚少。本研究调查了农业生态区、季节、葫芦物种和管理方法对五种授粉昆虫（即蜜蜂、巨型蚜虫、中蚜虫、花叶蚜虫和花叶病毒）的访问频率、访问率和在葫芦花上花费的时间的影响。实验采用 5 × 3 × 3 × 2 × 2 的因子排列，随机完全区组设计（RCBD），四次重复。GAMOUR 生态农业与传统做法和未处理对照进行了对比试验。该研究表明，农业生态区×季节×葫芦科植物种类×管理方法对传粉昆虫的访问频率（p = 0.007）和在花朵上花费的时间（p = 0.005）有明显影响。此外，农业生态区×季节×葫芦科植物种类×传粉昆虫种类对传粉昆虫的访问频率也有显著影响（p < 0.0001）。农业生态区×季节×葫芦科植物物种×葫芦科植物管理方法×传粉昆虫对传粉昆虫的访问率有显著影响（p = 0.001）。在高原区采用 GAMOUR- Agroecology 方法的 Cucurbita moschata 地块中，Apis mellifera 是最常光顾的传粉昆虫；在山区采用 GAMOUR- Agroecology 方法的 Cucumis sativus 地块中，Apis mellifera 在 10-11 月份光顾的次数也较多。此外，研究还发现，传粉昆虫在采用 GAMOUR 生态农业措施的地块和对照地块的葫芦科植物花朵上逗留的时间更长。GAMOUR 生态农业措施增强了传粉昆虫的觅食行为。因此，本研究建议葫芦种植者应考虑采取能积极影响传粉昆虫觅食活动的管理措施，以实现葫芦的可持续生产。

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来源期刊

BMC Evolutionary Biology 生物-进化生物学

CiteScore

5.80

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： BMC Evolutionary Biology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of molecular and non-molecular evolution of all organisms, as well as phylogenetics and palaeontology.