Extensive loss of forage diversity in social bees owing to flower constancy in simulated environments

Abstract

Many bees visit just one flower species during a foraging trip, i.e. they show flower constancy. Flower constancy is important for plant reproduction but it could lead to an unbalanced diet, especially in biodiversity-depleted landscapes. It is assumed that flower constancy does not reduce dietary diversity in social bees, such as honeybees or bumblebees, but this has not yet been tested. We used computer simulations to investigate the effects of flower constancy on colony diet in plant species-rich and species-poor landscapes. We also explored if communication about food sources, which is used by many social bees, further reduces forage diversity. Our simulations reveal an extensive loss of forage diversity owing to flower constancy in both species-rich and species-poor environments. Small flower-constant colonies often discovered only 30–50% of all available plant species, thereby increasing the risk of nutritional deficiencies. Communication often interacted with flower constancy to reduce forage diversity further. Finally, we found that food source clustering, but not habitat fragmentation impaired dietary diversity. These findings highlight the nutritional challenges flower-constant bees face in different landscapes and they can aid in the design of measures to increase forage diversity and improve bee nutrition in human-modified landscapes.