title: Where is the UK's pollinator biodiversity? The importance of urban areas for flower-visiting insects.
abstract: Insect pollinators provide a crucial ecosystem service, but are under threat. Urban areas could be important for pollinators, though their value relative to other habitats is poorly known. We compared pollinator communities using quantified flower-visitation networks in 36 sites (each 1 km(2)) in three landscapes: urban, farmland and nature reserves. Overall, flower-visitor abundance and species richness did not differ significantly between the three landscape types. Bee abundance did not differ between landscapes, but bee species richness was higher in urban areas than farmland. Hoverfly abundance was higher in farmland and nature reserves than urban sites, but species richness did not differ significantly. While urban pollinator assemblages were more homogeneous across space than those in farmland or nature reserves, there was no significant difference in the numbers of rarer species between the three landscapes. Network-level specialization was higher in farmland than urban sites. Relative to other habitats, urban visitors foraged from a greater number of plant species (higher generality) but also visited a lower proportion of available plant species (higher specialization), both possibly driven by higher urban plant richness. Urban areas are growing, and improving their value for pollinators should be part of any national strategy to conserve and restore pollinators.
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UJ, UK k.baldock@bristol.ac.uk.
authors: Katherine C R
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6849-8747
authors: KC
authors: Baldock
authors: School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
authors: Mark A
authors: MA
authors: Goddard
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.
authors: Damien M
authors: DM
authors: Hicks
authors: School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors: William E
authors: WE
authors: Kunin
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK.
authors: Nadine
authors: N
authors: Mitschunas
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
authors: Lynne M
authors: LM
authors: Osgathorpe
authors: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK.
authors: Simon G
authors: SG
authors: Potts
authors: School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors: Kirsty M
authors: KM
authors: Robertson
authors: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AR, UK.
authors: Anna V
authors: AV
authors: Scott
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.
authors: Graham N
authors: GN
authors: Stone
authors: Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
authors: Ian P
authors: IP
authors: Vaughan
authors: School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK Cabot Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UJ, UK.
authors: Jane
authors: J
authors: Memmott
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology; D044822:Biodiversity; D002947:Cities; D004175:Diptera / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000502:physiology; D054817:Pollination / Q000502:physiology*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: networks; pollinators; urban