The bee community and its relationship to canola seed production in homogenous agricultural areas

by Sidia Witter, Betina Blochtein, Patrícia Nunes-Silva, Flavia Pereira Tirelli, Bruno Brito
Lisboa, Carolina Bremm & Rosane Lanzer

One of the canola fields studied in Guarani
das Missões, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Canola crop productivity is benefited by bee pollination and it has been shown that bee communities can be affected by landscape composition. The aim of this study was to analyse the bee community and its relationship to canola seed production in agricultural areas. The density, abundance and richness of floral visitors of Brassica napus cultivar Hyola 61 in six commercial fields in southern Brazil were studied, and their relationships with seed production and the ratio of semi-natural, forested and agricultural areas surrounding the crops were examined. It was observed that canola fields of southern Brazil are surrounded by a homogeneous landscape dominated by agricultural areas. The survey of bees detected a low abundance and richness of native bees in contrast to the high abundance of honey bees. 

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Read the scientific publication in JPE.