Effects of urban horticulture on insect pollinator community structure in the central Arizona-Phoenix area
Author(s):
- Nancy McIntyre, Texas Tech University
Abstract:
Insects that pollinate flowering plants are often considered "keystone species," animals that play extremely important roles in ecosystem functioning such that their absence would have more widespread and far-reaching effects than their abundance alone would indicate. For example, the absence of pollinating insects would translate to a severe reduction in plant reproduction, which would in turn affect not only the plants but also seed-eating animals, herbivorous animals, predators of the herbivores, and so on in a trophic cascade. Such a scenario would impact not only wildlife but also human populations because insects pollinate the majority of human food-plants. While the importance of these relationships is acknowledged, surprisingly, little is known about how insect pollinator communities are affected by environmental changes, such as global climate change or urban development. There has recently been a call for research on insect pollinator communities, citing a pressing need to obtain baseline information in the face of probable future environmental changes.
The Sonoran Desert has one of the most diverse insect communities in the world (particularly for members of the Order Hymenoptera [bees, wasps, and ants], which perform the lion's share of pollination duties for both native and crop plants). This community may be threatened from the presence of the exotic honeybee and from habitat alteration in the form of urban development. We propose to conduct a pilot study to examine how the pollinator community differs under different forms of urban land use in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
We have three research questions: (1) How does the ratio of native species to the exotic honeybee differ among natural desert, urban desert remnants, and residential areas that also have flowering plants? (2) How does insect pollinator community structure (richness and abundance) differ among natural desert, urban desert remnants, and residential areas? and (3) How does insect pollinator community structure differ with different residential horticultural practices (xeriscaping with native plants vs. watered lawns with exotic species)?
Keywords:
Temporal Coverage:
1999-04-11Geographic Coverage:
Geographic Description: The Phoenix Metropolitan area is located at the Northern edge of the Sonoran DesertBounding Coordinates:
Longitude:-112.388299 to -111.494458
Latitude:33.657253 to 33.323395
Contact:
Information Manager, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University,POB 875402,TEMPE
caplter.data@asu.edu
Methods used in producing this dataset: Show
Data Files (4) :
Tabular: 26_samples_1.csv
Description: insect count in traps
Column | Description | Type | Units |
---|---|---|---|
sample_id | arbitrary unique identifier for each
sample |
integer | |
site_id | Identification assigned to individual
sites |
string | |
siteParallel | Site Parallel |
integer |
Enumeration:
|
samplingDate | Date of sampling |
string | |
samplingMonth | Month of sampling |
integer |
Enumeration:
|
samplingYear | Sampling year |
integer | nominalYear |
type | Landscape type |
string |
Enumeration:
|
color | Trap color |
string |
Enumeration:
|
species_id | Abbreviation of species' names |
integer | |
number_individuals | Number of individuals per species |
integer | number |
Tabular: 26_sites_1.csv
Description: sites at which traps were placed
Column | Description | Type | Units |
---|---|---|---|
site_id | Site identification |
string | |
SITENAME | Site name |
string | |
type | Landscape type |
string |
Enumeration:
|
typeLong | NO METADATA PROVIDED |
string |
Tabular: 26_taxonlist_1.csv
Description: lookup table for taxon information
Column | Description | Type | Units |
---|---|---|---|
species_id | Internal Identification |
integer | |
date | Sampling date |
string | nominalYear |
Family | Taxonomic Family name |
string | |
Genus | Taxonomic genus name |
string | |
species | Species name |
string | |
Overlap | Listing of overlap |
string | |
Guild | Insect species guild |
string | |
pollinator | Is the species a pollinator or not |
string |
Enumeration:
|
ASU_ITIS_ID | Internal Id code |
integer |
Tabular: 26_site_description_1.csv
Description: additional information about the sites
Column | Description | Type | Units |
---|---|---|---|
site_id | Site ID |
string | |
DATE | Date of sampling |
datetime | Format: MM/DD/YYYY |
BARE | percent Bare ground |
float | dimensionless |
GRAVEL | Percent of gravel |
float | dimensionless |
MESIC | percent Mesic landscaping |
float | dimensionless |
OTHER | percent Miscellaneous Landscapes |
float | dimensionless |
POOL | Percent area pool takes up |
float | dimensionless |
POND | Percent area pond takes up |
float | dimensionless |
CACTUS | Cactus count |
float | dimensionless |
NTREES | native trees |
float | dimensionless |
ETREES | exotic trees |
float | dimensionless |
SHRUBS | Shrub count |
integer | dimensionless |
NSHRUBS | native shrubs |
integer | dimensionless |
ESHRUBS | exotic shrubs |
integer | dimensionless |
HERBS | Herb count |
integer | dimensionless |
FLOWERS | Flower count |
float | dimensionless |