Abstract
Urban areas consist of wide expanses of impervious surfaces which are known to negatively affect insect biodiversity in general, but green spaces within cities have the potential to provide necessary habitat and foraging resources. Although, communal gardens were primarily intended to provide fresh, regional food to denizens, these green islands also host a surprisingly high number of wild bee species.
The gardens were characterized based on structural elements such as flower frequency, the relative percentage of lawn, trees, shrubs, planted crops and infrastructure (e.g. seating possibilities or garden houses). Further, the effects of different landscape structures surrounding the gardens and distance to the city center were analyzed on the total wild bee species richness and functional traits. Focusing on these putative influencing factors, statistical analyses calculating random decision forests along with generalized linear mixed models were applied. With 113 observed wild bee species, communal gardens provide habitat for a quarter of all known species in Vienna. In conclusion, results revealed that only elements within the gardens had an effect on species richness, with flower frequency as the major positive driver. The examined communal gardens promote and conserve wild bees independent from the location within the city or garden size. Furthermore, these green patches are important sanctuaries, hosting rare and threatened species as well as remarkably special wild bee communities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahrné K, Bengtsson J, Elmqvist T (2009) Bumble Bees (Bombus spp) along a Gradient of Increasing Urbanization. PLoS One 4:e5574. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005574
Alaimo K, Reischl TM, Allen JO (2010) Community gardening, neighborhood meetings, and social capital. J Commun Psychol 38:497–514. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20378
Amiet F (1996) Apidae, 1. Teil. Allgemeiner Teil, Gattungsschlüssel, die Gattung Apis, Bombus und Psithyrus. Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune: Schweizerische Entomologische Gesellschaft, Neuchâtel
Amiet F (ed) (2001) Apidae. 3: Halictus, Lasioglossum. Centre suisse de cartographie de la faune: Schweizerische Entomologische Gesellschaft, Neuchâtel
Amiet F, Krebs A (2014) Bienen Mitteleuropas. Gattungen, Lebensweise, Beobachtungen, 2nd edn. Haupt Natur Verlag, Bern
Amiet F, Herrmann M, Müller A, Neumeyer R (2004) Apidae. 4: Anthidium, Chelostoma, Coelioxys, Dioxys, Heriades, Lithurgus, Megachile, Osmia, Stelis. Neuchâtel
Andersson E, Barthel S, Ahrné K (2007) Measuring social-ecological dynamics behind the generation of ecosystem services. Ecol Appl 17:1267–1278. https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1116.1
Baldock KCR, Goddard MA, Hicks DM et al (2019) A systems approach reveals urban pollinator hotspots and conservation opportunities. Nat Ecol Evol 3:363–373. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0769-y
Banaszak-Cibicka W (2014) Are urban areas suitable for thermophilic and xerothermic bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes)? Apidologie 45:145–155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0232-7
Banaszak-Cibicka W, Żmihorski M (2012) Wild bees along an urban gradient: winners and losers. J Insect Conserv 16:331–343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9419-2
Banaszak-Cibicka W, Ratyńska H, Dylewski Ł (2016) Features of urban green space favourable for large and diverse bee populations (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes). Urban For Urban Green 20:448–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.10.015
Bates D, Mächler M, Bolker B, Walker S (2014) Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models using lme4. J Stat Softw 67:1–48
Biesmeijer JC (2006) Parallel Declines in Pollinators and Insect-Pollinated Plants in Britain and the Netherlands. Science 313:351–354. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1127863
Bogusch P, Straka J (2012) Review and identification of the cuckoo bees of central Europe (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Sphecodes). Zootaxa:1–41
Bogusch P, Kratochvil L, Jakub S (2006) Generalist cuckoo bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Sphecodes) are species-specialist at the individual level. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60:422–429
Bowler DE, Buyung-Ali L, Knight TM, Pullin AS (2010) Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landsc Urban Plan 97:147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006
Braaker S, Ghazoul J, Obrist MK, Moretti M (2014) Habitat connectivity shapes urban arthropod communities: the key role of green roofs. Ecology 95:1010–1021. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-0705.1
Environmental Systems Research Institute (2016) Geodatenviewer der Stadtvermessung Wien. Magistrat der Stadt Wien (MA41), 2015
Falk S (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. British Wildlife Field Guides, Bloomsbury
Firth C, Maye D, Pearson D (2011) Developing “community” in community gardens. Local Environ 16:555–568. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2011.586025
Fischer LK, Eichfeld J, Kowarik I, Buchholz S (2016) Disentangling urban habitat and matrix effects on wild bee species. PeerJ 4:e2729. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2729
Forman RTT (1995) Some general principles of landscape and regional ecology. Landsc Ecol 10:133–142. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00133027
Fortel L, Henry M, Guilbaud L et al (2014) Decreasing Abundance, Increasing Diversity and Changing Structure of the Wild Bee Community (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) along an Urbanization Gradient. PLoS One 9:e104679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104679
Gallegos Torell Å, Glimskär A (2009) Computer-aided calibration for visual estimation of vegetation cover. J Veg Sci 20:973–983. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2009.01111.x
Gathmann A, Tscharntke T (2002) Foraging ranges of solitary bees. J Anim Ecol 7:757–764
Gokcezade J, Gereben-Krenn B-A, Neumayer J, Krenn H (2010) Feldbestimmungsschlüssel für die Hummeln Österreichs, Deutschlands und der Schweiz (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Linzer biologischer Beitrag 42:5–42
Gosek J, Ruszkowski A, Kaczmarska K (1995) Food plants and an economic importance of Hylaeus species of subgenera Spatulariella Popov, Abrupta Popov and Koptogaster Alfken (Hymenoptera, Colletidae). Pszczelnicze Zeszyty Naukowe 39:265–272
Goulson D, Lye GC, Darvill B, Words K (2008) Decline and Conservation of Bumble Bees. Annu Rev Entomol 53:191–208
Grimm NB, Faeth SH, Golubiewski NE et al (2008) Global Change and the Ecology of Cities. Science 319:756–760. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150195
Guitart D, Pickering C, Byrne J (2012) Past results and future directions in urban community gardens research. Urban For Urban Green 11:364–373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2012.06.007
Gunnarsson B, Federsel LM (2014) Bumblebees in the city: abundance, species richness and diversity in two urban habitats. J Insect Conserv 18:1185–1191. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9729-2
Gusenleitner F, Schwarz M, Mazzucco K (2012) Apidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera). In: Schuster R (ed) Schuster R (ed) Biosystematices and Ecology Series No. 29: Checklisten der Fauna Österreichs, No. 6. Verlag der Österreichsichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
Hennig EI, Ghazoul J (2012) Pollinating animals in the urban environment. Urban Ecosyst 15:149–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-011-0202-7
Hernandez JL, Frankie GW, Thorp RW (2009) Ecology of Urban Bees: A Review of Current Knowledge and Directions for Future Study. Cities and the Environment 2:1–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.15365/cate.2132009
Himpele K (2018) Wien in Zahlen 2018. MA 23 Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Statistik, Wien.
Hofmann MM, Zohner CM, Renner SS (2019) Narrow habitat breadth and late-summer emergence increases extinction vulnerability in Central European bees. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 286:20190316. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0316
Holland L (2004) Diversity and connections in community gardens: a contribution to local sustainability. Local Environ 9:285–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354983042000219388
Holzschuh A, Dormann CF, Tscharntke T, Steffan-Dewenter I (2013) Mass-flowering crops enhance wild bee abundance. Oecologia 172:477–484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2515-5
Hong W, Guo R, Su M et al (2017) Sensitivity evaluation and land-use control of urban ecological corridors: A case study of Shenzhen, China. Land Use Policy 62:316–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.01.010
Hothorn T, Hornik K, Strobl C, Zeileis A (2018) Package “party” A Laboratory for Recursive Partytioning 1.3–1. http://party.R-forge.R-project.org
Hunter MR, Hunter MD (2008) Designing for conservation of insects in the built environment. Insect Conserv Divers 1:189–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4598.2008.00024.x
Jauker F, Diekötter T, Schwarzbach F, Wolters V (2009) Pollinator dispersal in an agricultural matrix: opposing responses of wild bees and hoverflies to landscape structure and distance from main habitat. Landsc Ecol 24:547–555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-009-9331-2
Kadas G (2006) Rare Invertebrates Colonizing Green Roofs in London. Urban Habitats 4:66–86
Kingsley JY, Townsend M, Henderson-Wilson C (2009) Cultivating health and wellbeing: members’ perceptions of the health benefits of a Port Melbourne community garden. Leis Stud 28:207–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360902769894
Kovács-Hostyánszki A, Haenke S, Batáry P et al (2013) Contrasting effects of mass-flowering crops on bee pollination of hedge plants at different spatial and temporal scales. Ecol Appl 23:1938–1946. https://doi.org/10.1890/12-2012.1
Kratschmer S, Kriechbaum M, Pachinger B (2018) Buzzing on top: Linking wild bee diversity, abundance and traits with green roof qualities. Urban Ecosyst 21:429–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0726-6
Leonhardt SD, Gallai N, Garibaldi LA et al (2013) Economic gain, stability of pollination and bee diversity decrease from southern to northern Europe. Basic Appl Ecol 14:461–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2013.06.003
Lorenz S, Stark K (2015) Saving the honeybees in Berlin? A case study of the urban beekeeping boom. Environ Sociol 1:116–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2015.1008383
Lowenstein DM, Matteson KC, Minor ES (2015) Diversity of wild bees supports pollination services in an urbanized landscape. Oecologia 179:811–821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3389-0
Madlener N (2007) Verein Gartenpolylog - Gaertnerinnen der Welt kooperieren - Gemeinschaftsgaerten. https://gartenpolylog.org/de/home . .
Magistrat der Stadt Wien (2019) Bienenvölker in Wien. In: Stadt Wien. https://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt-klimaschutz/bienen-wien.html . .
Makinson JC, Threlfall CG, Latty T (2017) Bee-friendly community gardens: Impact of environmental variables on the richness and abundance of exotic and native bees. Urban Ecosyst 20:463–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-016-0607-4
Matteson KC, Langellotto GA (2010) Determinates of inner city butterfly and bee species richness. Urban Ecosyst 13:333–347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0122-y
Matteson KC, Ascher JS, Langellotto GA (2008) Bee Richness and Abundance in New York City Urban Gardens. Ann Entomol Soc Am 101:140–150. https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2008)101[140:BRAAIN]2.0.CO;2
Mazerolle M (2017) AICcmodavg: Model selection and multimodel inference based on (Q)AIC(c). R package version 2.1–1. https://cran.r-project.org/package=AICcmodavg . Accessed 3 Mar 2019
Michener C (2007) The Bees of the World, 2nd edn. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Müller A, Kuhlmann M (2008) Pollen hosts of western palaearctic bees of the genus Colletes (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): the Asteraceae paradox: Pollen hosts of Colletes bees. Biol J Linn Soc 95:719–733. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01113.x
Müller A, Diener S, Schnyder S et al (2006) Quantitative pollen requirements of solitary bees: Implications for bee conservation and the evolution of bee–flower relationships. Biol Conserv 130:604–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.01.023
Norton BA, Coutts AM, Livesley SJ et al (2015) Planning for cooler cities: A framework to prioritise green infrastructure to mitigate high temperatures in urban landscapes. Landsc Urban Plan 134:127–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.10.018
Pachinger B, Hölzler G (2006) Die Wildbienen (Hymenoptera, Apidae) der Wiener Donauinsel. Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik 7:119–148
Pachinger B, Neumüller U, Eckl L-M et al (2014) Friedhöfe als Rückzugsraum für Wildbienen (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in der Grossstadt Wien. Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik 15:81–93
Pawelek JC, Frankie GW, Thorp RW, Przybylski M (2009) Modification of a Community Garden to Attract Native Bee Pollinators in Urban San Luis Obispo, California. Cities Environ 2:1–20
Pinheiro MHO, De Neto LCA, Monteiro R (2006) Urban Areas and Isolated Remnants of Natural Habitats: An Action Proposal for Botanical Gardens. Biodivers Conserv 15:2747–2764. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-005-1133-5
Potter A, LeBuhn G (2015) Pollination service to urban agriculture in San Francisco, CA. Urban Ecosyst 18:885–893. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0435-y
R Core Development Team (2016) A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. V 3.3.2 R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna
Ramalho CE, Hobbs RJ (2012) Time for a change: dynamic urban ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 27:179–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.10.008
Samways MJ (2018) Insect Conservation for the Twenty-First Century. In: Shah MM, Sharif U (eds) Insect Science-Diversity. Conservation and Nutrition, InTechOpen, pp 19–41
Sánchez-Bayo F, Wyckhuys KAG (2019) Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biol Conserv 232:8–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.01.020
ScheuchI E (1995) Illustrierte Bestimmungstabellen der Wildbienen Deutschlands und Österreichs. Band 1: Anthophoridae. Eigenverlag, Velden.
Scheuchl E (1996) Illustrierte Bestimmungstabellen der Wildbienen Deutschlands und Österreichs. Bd. 2: Megachilidae - Melittidae. Eigenverlag, Velden
Scheuchl E, Willner W (2016) Taschenlexikon der Wildbienen Mitteleuropas. Alle Arten im Porträt, Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiebelsheim
Schmid-Egger C, Scheuchl E (1997) Illustrierte Bestimmungstabellen der Wildbienen Deutschlands und Österreichs. Bd. 3: Andrenidae. Eigenverlag, Velden
Sedivy C, Dorn S (2014) Towards a sustainable management of bees of the subgenus Osmia (Megachilidae; Osmia) as fruit tree pollinators. Apidologie 45:88–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0231-8
Sheffield C, Pindar A, Packer L, Kevan P (2013) The potential of cleptoparasitic bees as indicator taxa for assessing bee communities. Apidologie 44:501–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-013-0200-2
Sirohi MH, Jackson J, Edwards M, Ollerton J (2015) Diversity and abundance of solitary and primitively eusocial bees in an urban centre: a case study from Northampton (England). J Insect Conserv 19:487–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9769-2
Smith RM, Warren PH, Thompson K, Gaston KJ (2006) Urban domestic gardens (VI): environmental correlates of invertebrate species richness. Biodivers Conserv 15:2415–2438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-5014-0
Stadt Wien - ViennaGIS (2015) Geodatenviewer der Stadtvermessung Wien. Magistrat der Stadt Wien (MA41), 2015, ESRI, Vienna, https://www.wien.gv.at/ma41datenviewer/public/
Stange E, Zulian G, Rusch G et al (2017) Ecosystem services mapping for municipal policy: ESTIMAP and zoning for urban beekeeping. One Ecosyst 2:e14014. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.2.e14014
Strobl C., Boulesteix A.-L., Kneib T., Augustin T., Zeileis A. (2008) Conditional variable importance for random forests, BMC Bioinformatics 9:1471–2105
Strobl C., Hothorn T., Zeileis A. (2009) Party on! Contributied Research Articles 1:14–17
Tommasi D, Miro A, Higo HA, Winston ML (2004) Bee diversity and abundance in an urban setting. Can Entomol 136:851–869. https://doi.org/10.4039/n04-010
United Nations (2018) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. Department of Economic and Social Affairs/ Population Division
Wastian L, Unterweger PA, Betz O (2016) Influence of the reduction of urban lawn mowing on wild bee diversity (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). J Hymenopt Res 49:51–63. https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.49.7929
Werrell PA, Langellotto GA, Morath SU, Matteson KC (2009) The Influence of Garden Size and Floral Cover on Pollen Deposition in Urban Community Gardens. Cities Environ 2:1–16
Westrich P (1989) Die Wildbienen Baden-Württembergs: Allgemeiner Teil. Lebensräume, Verhalten, Ökologie und Schutz. Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co., Stuttgart
Westrich P (2018) Die Wildbienen Deutschlands. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart
Wiesbauer H (2017) Wilde Bienen. Biologie - Lebensraumdynamik am Beispiel Österreich - Artenporträts, 1. Auflage. Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart
Wilkaniec Z, Giejdasz K (2003) Suitability of nesting substrates for the cavity-nesting bee Osmia rufa. J Apic Res 42:29–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2003.11101084
ZAMG (2017) Klimaspiegel Wien Innere Stadt für 2017. ZAMG - Zentralanstalt für Meterologie und Geodynamik, In https://www.zamg.ac.at/cms/de/klima/klimauebersichten/jahrbuch .
Zettel H, Ockermüller E, Wiesbauer H et al (2015) Kommentierte Liste der aus Wien (Österreich) nachgewiesenen Bienenarten (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Zeitschrift der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Österreichischer Entomologen 67:137–194
Zettel H, Zimmermann D, Wiesbauer H (2016) Ergänzungen zur Bienenfauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) von Wien, Österreich. Beiträge zur Entomofaunistik 17:85–107
Zhao C, Sander HA, Hendrix SD (2019) Wild bees and urban agriculture: assessing pollinator supply and demand across urban landscapes. Urban Ecosyst 22:455–470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-0826-6
Zurbuchen A, Müller A (2012) Wildbienenschutz- von der Wissenschaft zur Praxis. Zürich, Bristol-Stiftung, Bern, Stuttgart, Wien
Zurbuchen A, Landert L, Klaiber J et al (2010) Maximum foraging ranges in solitary bees: only few individuals have the capability to cover long foraging distances. Biol Conserv 143:669–676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.12.003
Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Elphick CS (2010) A protocol for data exploration to avoid common statistical problems: Data exploration. Methods Ecol Evol 1:3–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2009.00001.x
Acknowledgements
First of all, we want to thank the gardeners for their support and interest in this project. Furthermore, we wish to thank Andreas Werner Ebmer for the confirmation of the determination of Halictus tectus, Sabine Schoder for assisting with the identification of difficult Hylaeus species, Monika Kriechbaum with the determination of certain plant species and David Horner for proof reading.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
JL wrote the manuscript and along with BäPa conceived the original idea and identified the specimens on species level. Field work was conducted by JL and FG in the context of FG’s Bachelor thesis. SK performed the statistical computations with R. BoPe contributed the GIS results. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Effect of most influential variables (according to Random Forests with a high Variable Importance) on (A, B) solitary and (C, D) eusocial species richness in communal. Grey shading = 0.95 confidence interval
Appendix 6
Effects of most important variables (according to RFs with a high Variable Importance) on (A, B, C) below-ground nesting and (D) above-ground nesting species richness in communal. Grey shading = 0.95 confidence interval
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lanner, J., Kratschmer, S., Petrović, B. et al. City dwelling wild bees: how communal gardens promote species richness. Urban Ecosyst 23, 271–288 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00902-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00902-5