@article{SteinCoulibalyBalimaetal.2020,
  author    = {Stein, Katharina and Coulibaly, Drissa and Balima, Larba Hubert and Goetze, Dethardt and Linsenmair, Karl Eduard and Porembski, Stefan and Stenchly, Kathrin and Theodorou, Panagiotis},
  title     = {Plant-pollinator networks in savannas of Burkina Faso, West Africa},
  series = {Diversity},
  volume    = {13},
  journal   = {Diversity},
  number    = {1},
  issn      = {1424-2818},
  doi       = {10.3390/d13010001},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-220157},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {West African savannas are severely threatened with intensified land use and increasing degradation. Bees are important for terrestrial biodiversity as they provide native plant species with pollination services. However, little information is available regarding their mutualistic interactions with woody plant species. In the first network study from sub-Saharan West Africa, we investigated the effects of land-use intensity and climatic seasonality on plant-bee communities and their interaction networks. In total, we recorded 5686 interactions between 53 flowering woody plant species and 100 bee species. Bee-species richness and the number of interactions were higher in the low compared to medium and high land-use intensity sites. Bee- and plant-species richness and the number of interactions were higher in the dry compared to the rainy season. Plant-bee visitation networks were not strongly affected by land-use intensity; however, climatic seasonality had a strong effect on network architecture. Null-model corrected connectance and nestedness were higher in the dry compared to the rainy season. In addition, network specialization and null-model corrected modularity were lower in the dry compared to the rainy season. Our results suggest that in our study region, seasonal effects on mutualistic network architecture are more pronounced compared to land-use change effects. Nonetheless, the decrease in bee-species richness and the number of plant-bee interactions with an increase in land-use intensity highlights the importance of savanna conservation for maintaining bee diversity and the concomitant provision of ecosystem services.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SteinCoulibalyStenchlyetal.2017,
  author    = {Stein, Katharina and Coulibaly, Drissa and Stenchly, Kathrin and Goetze, Dethardt and Porembski, Stefan and Lindner, Andr{\´e} and Konat{\´e}, Souleymane and Linsenmair, Eduard K.},
  title     = {Bee pollination increases yield quantity and quality of cash crops in Burkina Faso, West Africa},
  series = {Scientific Reports},
  volume    = {7},
  journal   = {Scientific Reports},
  number    = {17691},
  doi       = {10.1038/s41598-017-17970-2},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-169914},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Mutualistic biotic interactions as among flowering plants and their animal pollinators are a key component of biodiversity. Pollination, especially by insects, is a key element in ecosystem functioning, and hence constitutes an ecosystem service of global importance. Not only sexual reproduction of plants is ensured, but also yields are stabilized and genetic variability of crops is maintained, counteracting inbreeding depression and facilitating system resilience. While experiencing rapid environmental change, there is an increased demand for food and income security, especially in sub-Saharan communities, which are highly dependent on small scale agriculture. By combining exclusion experiments, pollinator surveys and field manipulations, this study for the first time quantifies the contribution of bee pollinators to smallholders' production of the major cash crops, cotton and sesame, in Burkina Faso. Pollination by honeybees and wild bees significantly increased yield quantity and quality on average up to 62\%, while exclusion of pollinators caused an average yield gap of 37\% in cotton and 59\% in sesame. Self-pollination revealed inbreeding depression effects on fruit set and low germination rates in the F1-generation. Our results highlight potential negative consequences of any pollinator decline, provoking risks to agriculture and compromising crop yields in sub-Saharan West Africa.},
  language  = {en}
}