TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kaluza, Benjamin F.
A1  - Wallace, Helen M.
A1  - Heard, Tim A.
A1  - Minden, Vanessa
A1  - Klein, Alexandra
A1  - Leonhardt, Sara D.
T1  - Social bees are fitter in more biodiverse environments
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Bee population declines are often linked to human impacts, especially habitat and biodiversity loss, but empirical evidence is lacking. To clarify the link between biodiversity loss and bee decline, we examined how floral diversity affects (reproductive) fitness and population growth of a social stingless bee. For the first time, we related available resource diversity and abundance to resource (quality and quantity) intake and colony reproduction, over more than two years. Our results reveal plant diversity as key driver of bee fitness. Social bee colonies were fitter and their populations grew faster in more florally diverse environments due to a continuous supply of food resources. Colonies responded to high plant diversity with increased resource intake and colony food stores. Our findings thus point to biodiversity loss as main reason for the observed bee decline.
KW  - biodiversity
KW  - ecosystem services
KW  - social bees
KW  - fitness
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177231
VL  - 8
IS  - 12353
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Minden, Vanessa
A1  - Schnetger, Bernhard
A1  - Pufal, Gesine
A1  - Leonhardt, Sara D.
T1  - Antibiotic-induced effects on scaling relationships and on plant element contents in herbs and grasses
JF  - Ecology and Evolution
N2  - Plant performance is correlated with element concentrations in plant tissue, which may be impacted by adverse chemical soil conditions. Antibiotics of veterinary origin can adversely affect plant performance. They are released to agricultural fields via grazing animals or manure, taken up by plants and may be stored, transformed or sequestered by plant metabolic processes. We studied the potential effects of three antibiotics (penicillin, sulfadiazine, and tetracycline) on plant element contents (macro- and microelements). Plant species included two herb species (Brassica napus and Capsella bursa-pastoris) and two grass species (Triticum aestivum and Apera spica-venti), representing two crop species and two noncrop species commonly found in field margins, respectively. Antibiotic concentrations were chosen as to reflect in vivo situations, that is, relatively low concentrations similar to those detected in soils. In a greenhouse experiment, plants were raised in soil spiked with antibiotics. After harvest, macro- and microelements in plant leaves, stems, and roots were determined (mg/g). Results indicate that antibiotics can affect element contents in plants. Penicillin exerted the greatest effect both on element contents and on scaling relationships of elements between plant organs. Roots responded strongest to antibiotics compared to stems and leaves. We conclude that antibiotics in the soil, even in low concentrations, lead to low-element homeostasis, altering the scaling relationships between roots and other plant organs, which may affect metabolic processes and ultimately the performance of a plant.
KW  - antibiotics
KW  - homeostasis
KW  - scaling relationships
KW  - standardized major axis regression
KW  - tissue nutrient contents
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224094
VL  - 8
ER  -