Urban bumblebees diversify their foraging strategy to maintain nutrient intake

Anthropogenic ecosystems can alter individual functions and ecological
processes such as resource use and species interactions. While variability
on morphological traits involved in dietand resource use has been observed
between urban and non-urban populations of pollinators, theconsequences on
the dietary and pollen transportation patterns remain poorly understood.
Here, we investigate the variability in the diet breadth of rural and
urban individuals of two bumblebeespecies and the consequences for
nutrient intake and pollen transportation. We show that urbanbumblebees
exhibit a broader diet breadth than their rural counterparts, driven by
the enhancedfloral diversity in cities. However, we found that the
nutrient intake remained similar across urbanand rural ecosystems.
Finally, we found distinct pollen transportation patterns between urban
andrural individuals. Our findings highlight the importance of considering
complementary facets of species’ diet and interactions when assessing the
effects of anthropogenic ecosystems.