Commodity canola insect visitation

These data were used in a simulation study to examine how honey bees distribute themselves across foraging landscapes. The ideal-free distribution and central-place foraging are important ecological models that can explain the distribution of foraging organisms in their environment. However, this model ignores distance-based foraging costs from a central place (hive, nest), while central-place foraging ignores competition. Different foraging currencies and cooperation between foragers also create different optimal distributions of foragers, but are limited to a simple two-patch model. We present a hybrid model of the ideal-free distribution that uses realistic competitive effects while accounting for distance-based foraging, and test it using honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) foraging in canola fields (Brassica napus L.). Our simulations show that foragers maximizing efficiency (energy profits/losses) prioritize distance to their aggregation more than those maximizing net-rate (energy profits/time), and that social foragers move to more distant patches to maximize group benefits, meaning that social foragers do not approach an ideal-free distribution. Simulated efficiency-maximizers had a hump-shaped relationship of trip times with distance, spending shorter amounts of time in both nearby and far-away patches. Canola fields were far more attractive to simulated foragers than semi-natural areas, suggesting limited foraging on semi-natural lands during the bloom period of canola. Finally, we found that the observed distribution of honey bees in canola fields most closely resembled the optimal distribution of solitary efficiency-maximizers. Our model has both theoretical and practical uses, as it allows us to model central-place forager distributions in complex landscapes as well as providing information on appropriate hive stocking rates for agricultural pollination.本数据集源自一项模拟研究，旨在探究蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L.）在觅食景观中的分布格局。理想自由分布（ideal-free distribution）与中心地觅食（central-place foraging）是两类核心生态学模型，可用于解释觅食生物在其生存环境中的分布模式。但此类模型往往忽略了源自中心位点（蜂箱、巢穴）的距离依赖性觅食成本；而传统中心地觅食模型则未考虑竞争因素的影响。此外，不同的觅食货币（foraging currencies）以及觅食者间的合作行为也会催生各异的觅食者最优分布，但现有相关研究多局限于简单的两斑块模型（two-patch model）。本研究提出一种理想自由分布的混合模型，该模型既纳入了符合实际场景的竞争效应，同时也考量了距离依赖性觅食成本；并利用在油菜（Brassica napus L.）田觅食的蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L.）对该模型进行了实证验证。模拟结果显示，相较于以净速率（net-rate，能量收益/时间）为优化目标的觅食者，以效率（efficiency，能量收益/消耗）为优化目标的觅食者更倾向于优先选择距离聚集中心更近的位点；而社会性觅食者（social foragers）会前往更远的生境斑块以实现群体收益最大化，这表明社会性觅食者的分布并不符合理想自由分布的理论预期。模拟结果还显示，以效率为优化目标的觅食者，其觅食往返时长与斑块距离呈驼峰型相关关系：在距离过近或过远的斑块中，觅食者的停留时长均相对较短。相较于半自然生境，模拟觅食者对油菜田的偏好性显著更强，这表明在油菜花期，觅食者对半自然生境的觅食活动较为有限。最后，研究发现油菜田中观测到的蜜蜂分布格局，与独居性效率最优觅食者的理论最优分布最为吻合。本模型兼具理论与应用价值：一方面可用于模拟复杂景观中中心地觅食者的分布格局，另一方面也能为农业授粉所需的蜂箱合理放养密度提供科学参考依据。