Data_Sheet_2_Holistic wild bee management in urban spaces.zip

Projects promoting bees in urban areas are initiated in cities around the world but evidence-based conservation concepts at a city-wide scale are scarce. We developed a holistic approach for assessment of bee and flowering plant diversity in a medium-sized city. In addition to standard mapping approaches in bee hotspots, we initiated citizen science projects for participative urban bee research to be able to collect comprehensive bee data across the entire city. We identified 22 hotspots of bee diversity, analyzed connectivity between those hotspots and evaluated the impact of flower patches planted in collaboration with the municipal gardens department as stepping stones for oligolectic bee species throughout the city. Participation by urban citizens in bee identification trainings was high (c. 630 persons) but their subsequent contribution through observation reports was relatively low (1,165 records by 140 observers). However, we identified a total of 139 bee taxa, seven of them only discovered by citizen scientists. Total species richness was higher in extensively managed orchards than in semi-natural and wasteland areas. Half of the stepping stone flower patches were occupied by the target oligolectic bee species in the year of planting. After 3 years, all but two species could be confirmed. We suggest a 5-step concept for bee management in cities: (1) identification of bee hotspots combined with standardized surveys, especially of rare species; (2) training of citizen scientists at two different levels for comprehensive surveys in all parts of the city: (a) half-day introductions to wild bee diversity, ecology and conservation in order to create more awareness and (b) 2-weeks workshops for in-depth training of a small number of dedicated citizen scientists; (3) extensive management of existing habitats and special conservation programs for very rare species; (4) creation of high-value habitats which take into account the varied resource needs of bees within flight ranges of only a few hundred meters; (5) creation of stepping stone habitats as floral and nesting resources, integrating educative and participative aspects.

全球诸多城市均已启动城市蜜蜂保护项目，但针对城市全域尺度的循证保护理念仍较为匮乏。本研究针对中型城市构建了一套评估蜜蜂与显花植物多样性的整体性研究方法。除采用标准方法绘制蜜蜂热点区域分布图外，本研究还启动了公民科学（citizen science）项目，开展市民参与式城市蜜蜂研究，以获取覆盖全市域的完整蜜蜂观测数据。本研究共识别出22处蜜蜂多样性热点区域，分析了这些热点间的连通性，并评估了与市政园林部门合作种植的花境斑块作为全市寡食性蜜蜂（oligolectic bee）踏脚石生境的生态效益。城市市民参与蜜蜂识别培训的积极性较高（累计约630人），但后续通过观测报告提交的贡献度相对偏低——140名观测者仅提交了1165条记录。不过本研究共记录到139个蜜蜂类群，其中7个类群仅由公民科学家发现。粗放管理的果园中蜜蜂物种丰富度显著高于半自然生境与荒地。种植当年，有半数踏脚石花境斑块被目标寡食性蜜蜂类群定植；三年后，除2个物种外，其余目标类群均已被观测证实存活。据此，本研究提出城市蜜蜂管理的五阶框架：（1）结合标准化调查（尤其针对稀有物种）开展蜜蜂热点区域识别；（2）分两级开展公民科学家（citizen scientist）培训，以覆盖全市全域的全面调查：（a）半日制入门课程，讲解野生蜜蜂多样性、生态学与保护知识，以提升公众保护意识；（b）为期两周的进阶工作坊，为少数专注的公民科学家提供深度培训；（3）对现有栖息地进行精细化管理，并针对极稀有物种制定专项保护方案；（4）构建高价值栖息地，充分考量蜜蜂在数百米飞行范围内的多样化资源需求；（5）打造踏脚石生境，提供蜜源与筑巢资源，并融入科普教育与公众参与元素。