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Competition for nectar resources does not affect bee foraging tactic constancy
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19-0418-EEN_final.pdf
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Final Accepted Manuscript
Affiliation
Univ Arizona, Dept Ecol & Evolutionary BiolIssue Date
2020-03-30
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WILEYCitation
Lichtenberg, E.M., Richman, S.K., Irwin, R.E. and Bronstein, J.L. (2020), Competition for nectar resources does not affect bee foraging tactic constancy. Ecol Entomol. doi:10.1111/een.12866Journal
ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGYRights
© 2020 The Royal Entomological Society.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
1. Competition alters animal foraging, including promoting the use of alternative resources. It may also impact how animals feed when they are able to handle the same food with more than one tactic. Competition likely impacts both consumers and their resources through its effects on food handling, but this topic has received little attention. 2. Bees often use two tactics for extracting nectar from flowers: they can visit at the flower opening, or rob nectar from holes at the base of flowers. Exploitative competition for nectar is thought to promote nectar robbing. If so, higher competition among floral visitors should reduce constancy to a single foraging tactic as foragers will seek food using all possible tactics. To test this prediction, field observations and two experiments involving bumble bees visiting three montane Colorado plant species (Mertensia ciliata, Linaria vulgaris, Corydalis caseana) were used under various levels of inter- and intra-specific competition for nectar. 3. In general, individual bumble bees remained constant to a single foraging tactic, independent of competition levels. However, bees that visited M. ciliata in field observations decreased their constancy and increased nectar robbing rates as visitation rates by co-visitors increased. 4. While tactic constancy was high overall regardless of competition intensity, this study highlights some intriguing instances in which competition and tactic constancy may be linked. Further studies investigating the cognitive underpinnings of tactic constancy should provide insight on the ways in which animals use alternative foraging tactics to exploit resources.Note
12 month embargo; published online: 30 March 2020ISSN
0307-6946Version
Final accepted manuscriptae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/een.12866