Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Flight of the bumble bee: buzzes predict pollination services

Multiple interacting factors drive recent declines in wild and managed bees, threatening their pollination services. Widespread and intensive monitoring could lead to more effective management of wild and managed bees. However, tracking their dynamic populations is costly. We tested the effectiveness of an inexpensive, noninvasive and passive acoustic survey technique for monitoring bumble bee behavior and pollination services. First, we assessed the relationship between the first harmonic of the flight buzz (characteristic frequency) and pollinator functional traits that influence pollination success using flight cage experiments and a literature search. We analyzed passive acoustic survey data from three locations on Pennsylvania Mountain, Colorado to estimate bumble bee activity. We developed an algorithm based on Computational Auditory Scene Analysis that identified and quantified the number of buzzes recorded in each location. We then compared visual and acoustic estimates of bumble bee activity. Using pollinator exclusion experiments, we tested the power of buzz density to predict pollination services at the landscape scale for two bumble bee pollinated alpine forbs (Trifolium dasyphyllum and T. parryi). We found that the characteristic frequency was correlated with traits known to affect pollination efficacy, explaining 30-52% of variation in body size and tongue length. Buzz density was highly correlated with visual estimates of bumble bee density (r = 0.97), indicating that acoustic signals are predictive of bumble bee activity. Buzz density predicted seed set in two alpine forbs when bumble bees were permitted access to the flowers, but not when they were excluded from visiting. Our results indicate that acoustic signatures of flight can be deciphered to monitor bee activity and pollination services to bumble bee pollinated plants. We propose that applications of this technique could assist scientists and farmers in rapidly detecting and responding to bee population declines.

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →

Anther cones increase pollen release in buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers

The widespread evolution of tube-like anthers releasing pollen from apical pores is associated with buzz pollination, in which bees vibrate flowers to remove pollen. The mechanical connection among anthers in buzz-pollinated species varies from loosely held conformations, to anthers tightly held together with trichomes or bio-adhesives forming a functionally joined conical structure (anther cone). Joined anther cones in buzz-pollinated species have evolved independently across plant families and via different genetic mechanisms, yet their functional significance remains mostly untested. We used experimental manipulations to compare vibrational and functional (pollen release) consequences of joined anther cones in three buzz-pollinated species of Solanum (Solanaceae). We applied bee-like vibrations to focal anthers in flowers with ("joined") and without ("free") experimentally created joined anther cones, and characterised vibrations transmitted to other anthers and the amount of pollen released. We found that joined anther architectures cause non-focal anthers to vibrate at higher amplitudes than free architectures. Moreover, in the two species with naturally loosely held anthers, anther fusion increases pollen release, while in the species with a free but naturally compact architecture it does not. We discuss hypotheses for the adaptive significance of the convergent evolution of joined anther cones.

zenodo36/100

Data and models to accompany "Turgor pressure affects transverse stiffness and resonant frequencies of buzz-pollinated poricidal anthers"

Data sets and models to accompany the paper "Turgor pressure affects transverse stiffness and resonant frequencies of buzz-pollinated poricidal anthers".

opencc-by-4.0May 2024View details →

publicNov 2024View details →

Buzz pollination: Investigations of pollen expulsion using the discrete element method data

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

publicJun 2017View details →

Data from: Flight of the bumble bee: buzzes predict pollination services

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

publicSep 2025View details →

Data from: Gradual pollen release in a buzz pollinated plant: Investigating pollen presentation theory under bee visitation

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

publicMar 2022View details →

Anther cones increase pollen release in buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers

Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Data and code for "Biomechanical properties of a buzz-pollinated flower"

Approximately half of all bee species use vibrations to remove pollen from plants with diverse floral morphologies. In many buzz-pollinated flowers, these mechanical vibrations generated by bees are transmitted through floral tissues, principally pollen-containing anthers, causing pollen to be ejected from small openings (pores or slits) at the tip of the stamen. Despite the importance of substrate-borne vibrations for both bees and plants, few studies to date have characterised the transmission properties of floral vibrations. In this study, we use contactless laser vibrometry to evaluate the transmission of vibrations in the corolla and anthers of buzz- pollinated flowers of Solanum rostratum, and measured vibrations in three spatial axes. We found that floral vibrations conserve their dominant frequency (300Hz) as they are transmitted throughout the flower. We also found that vibrations are generally amplified (up to >400%) as they travel from the receptacle at the base of the flower to other floral structures, and that anthers vibrate with a higher amplitude velocity than petals. Together, these results suggest that vibrations travel differently through floral structures and across different spatial axes. As pollen release is a function of vibration amplitude, we conjecture that bees might benefit from applying vibrations in the axes associated with higher vibration amplification.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

Data from: Bee and floral traits affect the characteristics of the vibrations experienced by flowers during buzz-pollination

During buzz pollination, bees use their indirect flight muscles to produce vibrations that are transmitted to the flowers and result in pollen release. Although buzz pollination has been known for >100 years, we are still in the early stages of understanding how bee and floral characteristics affect the production and transmission of floral vibrations. Here we analysed floral vibrations produced by four closely related bumblebee taxa (Bombus spp.) on two buzz-pollinated plants species (Solanum spp.). We measured floral vibrations transmitted to the flower to establish the extent to which the mechanical properties of floral vibrations depend on bee and plant characteristics. By comparing four bee taxa visiting the same plant species, we found that peak acceleration (PA), root mean-squared acceleration (RMS) and frequency varies between bee taxa, but that neither bee size (intertegular distance) or flower biomass (dry weight) affect PA, RMS or frequency. A comparison of floral vibrations of two bee taxa visiting flowers of two plant species, showed that, while bee species affects PA, RMS and frequency, plant species affects acceleration (PA and RMS) but not frequency. When accounting for differences in the transmission of vibrations across the two types of flowers, using a species-specific 'coupling factor', we found that RMS acceleration and peak displacement does not differ between plant species. This suggests that bees produce the same initial acceleration in different plants but that transmission of these vibrations through the flower is affected by floral characteristics.

opencc-zeroMar 2022View details →

Reduced visitation to buzz-pollinated Cyanella hyacinthoides in the presence of other pollen sources in the hyperdiverse Cape Floristic Region

Many plant species have floral morphologies that restrict access to floral resources, such as pollen or nectar, and only a subset of floral visitors can perform the handling behaviours required to extract restricted resources. Due to the time and energy required to extract resources from morphologically complex flowers, these plant species potentially compete for pollinators with co-flowering plants that have more easily accessible resources. A widespread floral mechanism restricting access to pollen is the presence of tubular anthers that open through small pores or slits (poricidal anthers). Some bees have evolved the capacity to remove pollen from poricidal anthers using vibrations, giving rise to the phenomenon of buzz-pollination. These bee vibrations that are produced for pollen extraction are presumably energetically costly, and to date, few studies have investigated whether buzz-pollinated flowers may be at a disadvantage when competing for pollinators' attention with plant species that present unrestricted pollen resources. Here, we studied Cyanella hyacinthoides (Tecophilaeaceae), a geophyte with poricidal anthers in the hyperdiverse Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, to assess how the composition and relative abundance of flowers with easily accessible pollen affect bee visitation to a buzz-pollinated plant. We found that the number of pollinator species was not influenced by community composition. However, visitation rates to C. hyacinthoides were reduced when the relative abundances of flowers with more accessible resources were high. Visitation rates were strongly associated with petal colour, showing that flower colour is important in mediating these interactions. We conclude that buzz-pollinated plants might be at a competitive disadvantage when many easily accessible pollen sources are available, particularly when competitor species share its floral signals.

FIGURE 4 in Sagittanthera (Hyacinthaceae, Urgineoideae), a new buzz pollinated genus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

FIGURE 4. Sagittanthera cyanelloides (Baker) Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, A.P.Dold & Van Jaarsv. (Libode district, confluence of the Tina and Tsitsa rivers, A.P.Dold s.n., GRA). a−b. Transversal sections of leaves; c−d. Bulb with leaves. Scale bars: a = 5 mm; c = 1 cm.

FIGURE 5 in Sagittanthera (Hyacinthaceae, Urgineoideae), a new buzz pollinated genus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

FIGURE 5. Known distribution of Sagittanthera Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, A.P.Dold, & Van Jaarsv. in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Green circles: S. cyanelloides; Red triangle: S. mzimvubuensis.

FIGURE 6 in Sagittanthera (Hyacinthaceae, Urgineoideae), a new buzz pollinated genus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

FIGURE 6. Sagittanthera mzimvubuensis (Van Jaarsv.) Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, A.P.Dold & Van Jaarsv. at the type locality (lower Mzimvubu River, near Lutengela).

FIGURE 3 in Sagittanthera (Hyacinthaceae, Urgineoideae), a new buzz pollinated genus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

FIGURE 3. Sagittanthera cyanelloides (Baker) Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, A.P.Dold & Van Jaarsv. (Libode district, confluence of the Tina and Tsitsa rivers, A.P.Dold s.n., GRA). a. Plant; b. Flower dissection; c. Bract and bracteole; d. Inflorescence with atypical flowers in the upper part with 4−5 tepals; e. Leaves; f. Bulb scales. Scale bars: 1 cm.

FIGURE 2 in Sagittanthera (Hyacinthaceae, Urgineoideae), a new buzz pollinated genus from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

FIGURE 2. Flowers and pollen release by vibration in Sagittanthera cyanelloides (Baker) Mart.-Azorín, M.B.Crespo, A.P.Dold & Van Jaarsv. (from Libode district, confluence of the Tina and Tsitsa rivers, A.P.Dold s.n., GRA). a. Pedicellate flower with spurred bract and connate anthers, and hidden style; b. Detail of the connate anthers dehiscing by minute apical pores, with style protruding subsequent to pollen release; c−d. Release of pollen grains when a tuning fork is applied to the flower.