Urban vegetation is crucial to sustain urban biodiversity and ecosystem services to urban inhabitants (Gómez-Baggethun & Barton 2013), e.g. temperature and water regulation and space for recreation. Insect pollinators, such as bees, rely on flowering plants for foraging. Although in decline globally, they can sometimes find refuge in urban greenspaces, especially in brownfields and allotment gardens (Baldock 2020). Urban plant composition is therefore important to support pollinator populations. Species composition of urban greenspaces is, however, largely determined by aesthetic preferences and the availability in garden centres (Garbuzov, Alton & Ratnieks 2017; Avolio et al. 2018). This means that, although plants may be selected for their flowers, they do not necessarily provide pollen and nectar resources for insects (Garbuzov & Ratnieks 2014). Studies even show that spontaneous native vegetation can attract more pollinators than purposely planted species (Zaninotto, Fauviau & Dajoz 2023).
In this project, you will study the species composition of urban flowering plants in Malmö, using existing data on flowering plants in public and private urban greenspaces (private backyards/gardens, allotments, parks and green roofs), surveyed May-July/August. You will compile data on plant traits relating to, for example, pollen and nectar production and phenology (seasonality).
Potential research questions are:
- How does greenspace type affect the value of the plant community for pollinators
- How large is the contribution of spontaneous plant species to pollinator resources?
- Are there differences across the season for the above?
- What would a truly “pollinator friendly” planting look like?
This project can be adapted to 15-30 credits.
Contact: Anna Persson (anna.persson@cec.lu.se)
References
Avolio, M.L., Pataki, D.E., Trammell, T.L.E. & Endter-Wada, J. (2018) Biodiverse cities: the nursery industry, homeowners, and neighborhood differences drive urban tree composition. Ecological Monographs, 88, 259-276.
Baldock, K.C.R. (2020) Opportunities and threats for pollinator conservation in global towns and cities. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 38, 63-71.
Garbuzov, M., Alton, K. & Ratnieks, F.L.W. (2017) Most ornamental plants on sale in garden centres are unattractive to flower-visiting insects. PeerJ, 5, e3066.
Garbuzov, M. & Ratnieks, F.L.W. (2014) Listmania: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Lists of Garden Plants to Help Pollinators. BioScience, 64, 1019-1026.
Gómez-Baggethun, E. & Barton, D.N. (2013) Classifying and valuing ecosystem services for urban planning. Ecological Economics, 86, 235-245.
Zaninotto, V., Fauviau, A. & Dajoz, I. (2023) Diversity of greenspace design and management impacts pollinator communities in a densely urbanized landscape: the city of Paris, France. Urban Ecosystems, 26, 503-515.