Eur. J. Entomol. 102 (4): 809-812, 2005

Anthropogenic induced changes in nesting densities of the dune-specialised digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Dries BONTE
Department of Biology, Research Unit Terrestrial Ecology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium;

Data on nesting densities of Bembix rostrata, a digger wasp inhabiting dynamic coastal dunes, were used to document the detrimental effects of trampling by cattle and vacationers. Both types of disturbance resulted in similar sand displacement and prey availability. Nesting densities of Europe's largest digger wasp declined dramatically with increasing trampling, probably below the critical population size. Hence, additional human disturbance, although resulting in similar environmental conditions compared to natural disturbance, significantly affected local population sizes. As a result, anthropogenic has to be avoided disturbance in order to restore or conserve natural dynamics and efforts to restore natural dynamics in a more natural way should be promoted. Although this is here only documented for one, large specialised invertebrate, the application of traditional management techniques, such as grazing by large herbivores, within newly evolved landscapes may introduce new pressures that affect pre-adapted species to natural disturbances negatively within short time spans.

Keywords: Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Bembix rostrata, disturbance, population density, recreation, trampling

Received: January 31, 2005; Revised: May 5, 2005; Accepted: May 5, 2005; Published: November 3, 2005  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
BONTE, D. (2005). Anthropogenic induced changes in nesting densities of the dune-specialised digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). EJE, 102(4), 809-812
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. BACH C.E. 2001: Long-term effects of insect herbivory and sand accretion on plant succession on sand dunes. Ecology 82: 1401-1416 Go to original source...
    2. BONTE D., BAERT L. & MAELFAIT J.-P. 2002: Spider assemblage structure and stability in a heterogeneous coastal dune system (Belgium). J. Arachnol. 30: 331-343 Go to original source...
    3. BONTE D., CRIEL P., VANHOUTTE L., VAN THOURNOUT I. & MAELFAIT J.-P. 2004: The importance of habitat productivity, stability and heterogeneity for spider species richness in coastal grey dunes along the North Sea and its implications for conservation. Biodiv. Conserv. 13: 2119-2134 Go to original source...
    4. BOUGHTON D. & MALVADKAR U. 2002: Extinction risk in successional landscapes subject to catastrophic disturbances. Conserv. Ecol. 6(2): 2. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/ vol6/iss2/art2/
    5. DENNY M.W., HELMUTH B., LEONARD G.H., HARLEY C.D.G., HUNT L.J.H. & NELSON E.K. 2004: Quantifying scale in ecology: Lessons from a wave-swept shore. Ecol. Monogr. 74: 513-532 Go to original source...
    6. FRANKS S.J. & PETERSON C.J. 2003: Burial disturbance leads to facilitation among coastal dune plants. Plant Ecol. 168: 13-21 Go to original source...
    7. GESS F.W. & GESS S.K. 1993: Effects of increased land utilisation on species representation and diversity of aculeate wasps and bees in the semi-arid areas of Southern Africa. In Lasalle J. & Gauld I.D. (eds): Hymenoptera and Biodiversity. CAB International, Wallingford, UK, pp. 83-113
    8. HENLE K., DAVIES K.F., KLEYER M., MARGULES C., SETTELE J. 2004: Predictors of species sensitivity to fragmentation. Biodiv. Conserv. 13: 207-251 Go to original source...
    9. HOBBS R.J. & YATES C.J. 2003: Impacts of ecosystem fragmentation on plant populations: generalising the idiosyncratic. Austr. J. Bot. 51: 471-88 Go to original source...
    10. JUN R., CLEMENT R.B. & ROZE F. 2004: Primary succession of bryophyte and lichen communities in non-forested Atlantic coastal dunes: the example of the Pointe d'Arcay (France). Nova Hedwigia 78: 453-468 Go to original source...
    11. KALIVODOVA E., KUBICEK F., BEDRNA Z., KALIVODA H., GAVLAS V., KOLLAR J., GAJDOS P., STEPANOVICOVA O. & WIESBAUER H. 2002: Viate piesky Slovenska. [Sand Dunes of Slovakia.] Luka-Press, Bratislava, 60 pp
    12. KEARNS C.A. & INOUYE D.W. 1997: Pollinators, flowering plants and conservation biology. BioScience 47: 297-307 Go to original source...
    13. KLEIN W. 1999: De graafwespen van de Benelux. [The Digger Wasps of the Benelux.] Supplement. Jeugdbondsuitgeverij, Leiden, 37 pp
    14. KOWALCHUK G.A., DE SOUZA F.A. & VAN VEEN J.A. 2002: Community analysis of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi associated with Ammophila arenaria in Dutch coastal sand dunes. Molec. Ecol. 11: 571-581 Go to original source...
    15. LAMOOT I., MEERT C. & HOFFMANN M. 2005: Habitat use of ponies and cattle foraging together in a coastal dune area. Biol. Conserv. 122: 523-536 Go to original source...
    16. LARSSON F.K. 1986: Increased nest density of the digger wasp Bembix rostrata as a response to parasites and predators (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Entomol. Gen. 12: 71-75. Go to original source...
    17. MAGURA T., TOTHMERESZ B. & MOLNAR T. 2004: Changes in carabid beetle assemblages along an urbanisation gradient in the city of Debrecen, Hungary. Landsc. Ecol. 19: 747-759 Go to original source...
    18. NIELSEN E.T. 1945: Moeurs des Bembex. Spol. Zool. M. Hauniensis 7: 1-174
    19. PEETERS T.M.J., ACHTERBERG C. VAN, HEITMANS W.R.B., KLEIN W.F., LEFEBER V., VAN LOON A.J., MABELIS A.A., NIEUWENHUYSEN H., REEMER H., DE ROND J., SMIT J. & VELTHUIS H.H.W. 2004: De wespen en mieren van Nederland (Hymenoptera: Aculeata). (Nederlandse Fauna deel 6). [The Wasps and Ants of the Netherlands (Hymenoptera: Aculeata).] Naturalis en KNNV, 507 pp
    20. POTTS S.G., VULLIAMY B., DAFNI A., NE'EMAN G., WILLMER P. 2003: Linking bees and flowers: How do floral communities structure pollinator communities? Ecology 84: 2628-2642 Go to original source...
    21. PROVOOST S. 2004: Het kustecosysteem. In Provoost S. & Bonte D. (eds): Levende duinen. Een overzicht van de biodiversiteit in de Vlaamse kuststreek. [The Coastal Ecosystem. In: Living Dunes. An Overview of the Biodiversity along the Flemish Coast.] Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud, Brussels, pp. 10-45
    22. PROVOOST S. & BONTE D. 2004: Specificiteit van soorten en hun gebruik als bio-indicatoren voor schor en duin. In Provoost S. & Bonte D. (eds): Levende duinen. Een overzicht van de biodiversiteit in de Vlaamse kuststreek. [Specificity of Species and their Use as Bio-Indicators for Dune and Saltmarsh. In: Living Dunes. An Overview of the Biodiversity along the Flemish Coast.] Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud, Brussels, pp. 366-415
    23. PROVOOST S., AMPE C., BONTE D., COSYNS E. & HOFFMANN M. 2004: Ecology, management and monitoring of dune grasslands in Flanders, Belgium. J. Coastal Conserv. 10: 33-42 Go to original source...
    24. SCHONE H. & TENGO J. 1981: Competition of males, courtship behaviour and chemical communication in the digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Behaviour 77: 44-66 Go to original source...
    25. SCHONE H., TENGO J., KUHME D., SCHONE H., & KUHME L. 1993: Homing with or without sight of surroundings and sky during displacement in the digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 5: 549-552
    26. SNYDER R.A. & BOSS C.L. 2002: Recovery and stability in barrier island plant communities. J. Coast. Res. 18: 530-536
    27. STEFFAN-DEWENTER I. & LESCHKE K. 2003: Effects of habitat management on vegetation and above-ground nesting bees and wasps of orchard meadows in Central Europe. Biodiv. Conserv. 12: 1953-1968 Go to original source...
    28. TENGO J., SCHONE H. & CHMURZYNSKI J. 1990: Homing in the digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) in relation to sex and age. Ethology 86: 47-56 Go to original source...
    29. TENGO J., SCHONE H., KUHME W.D., SCHONE H. & KUHME L. 1996: Nesting cycle and homing in the digger wasp Bembix rostrata (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 8: 207-211 Go to original source...
    30. VAN DER MEER F. 2002: De angeldragers van Meijendel. [The wasps of Meijendel.] Entomol. Ber. Amsterdam 62: 14-16
    31. WHITE P.S. & JENTSCH A. 2001: The search for generality in studies of disturbance and ecosystem dynamics. Progr. Botany 62: 399-450 Go to original source...
    32. WIEGAND T., DEAN W., RICHARD J. & MILTON S. 1997: Simulated plant population response to small-scale disturbances in semiarid shrublands. J. Veget. Sci. 8: 163-176 Go to original source...
    33. ZEGERS T. 2001: Het belang van de duinen voor de Nederlandse Insectenfauna. [The importance of the coastal dune area for the Dutch insect fauna.] Duin 24: 32-35

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content