SYDNEY, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A study unveiled by Australia's Curtin University on Thursday found that introduced European honeybee may cause local bee population decline or extinction when they need to fight for limited nectar and pollen source.
Published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, the research found competition between the native bees and the introduced European honeybees could be particularly intense in residential gardens dominated by non-native flowers, and occurred when the bees shared the same flower preferences.
The research, conducted for over two years in urban gardens and areas of native vegetation on the Swan Coastal Plain in Perth of Western Australia, also revealed a complex relationship between native and introduced bees.
"Not all native bee species were impacted, but when native bees preferred many of the same flower species as honeybees or were of larger body size, meaning they needed more food, this was when honeybees had a negative impact on native bees," said lead author of the research, Forrest Foundation scholar Kit Prendergast from the university's School of Molecular and Life Sciences.
"This occurs due to resource competition, where honeybees were more successful at exploiting food resources from flowers, leaving not enough nectar and pollen to support native bee populations," she said.
Prendergast said planting more flowering plants, particularly those preferred by vulnerable species of native bees, could help prevent them from declining in number. Controlling the density of honeybees would also be critical in reducing the pressure on vulnerable native bees.
"European honeybees have been introduced around the world and pose an added threat to many native bee species already at risk of declining numbers or even extinction due to increasing urbanisation," she said. Enditem
