Floral resource quantification and imbalance in food supply and bees’ predicted presence in the Netherlands

Abstract

The number of pollinator species in the Netherlands is declining, critically pressuring systems depending on their pollination function in the ecosystem. This includes ensuring the pollination of most of the grown crops for food supply to human populations. Additionally, society faces the threat of bee diversity loss in the Netherlands, and worldwide. This research entails the spatial quantification of pollen and nectar in the Netherlands over the months in 2022. It encompasses different methods of quantification, from measuring an attractiveness proxy based on predicted presence (SDMs) to attributing production values based on the plant communities present in different land uses and the classification of urban areas into different land uses. It yields into monthly distributions and a yearly average nectar production map which was compared to bee diversity distribution. This allowed to identify areas imbalanced in food supply and demand that require extra attention. These results can then be handed to decision makers for development of better management practices regarding social, technical, or governmental implementations. It could ensure an increase in the amounts of pollen and nectar and further help the conservation of critical species. The findings are that the natural areas are the only ones with a matching high bee diversity and high nectar production. The production in itself is evenly distributed geographically. Over the months, the production of both pollen and nectar reaches a peak in spring while nectar production has a second peak in autumn. On average, the methods yield into different peaks of production for nectar, either May or September. This study lays as a foundation for future research through the identification of missing information in literature. It creates a methodological pathway and highlights what could be obtained from a similar research with more data available.