WP2 - Pollinators and flower supply
WP2 is dedicated to the survey of pollinator communities and quantification of flower supply. For this purpose, 1) transect surveys and sound recordings as well as 2) quantification of flower supply will be carried out.

1) Transect surveys and sound recordings
Transect walks will be carried out to record honeybees and wild bees in the 32 landscapes. The bees are captured with insect nets and subsequently identified to species level in the laboratory or by experts. In addition, the plant species visited will be recorded to quantify resource use, plant-pollinator interaction networks, and possible pathogen transmission pathways.
Sound recordings of pollinator activity and their flight sounds (buzzes) in transect plots will be conducted to test newer, cost-effective, and innovative recording methods for non-invasive insect monitoring. Low-cost sound recording devices (Audiomoth, Open Acoustics Devices) will be used to record the activity of pollinators in transect plots and to assign characteristic flight sounds to specific taxonomic groups (e.g., bumblebees, honeybees, hoverflies) by direct observations at the microphones. If acoustic surveys prove to be an unsuitable method, we will focus exclusively on transect surveys to record pollinator abundance in the second year of the project.

2) Quantification of flower abundance
Since the abundance of pollinators, their diversity and activity are influenced by the local flower availability, the flower supply in all transect areas will be quantified. For this purpose, after each transect all flowering plants will be determined on species level and additionally the flower cover per plant species (%) will be estimated. Since different habitats are studied, the spatial and temporal variability of flowering plant species in the most attractive, flower-rich habitats (including the ecologically managed areas) can be estimated at the landscape level, i.e. within a radius of 500 m around the central study area.