Season of prescribed burns and management of an early successional species affect flower density and pollinator activity in a pine savanna ecosystem.

In the age of changing fire regimes, land managers often rely on prescribed burns to promote high diversity of herbaceous plants. Yet, little is known about how the timing of prescribed burns interacts with other ecological factors to maintain biodiversity while restoring fire-adapted ecosystems. We examined how timing of prescribed burns and removal of a dominant, early successional weedy plant yankeeweed (Eupatorium compositifolium) affect flower density and pollinator activity in an early-successional longleaf pine savanna restored from a timber plantation. During the first year of this study, plots received seasonal burn treatments, including unburned control, winter-dry, spring, and summer-wet season burns. During the second year of the study, data on flowers and pollinators were sampled across all plots. In the third year, these seasonal burn treatments were again applied to plots, and data were again collected on flowers and pollinators. In each burn treatment plot, we manipulated the presence of yankeeweed, including one control subplot (no removal) in which yankeeweed was not manipulated and one removal subplot in which yankeeweed was removed, and flowers and pollinators were measured. During the year between burns, flower density was highest in the summer-wet season burn treatment, significantly higher than in the unburned control, while pollinator activity was highest in the summer-wet and spring season burn treatments, significantly higher than the unburned control. During the year in which plots were burned again, flower density was highest in the spring season burn treatment, and pollinators most frequent in both spring and winter-dry season burn treatments, significantly higher than the unburned control. Removing yankeeweed enhanced pollinator activity but only in the year between fire applications. We conclude that prescribed burning enhances floral resource availability and pollinator activity, but the magnitude of these effects depends on when fires are applied. Additionally, removal of yankeeweed can enhance pollinator activity during years between prescribed burns.

Assessing awareness on biodiversity conservation among Nigerians: the Aichi Biodiversity Target 1.

The adoption of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs) was supposed to increase conservation awareness in different countries and regions of the world. However, there seems to be a limited understanding of the importance of ecosystem services, offered by biological diversity. Thus, the continued decline in biodiversity, especially in developing countries. This study appraised the level of success of the first target of Nigeria's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), which is hinged on the first ABT. In a national survey, data were obtained from a total of 1,124 respondents (839 professionals and 285 non-professionals), using a structured questionnaire. Information on the respondents' knowledge of biodiversity conservation and the associated ecosystem services, were elicited. Most of the non-professionals had a low level of understanding of biodiversity concepts (4.9 ± 1.7 to 20.5 ± 3.4%), while there was a moderate level of understanding among the professionals (48.0 ± 8.6 to 88.8 ± 3.4%). Awareness of the NBSAP was low for both groups (43.8 ± 7.2% professionals and 12.1 ± 3.7% non-professionals). The study concludes that there is a need to step up campaigns on biodiversity conservation in Nigeria and promote visits to natural sites. Youth engagement through the employment of graduates of biology-related disciplines, to educate the public on biodiversity conservation and the action plan, could also be a strong determinant to the success of the NBSAP targets.

Insect-flower interaction networks vary among endemic pollinator taxa over an elevation gradient.

Interaction networks are sensitive to elevation gradients through changes in local distribution of interacting partners. Here, we use plant-pollinator interaction network metrics to assess the effect of elevation on flowers and flower-visiting insect assemblages on a sentinel mountain used for monitoring climate change in the flower- and insect-rich Cape Floristic Region. We also use these interaction metrics to explain the effect of environmental factors on the interaction networks. We did this over four vegetation zones <1640m asl, as determined by former botanical studies. Overall, bees were the dominant flower visitors, followed by monkey beetles, and far behind were wasps and flies. The middle elevation zone (650-744 m a.s.l), which is also an ecotone between two distinct botanical zones, had the highest species richness and abundance of interacting plants and insects. Interaction frequency and size of network were also greatest in the middle zone, as were network diversity, generality, and linkage density, while lowest in the peak zone. In sum, there was distinct elevation zoning of flower-visiting insects. The greatest zonal change was between species at the middle compared with peak zone. Large-sized monkey beetles, bees and flies characterized the unique assemblage in the peak zone (1576-1640 m a.s.l.). The insect zonation tracked that of plant assemblages, with air temperature (lapse rate) being the primary driver of bee distribution, with lowest levels in the peak zone. In contrast, beetle distribution was driven mostly by flower assemblages as well as air temperature. In turn, wasp and fly interaction networks were not affected by any of the measured environmental variables. We conclude that increased elevation stress from reduced temperatures, changing abiotic weather conditions (e.g. strong winds at high elevations),and decline in flowering plant composition causes breakdown of interaction networks involving bees and beetles but not that of flies and wasps.