Pollinating Insects-- Biology, Management and Systematics Research Site Logo
ARS Home About Us Helptop nav spacerContact Us En Espanoltop nav spacer
Printable VersionPrintable Version     E-mail this pageE-mail this page
Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture
Search
  Advanced Search
 
Programs and Projects
Subjects of Investigation
Big Data and Computing
Status of Pollinators
Research Strategy
Research Objectives
Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee
Blue Orchard Bee
Bumble Bees (Bombus)
Bumble Bee Rearing Guide
Ozone to Decontaminate Honey Bee Supers
Small Fruit Pollination
Squash Pollination
 

Research Project: BEE DIVERSITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE BEE POLLINATION SYSTEMS

Location: Pollinating Insects-- Biology, Management and Systematics Research

Title: Breeding biology and bee guild of Douglas' dustymaiden, Chaenactis douglasii (Asteraceae, Helenieae)

Authors
item Cane, James
item Love, Byron
item Swoboda, Katharine -

Submitted to: Western North American Naturalist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 13, 2012
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Dusty Maiden is a widespread if inconspicuous short-lived perennial wildflower that blooms late in spring from sagebrush basins to alpine habitats throughout the Intermountain West. It is proving practical to grow for seed and is expected to be used for western rangeland rehabilitation. Through hand-pollination experiments, the species was found to be only weakly self-fertile; cross-pollination with another plant’s pollen increased seed set 4-fold, a yield that was doubled again by bee visitation to flowers. Bees were sparse at Dusty Maiden flowers, although 175 bee species are known to use its flowers. A native and manageable cavity-nesting mason bee and the honey bee appear most promising for pollinating dusty maiden where it is farmed for seed.

Technical Abstract: Dusty Maiden, Chaenactis douglasii, is a widespread if inconspicuous short-lived perennial wildflower that blooms late in spring from basin sage-steppe to upper montane areas throughout the Intermountain West. It is proving practical to grow for seed and is expected to be used for western rangeland rehabilitation. Through manual pollination experiments, the species was found to be only weakly self-fertile; only 15% of flowers from geitonogamy and autogamy treatments yielded filled achenes. In contrast, 57% of manually outcrossed flowers and 91% of freely-visited flowers in a wild population produced fertile achenes. Although it seems not to be pollinator limited, floral visitors to C. douglasii were sparse, consisting entirely of mostly generalist bees. However, museum specimens from C. douglasii comprise 175 bee species in 39 genera. A population of the manageable mesolectic cavity-nesting bee, Osmia californica, when released at one sage-steppe site, provisioned its cells primarily with pale spiny pollen resembling that of the C. douglasii growing at the site. This bee and the honey bee appear most promising for pollinating dusty maiden being farmed for seed.

   

 
Project Team
James, Rosalind
Pitts Singer, Theresa
Strange, James - Jamie
Cane, James - Jim
Griswold, Terry
 
Publications
   Publications
 
Related National Programs
  Crop Production (305)
 
Related Projects
   FACTORS AFFECTING ALFALFA LEAFCUTTING BEE DEVELOPMENT (MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA)
   EFFECTS OF CROP MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION IN ALFALFA SEED
   SUSTAINING WILD BEE POPULATIONS FOR POLLINATION SERVICES
   COLLABORATIVE DATABASING OF NORTH AMERICAN BEE COLLECTIONS WITHIN A GLOBAL INFORMATICS NETWORK
   BREEDING BIOLOGIES FOR CHAENACTIS DOUGLASII (ASTERACEAE) AND BEE COMMUNITY FATES IN A CHRONOSEQUENCE OF PAST WILDFIRES
   ACHIEVING UNIFORM POLLINATION BY OSMIA LIGNARIA, THE BLUE ORCHARD BEE, BY IMPROVED BEE DISTRIBUTION AND RETENTION
   ASSESSING IMPACT OF FUNGICIDES ON OSMIA LIGNARIA, THE BLUE ORCHARD BEE, AND DETERMINING IMPACT OF BEE NESTING SITE PLACEMENT ON ALMOND YIELD
   COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHALKBROOD IN BEES
   PATHOGEN LOAD IN BUMBLE BEE COMMUNITIES ACROSS AN ELEVATIONAL GRADIENT
   DIVERSITY AND HOST-SPECIFICITY OF CHALKBROOD, A BEE DISEASE
   PROBIOTICS AND CHALKBROOD DISEASE IN THE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTING BEE
   DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE POLLINATION STRATEGIES FOR U.S. SPECIALTY CROPS
   Developing Sustainable Pollination Strategies for California Almonds
 
 
Last Modified: 06/19/2013
ARS Home | USDA.gov | Site Map | Policies and Links 
FOIA | Accessibility Statement | Privacy Policy | Nondiscrimination Statement | Information Quality | USA.gov | White House