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- Title
Sleeping aggregations of bees in relation to the risk of fire at their roosting sites in a forested, suburban landscape in eastern Australia.
- Authors
Kubiak, P. J.
- Abstract
Sleeping aggregations of at least 13 bee species (from the families Halictidae, Apidae, Colletidae and Megachilidae) were observed in the forested and fire-prone landscape of the Lane Cove River valley, in suburban, northern Sydney, NSW, Australia, during the years 2002-2012. Bees were often found roosting at sites subjectively assessed as having a lower risk of being burnt. The fire risk of the observed sleeping aggregation sites may have been reduced by bees: 1. roosting in smaller vegetation patches, separated by a clearing from larger, nearby areas of vegetation; or 2. roosting in areas of vegetation recently burnt by fire and therefore at a reduced risk of burning; or 3. roosting at or near the edges of vegetation, giving them a chance to escape into adjacent cleared areas, if a fire arrived when there was enough light for the bees to see and fly away; or 4. roosting at or near the edges of tracks or trails, which might act as fire breaks in the event of lower intensity fires; or 5. using combinations of some of the above four 'strategies'. This study suggests that sleeping aggregations of bees in this fire-prone area generally appeared to have a tendency to occupy roosting sites that were at a lower risk of being burnt, or sites that probably provided more opportunities for the bees to escape an approaching fire. There are a few indications in the published literature that some bee and wasp species in other fire-prone regions of the world may also have a tendency to occupy lower fire risk roosting sites.
- Subjects
SYDNEY (N.S.W.); AUSTRALIA; BEES; FIRES; WASPS; SLEEP behavior in animals
- Publication
Victorian Naturalist, 2013, Vol 130, Issue 1, p22
- ISSN
0042-5184
- Publication type
Article