Interestingly, we've seen the opposite pattern in the midwestern U.S. (https://peerj.com/articles/838/).

This suggests to me that the broad categories of "urban" and "agricultural" may not be particularly helpful in discussing bee ecology. Ignoring, for now, questions of agrochemicals and industrial pollutants, the suitability of a habitat for bees is essentially a function of the floral resources that habitat possesses (in terms of abundance, quality, diversity, seasonal availability, etc.). So the question becomes, are there characteristically "urban" and "agricultural" patterns of floral resources?

I think the answer is yes and no. I suspect that a thorough comparison of urban vs. agricultural flora (which I don't think has ever been done) would show distinct differences. I would argue, though, that the variation within each of these categories is just as important as the variation between them. Each category no doubt includes instances that are highly favorable for bees and instances that are highly unfavorable. 

So, I think the most pressing research question is not "Which is better, urban or agricultural?" but rather "What specific characteristics of urban and agricultural landscapes are favorable for bees, and how can we manage both types of landscapes to optimize these characteristics?"

Doug

Douglas Sponsler
Graduate Research Associate
Department of Entomology
The Ohio State University
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