Project description
Impact of landscape on the distribution of insect pollinators
Decline in insect pollinators is a major concern. The EU-funded Happybee project will investigate their relationship with small- versus large-scale agriculture, forest proximity and crop type, and review the abundance of different species. The research fellow will also study bumblebee colony traffic rate, colony growth rate, queen brood cells and pollen baskets using DNA metabarcoding, in addition to conducting homing experiments to increase our understanding of pollinator movements and navigation in the agricultural landscape. The project will apply a combination of agroecology, movement ecology and landscape ecology techniques to gain insights into pollinator distribution, fitness, movements and food production. The findings will benefit agricultural producers and policy-makers and contribute towards increasing the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes for biodiversity.
Objective
This project will investigate pollinator distribution, spillover, colony fitness, and individual navigation capacity in the agricultural landscape and their relationships with small- vs. large-scale agriculture, forest proximity, and crop type (wheat vs. oilseed rape). The project is divided into four work packages (WPs). In WP1 I will conduct a meta-analysis following a systematic review on how abundances of different pollinator species are related to the gradient from the field edge towards field centre (the edge effect). In WP2 I will study bumblebee colony traffic rate, colony growth rate, queen brood cells, and pollen baskets (consumed food diversity) using DNA meta-barcoding. In WP3 I will use a novel approach combining marking bumblebees with RFID tags with a homing experiment to increase understanding of pollinator movements and navigation capacity in the agricultural landscape. In WP4 I will communicate the ongoing work and results of the project via scientific and popular-science articles, as well as blog posts and other information-sharing channels.
The major innovation of this proposal is the combination of methods used in agroecology, movement ecology and landscape ecology. My project includes large-scale fieldwork studies in Hungary and Austria. The study results will enable me to draw more robust conclusions about pollinator distribution, fitness, movements, agroecology, food production, and target the highest-level ecological and multidisciplinary journals. I will target my project results to communicate my findings to a wide audience including consultation with policy makers, stakeholders, agricultural producers and the general public. The project results will also have implications for increasing the effectiveness of agri-environment schemes for biodiversity.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology landscape ecology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agroecology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds oilseeds
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1113 Budapest
Hungary
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.