Bumblebees

Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation

Second Edition

Dave Goulson

Provides an authoritative and accessible account of bumblebee biology
Builds on the reputation of the first edition, providing a fully revised and comprehensive successor
Incorporates recent advances in active fields of research, including taxonomy, immunity to disease, and foraging behaviour
Focuses on practical issues such as conservation strategies, management of bumblebees for crop pollination, and the possible impacts of bumblebees as non-native invasive species

Bumblebees

Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation

Second Edition

Dave Goulson

Description

Bumblebees are familiar and charismatic insects, occurring throughout much of the world. They are increasingly being used as a model organism for studying a wide range of ecological and behavioural concepts, such as social organization, optimal foraging theories, host-parasite interactions, and pollination. Recently they have become a focus for conservationists due to mounting evidence of range contractions and catastrophic extinctions with some species disappearing from entire continents (e.g. in North America). Only by improving our understanding of their ecology can we devise sensible plans to conserve them. The role of bumblebees as invasive species (e.g. Bombus terrestris in Japan) has also become topical with the growing trade in commercial bumblebee nests for tomato pollination leading to establishment of non-native bumblebees in a number of countries.

Since the publication of the first edition of the book, there have been hundreds of research papers published on bumblebees. There is clearly a continuing need for an affordable, well-illustrated, and appealing text that makes accessible all of the major advances in understanding of the behaviour and ecology of bumblebees that have been made in the last 30 years.

Bumblebees

Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation

Second Edition

Dave Goulson

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Thermoregulation
3. Social Organisation and Conflict
4. Finding a Mate
5. Natural Enemies
6. Foraging Economics
7. Exploitation of Patchy Resources
8. Choice of Flower Species
9. Intraspecific Floral Choices
10. Foraging Cues Gained from Other Bees
11. Competition and Niche Differentiation in Bumblebee Communities
12. Bumblebees as Pollinators
13. Conservation
14. Bumblebees Abroad; Effects of Introduced Bees
References
Index

Bumblebees

Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation

Second Edition

Dave Goulson

Author Information

Prof Dave Goulson has had a lifelong interest in insects, having started collecting butterflies as a small boy. After a degree in Biology at Oxford University and a PhD at Oxford Brookes University, he obtained a lectureship at the University of Southampton in 1995, where he stayed for 11 years. He is now Professor of Biological Sciences and Head of the School of Biological & Environmental Sciences at the University of Stirling. In 2006 he founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a membership-based charity devoted to the active promotion of bee conservation in the UK; the trust now has 3,000 members.

Contributors:

Contributions from Mark J.F. Brown, Juliet L. Osborne, and Ben Darvill

Bumblebees

Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation

Second Edition

Dave Goulson

Reviews and Awards

"This second edition, like the first, covers an impressive breadth of topics on a fascinating group of social bees. This book is a good choice for students just learning about the beguiling world of bumblebees and it will serve as a general reference for research scientists. It is a welcome addition to a growing body of research on these marvelous bees."--The Quarterly Review of Biology

"The author has succeeded in explaining the current knowledge of a wide range of behavioural and ecological topics in a way that makes them accessible to non-specialists. Technical terms are explained, allowing the book to be understood by those with a general knowledge of biology, but without simplifying the issues or being intrusive to a professional entomologist."--Bulletin of the British Ecological Society