Abstract:

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between pollinating insects (bee, butterfly and gophers) and environmental factors in urban green corridors, providing a scientific basis for the conservation of urban pollinators and the construction and optimisation of urban green corridors in the future. Method: Five typical green corridors in the built-up area of Hefei City, Anhui Province were used as research objects, and correlation and regression analyses were carried out on the collected data of corridor environmental factors and pollinators’ diversity indicators, and a fitting model was constructed to explore the relationship between pollinators and environmental factors. Result: 1) A total of 5 860 pollinators, belonging to 3 orders, 17 families, 50 genera and 77 species, were recorded in 15 sample plots during the 6-month survey. Among them, Lepidoptera had the highest abundance, and the dominant families were Lycaenidae and Apidae. 2) The habitats of green railway corridors, high-pressure corridors, and river corridors were more attractive to pollinators, and there were large differences in similarity of the composition of pollinators among different types of green corridors. 3) Species richness, multiplicity, and Shannon index were significantly positively correlated with nectar plant richness, soil pH, flowering multiplicity of nectar plants, and bare ground coverage (P<0.05), and significantly negatively correlated with forest canopy closure, degree of human disturbance, and soil humidity (P<0.05). 4) The optimal fitting model showed that forest canopy closure, flowering multiplicity and richness of nectar plants in corridors were the important environmental factors affecting the survival and reproduction of pollinators. 5) The exotic invasive species in the corridor accounted for 21.92% of the total surveyed plant families, and some invasive plants had high nectar value for pollinators, however, which increased the risk of pollinators spreading non-native species through urban corridors. Conclusion: There are significant differences in the distribution of pollinator communities in different types of urban green corridors, and environmental factors such as flowering multiplicity and richness of nectar plants, canopy closure, and the degree of human interference are important factors influencing the characteristics of pollinator communities in urban corridors.

Key words: urban green corridors, pollinating insects, vegetation structure, environmental characteristics