Insect-pollinators and their interactions with plants differ in disturbed and semi-natural areas: Tanzania’s Southern Highlands case study.

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorOjija, Fredrick
dc.contributor.authorS Adam, Lusekelo
dc.contributor.authorNicholaus , Regan
dc.date.accessioned2026-04-10T08:06:26Z
dc.date.available2026-04-10T08:06:26Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.descriptionThis article was publishing by SCIENCE PROGRESS in 2023
dc.description.abstractDue to inadequate insect-pollinator data, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries like Tanzania, it is difficult to manage and protect these species in disturbed and semi-natural areas. Field surveys were conducted to assess insect-pollinator abundance and diversity and their interactions with plants in disturbed and semi-natural areas in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands using pan traps, sweep netting, transect counts, and timed observations techniques. We found that species diversity and richness of insect-pollinators were high in semi-natural areas, and there was 14.29% more abundance than in disturbed areas. The highest plant-pollinator interactions were recorded in semi-natural areas. In these areas, the total number of visits by Hymenoptera was more than three times that of Coleoptera, while that of Lepidoptera and Diptera was more than 237 and 12 times, respectively. Hymenoptera pollinators had twice the total number of visits of Lepidoptera, and threefold of Coleoptera, and five times more visits than Diptera in disturbed habitats. Although disturbed areas had fewer insect-pollinators and fewer plant–insect–pollinator interactions, our findings indicate that both disturbed and semi-natural areas are potential habitats for insect-pollinators. The study revealed that the over-dominant species Apis mellifera could influence diversity indices and network-level metrics in the study areas. When A. mellifera was excluded from the analysis, the number of interactions differed significantly between insect orders
dc.description.sponsorshipMbeya University of Science and Technology
dc.identifier.otherDOI: 10.1177/00368504231184035
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.must.ac.tz/handle/123456789/536
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSCIENCE PROGRESS
dc.titleInsect-pollinators and their interactions with plants differ in disturbed and semi-natural areas: Tanzania’s Southern Highlands case study.
dc.typeArticle
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ojija-et-al-2023-insect-pollinators-and-their-interactions-with-plants-differ-in-disturbed-and-semi-natural-areas.pdf
Size:
5.14 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed to upon submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles