• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.265-271
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• 2018

Background: Temperature-driven variation in pollinator assemblage and activity are important information, especially at high altitudes, where rising temperature trends exceed global levels. Temporal patterns of pollinators in a flowering season can be used as a proxy to predict the changes of high-altitude plants' mutualistic relationships. We observed a spring temperature change in one population of a high-altitude endemic species, Megaleranthis saniculifolia on Mt. Sobaeksan, and related it to pollinator assemblage and activity changes. Methods: This study was conducted at two sites, each facing different slopes (NE and NW), for two times in the spring of 2013 (early-flowering, April 27-28, vs. mid-flowering, May 7-8, 2013). We confirmed that the two sites were comparable in snowmelt regime, composition of flowering plants, and flower density, which could affect pollinator assemblage and activity. Pollinator assemblage and activity were investigated at three quadrats ($1m^2$ with 5-m distance) for each site, covering a total of 840 min observation for each site. We analyzed correlations between the temperature and visitation frequency. Results: Twelve pollinator species belonging to four orders were observed for M. saniculifolia at both sites during early- and mid-flowering times. Diptera (five species) and hymenopteran species (four species) were the most abundant pollinators. Pollinator richness increased at both sites toward the mid-flowering time [early vs. mid = 7 (NE) and 3 (NW) vs. 9 (NE) and 5 (NW)]. Compared to the early-flowering time, visitation frequency showed a fourfold increase in the mid-flowering time. With the progression of spring, major pollinators changed from flies to bees. Upon using data pooled over both sites and flowering times, hourly visitation frequency was strongly positively correlated with hourly mean air temperature. Conclusions: The spring temperature change over a relatively brief flowering period of M. saniculifolia at high altitudes can alter pollinator assemblages through pollinator dominance and visitation frequency changes. Thus, this study emphasizes information on intra- and inter-annual variations in the mutualistic relationship between pollinators and M. saniculifolia to further assess the warming impacts on M. saniculifolia's reproductive fitness.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.256-262
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• 2024

Background: Research investigating the relationship between latitude and network specialization plant-pollinator networks present conflicting results. While some studies indicate a positive link between latitude and network specialization, particularly in tropical regions, others suggest contradictory trends, with specialization declining towards lower latitudes. These studies underscore the intricate nature of ecological specialization in plant-pollinator networks and the need for further studies in this field to gain a more nuanced understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving these patterns. In this study, we explore the relationship between plant-pollinator network specialization and latitude using a global dataset comprising 93 plant-pollinator networks. Results: Our analysis revealed a significant relationship with latitude mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly concerning metrics such as connectance and nestedness. However, notably, we found no association with H2, a metric immune to the size, shape, or sampling effects of the network and considered highly suitable for measuring network specialization in both Hemispheres. Conclusions: The absence of latitudinal trends in network specialization (H2) in both Hemispheres in this study imply that the mutual attraction between plants and pollinators remains relatively stable across various latitudes. Our comparison with prior research highlights the diversity of conclusions regarding how latitude influences plant-pollinator networks. While our results are consistent with certain studies, indicating no direct impact of latitude on network specialization, discrepancies persist.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.149-153
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• 2022

The degree distribution of the plant-pollinator network was identified by analyzing the data in the ecosystem and reproduced by a model of the growing bipartite mutualistic networks. The degree distribution of pollinator shows power law or stretched exponential distribution, while plant usually shows stretched exponential distribution. In the growth model, the plant and the pollinator are selected with probability P_p and P_A=1-P_p, respectively. The number of incoming links for the plant and the pollinator is l_p and l_A, respectively. The probability that the link of the plant selects the pollinator of the existing network given as $A_{k_i}=k^{{\lambda}_A}_i/{\sum}_i\;k^{{\lambda}_A}_i$, and the probability that the pollinator selects the plant is $P_{k_i}=k^{{\lambda}_p}_i/{\sum}_i\;k^{{\lambda}_p}_i$. When the nonlinear growth index is 𝛌_X=1 (X=A or P), the degree distribution follows a power law, and if 0≤𝛌_X<1, the degree distribution follows a stretched exponential distribution. The cumulative degree distributions of plants and pollinators of 14 empirical plant-pollinators included in Interaction Web Database were calculated. A set of parameters (P_A,P_P,l_A,l_P) that reproduces these cumulative degree distributions and a growth index 𝛌_X (X=A or P) were obtained. We found that animal takes very heterogenous connections, whereas plant takes a more flexible connection network.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.126-135
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• 2022

Background: Pollinators are important ecological elements due to their role in the maintenance of ecosystem health, wild plant reproduction, crop production and food security. The pollinator-plant interaction supports the preservation of plant and animal populations and it also improves the yield in pollination dependent crops. Having knowledge about the plant-pollinator interaction is necessary for development of pesticide risk assessment of pollinators and conservation of endangering species. Results: Traditional methods to discover the relatedness of insects and plants are based on tracing the visiting pollinators by field observations as well as palynology. These methods are time-consuming and needs expert taxonomists to identify different groups of pollinators such as insects or identify flowering plants through palynology. With pace of technology, using molecular methods become popular in identification and classification of organisms. DNA metabarcoding, which is the combination of DNA barcoding and high throughput sequencing, can be applied as an alternative method in identification of mixed origin environmental samples such as pollen loads attached to the body of insects and has been used in DNA-based discovery of plant-pollinator relationship. Conclusions: DNA metabarcoding is practical for plant-pollinator studies, however, lack of reference sequence in online databases, taxonomic resolution, universality of primers are the most crucial limitations. Using multiple molecular markers is preferable due to the limitations of developed universal primers, which improves taxa richness and taxonomic resolution of the studied community.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2013

This research was carried out for revealing the co-relationships between insect-pollinators and the plant species of Labiatae and Umbelliferae, insects visiting in flower and the flowers in Korea, were studied from April 2010 to August 2012. The sum of flower visiting degrees in Labiatae are shown 21 in Hymenoptera, 16 in Lepidoptera, and the lowest 1 in Diptera and Coleoptera, respectively. The sum of flower visiting degrees in Umbelliferae are shown 27 in Diptera, 24 in Hymenoptera, 21 in Coleoptera, and 13 in Lepidoptera, respectively. 17 pollinator species visited the flower of Angelica gigas, next 15 pollinator species did the flower of Agastache rugosa, 13 pollinator species did the flower of Prunella vulgaris var. lilacina. 13 pollinator species foraged on the flower of Peucedanum terebinthaceum. and then 11 pollinator species on the flower of Angelica dahurica. Only 1 pollinator species visited the flower of Clinopodium chinense var. grandiflora and Isodon excisus. Pollinators of Coleoptera and Diptera visit more frequently to the flowers of Umbelliferae than those of Labiatae. Pollinators of Lepidoptera and Diptera visit more frequently white flower than purple one. This study found out that mutualistic relations between plants and insect pollinators in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.207-213
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• 2022

An effective pollinator was investigated based on visiting insects to confirm the pollination mechanism of Impatiens furcillata Hemsl. (cheo-jin-mul-bong-seon), an annual herb that is also a species endemic to Korea that has hardly been studied in relation to pollination ecology. The insects that visited the group of I. furcillata studied here consisted of four orders, 11 families, and 16 species; Hymenoptera had seven species (43.8%), Lepidoptera had four (25.0%), Diptera four (25.0%), and Hemiptera one (6.2%). Visiting insects were divided into those that took only nectar, those that took nectar and pollen, and those that took neither. Insects that are effective for pollination are judged considering the length and body type of their mouth parts, and Amegilla florea Smith (huin-jul-beol) is judged to be the most effective pollinator in the survey area. As a result of observing pollination behavior, when visiting a flower, A. florea, which extended its glossa, approached the front, landed on a wing petal of I. furcillata, crawled into the flower tube, and then backed up and reversed its steps, with pollen adhered to its back. The findings here present basic information about species biology related to both I. furcillata and A. florea.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2019

Pollinators play important roles for crop production as well as maintenance of wild plants' reproduction. Pollinator dependency in Korean agriculture have increased, but the degradation of habitat quality pose significant threats to pollination in agroecosystem. Provisioning flower habitat is one of the major activities to increase pollinator abundance and richness. We tested the effect of flower habitat supplementation on the pollinator, pest and natural enemy abundance in pepper field. Results showed that Hymenopteran pollinators were more abundant in the pepper plots close to the flower habitat. Among natural enemies, the similar pattern from pollinators was observed to parasitoids in the family of Eulophidae, but not to those of Ichneumonidae. There were no statistically significant differences of insect pests like aphids and thrips, as well as pepper production among plots in the pepper field. Even limited spatial scale, this study showed supplementing the flowering plant habitat to the agricultural landscape could conserve and boost pollinators and natural enemies, and possibly resulting better fruit production by pollination service.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.18-30
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• 2022

Background: Bees and flowering plants associations were initially began during the early Cretaceous, 120 million years ago. This coexistence has led to a mutual relationship where the plant serves as food and in return, the bee help them their reproduction. Animals pollinate about 75% of food crops worldwide, with bees as the world's primary pollinator. In general, bees rely on flower scents to locate blooming flowers as visual clue is limited and also their host plants from a distance. In this review, an attempt is made to collect some relevant 107 published papers from three scientific databases, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science database, covering the period from 1959 to 2021. Results: Flowering plants are well documented to actively emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, only a few of them are important for eliciting behavioral responses in bees. In this review, fifty-three volatile organic compounds belonging to different class of compounds, mainly terpenoids, benzenoids, and volatile fatty acid derivatives, is compiled here from floral scents that are responsible for eliciting behavioral responses in bees. Bees generally use honest floral signals to locate their host plants with nectar and pollen-rich flowers. Thus, honest signaling mechanism plays a key role in maintaining mutualistic plant-pollinator associations. Conclusions: Considering the fact that floral scents are the primary attractants, understanding and identification of VOCs from floral scent in plant-pollinator networks are crucial to improve crop pollination. Interestingly, current advances in both VOCs scent gene identification and their biosynthetic pathways make it possible to manipulate particular VOCs in plant, and this eventually may lead to increase in crop productivity.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.294-298
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• 2012

In sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) growing there are several severe problem which have to be overcome to produce highly graded fruits because of fruit rots and fruit crackings, if there is frequent precipitation during immature fruit step and picking season. In order to reduce fungicide sprayings and produce qualified fruits in areas with rainy season like as South Korea, rain-sheltered growing is necessary absolutely. Sweet cherry blooms early to medium April in southern area of South Korea. If we depend on honeybees (Apis mellifera) distributed in natural ecosystem, it is not easy to get normal fruit-set every season because of low temperature around blooming time. And also bee keepers seldom sell honeybee hives as a pollinator during spring, instead they keep honeybee hives to get honey. Recently use of B. terrestris as a pollinator of cherry tomato, oriental pumpkin etc. grown in protected cultivation system increase abundantly. Therefore, in this study we studied B. terrestris as an alternate of honeybee to pollinate sweet cherry grown in rain shelter. In part of foraging activity B. terrestris shows staying on a cherry flower for about six second and visiting frequency of 11 flowers per minute. However A. mellifera stayed about 15 second on a flower and visited 4~5 flowers per minute. There were no significant difference in fruit-setting rate and fruit characteristics after using B. terrestris and A. mellifera as pollinators of sweet cherry. Consequently there is no negative effect when we use B. terrestris as an alternate pollinator of A. mellifera in sweet cherry cultivation under rain shelter.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 2012

To search for the co-relationships between insect-pollinators and the plant species of Asteraceae, insects visiting in flower and the flowers in Korea, were studied from April 2010 to October 2011. The sum of flower visiting degrees are shown 38 in Lepidoptera, 38 in Diptera, 36 in Hymenoptera, and the lowest 6 in Coleoptera, respectively. 65 insect species are identified pollinators, Hymenoptera 13 species(Apidae 11 sp., Formicidae 2 sp.), Lepidoptera 29 species(Pieridae 5sp., Nymphalidae 12 sp., Satyridae 3 sp., Hesperirdae 3 sp., Lycaenidae 2 sp., Danaidae 1 sp., Moth 2 sp.), Diptera 16 species(Tachinidae 1 sp., Syrphidae 12 sp., Muscidae 1sp., Others 2 sp.), and Coleoptera 6 species(Cetoniidae 1 sp., Cermbycidae 3 sp., Chrysomelidae 1 sp., Mordellidae 1 sp.). 31 pollinator species visits the flower of $Erigeron$ $annuus$, next 15 pollinator species does the flower of $Eupatorium$ $japonicum$, and then 13 pollinator species does the flower of $Aster$ $ageratoides$. Only 2 pollinator species visit the flower of $Tephroseris$ $kirilowii$, $Ixeridium$ $dentatum$, $Inula$ $britannica$ var. $japonica$, $Carduus$ $crispus$, $Ligularia$ $fischeri$, $Ainsliaea$ $acerifolia$, $Synurus$ $deltoides$, $Cirsium$ $setidens$, $Crepidiastrum$ $enticulatum$ and $Dendranthema$ $boreale$. Pollinators of Lepidoptera visit more frequently white flower than yellow or purple one. This study found out that mutualisic relations between plants and insect pollinators is carried out in Korea.