2024
ND Soybean and Pollinators: Beginning to Investigate Their Potential Interactions and Mutual Benefits
Contributor/Checkoff:
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
Biotic stressCrop protectionField management Pest
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Jason P Harmon, North Dakota State University
Co-Principal Investigators:
Torre Hovick, North Dakota State University
Kevin Sedivec, North Dakota State University
+1 More
Project Code:
NDSC 2024 Agr 12
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
Leveraged Funding (Non-Checkoff):
N/A
Institution Funded:
Brief Project Summary:
Pollinating insects such as the honeybee are a crucial part of the North Dakota landscape. Because soybeans do not require a pollinator, they are not often associated with pollinators. Research from other regions indicate that pollinators can substantially increase soybean productivity. Yet, there is tremendous variation among these studies. Soybean flowers can be very attractive to many different pollinators, because of their high-quality and abundant nectar. While soybean only flowers for a discrete time period, their rewards could be valuable to pollinators. Objectives of this project include finding which pollinator species are collecting soybean pollen; and measuring the floral rewards (nectar and pollen) that soybeans provide.
Key Beneficiaries:
#agronomists, #entomologists, #extension specialists, #farmers
Unique Keywords:
#honey bees, #insects and pests, #nectar, #pollen, #pollinator, #pollinators, #soybean yield
Information And Results
Project Summary

Soybeans are a crucial part of the North Dakota landscape, as are pollinating insects such as the honey bee. However, because soybeans do not require a visit by a pollinator, we often do not associate soybeans and pollinators with each other. Recent research suggests this might be a major missed opportunity for both soybeans and pollinators.
Research from other regions indicates that pollinator management can substantially increase soybean productivity. Yet, there is tremendous variation among studies in how much pollinators benefit soybeans. This means a lot more research is needed to evaluate when and how this idea could become a reliable option for ND farmers.
There may also be an opportunity for soybeans to benefit pollinators. Soybean flowers can be very attractive to pollinators, especially soybean flowers’ high quality and abundant nectar. Both the nectar and pollen soybean flowers produce can be a tremendous resource to many different pollinators, but what pollinators actually visit ND soybeans has not been researched. While soybean only flowers for a discrete time period, this flush of rewards could be incredibly valuable to pollinators that can take advantage of it. This could include honey bees that could be moved near flowering fields. Yet, little work has quantified soybean floral rewards, how they vary, and how pollinators could take advantage of them.

Project Objectives

1. Reveal which pollinator species are visiting and collecting pollen from ND soybean.
2. Measure the floral rewards (nectar and pollen) provided by North Dakota soybean.

Project Deliverables

A report of pollinators that visit soybean fields in central North Dakota, including their relative abundance and frequency of those carrying soybean pollen.
A report of floral rewards obtained from soybean flowers and how those values differ across common soybean varieties and environmental conditions.
This information will help in developing the long-term deliverables of creating research and extension outputs that explain and demonstrate the potential benefits of integrating pollinators and North Dakota soybeans.

Progress Of Work

Updated January 5, 2024:
Research Project Title: North Dakota Soybeans & Pollinators: Beginning to Investigate Their Potential Interactions and Mutual Benefits
Principal Investigator: Jason Harmon, North Dakota State University
Co-Investigators: Torre Hovick and Kevin Sedivec, North Dakota State University

Research Overview
Soybeans are a crucial part of the North Dakota landscape, as are pollinating insects such as the honey bee. However, because soybeans do not require a visit by a pollinator, we often do not associate soybeans and pollinators with each other. Recent research suggests this might be a major missed opportunity for both soybeans and pollinators.

Research from other regions indicates that pollinator management can substantially increase soybean productivity. Yet, there is tremendous variation among studies in how much pollinators benefit soybeans. This means a lot more research is needed to evaluate when and how this idea could become a reliable option for ND farmers.

There may also be an opportunity for soybeans to benefit pollinators. Soybean flowers can be very attractive to pollinators, especially soybean flowers’ high quality and abundant nectar. Both the nectar and pollen soybean flowers produce can be a tremendous resource to many different pollinators, but what pollinators actually visit ND soybeans has not been researched. While soybeans only flowers for a discrete period, this flush of rewards could be incredibly valuable to pollinators that can take advantage of it. This could include honey bees that could be moved near flowering fields. Yet, little work has quantified soybean floral rewards, how they vary, and how pollinators could take advantage of them.

Objectives:
1. Reveal which pollinator species are visiting and collecting pollen from ND soybean.
2. Measure the floral rewards (nectar and pollen) provided by North Dakota soybean.

Completed Work: Deliverables and/or Milestones
To accomplish objective 1, we surveyed pollinators at soybean fields at Central Grassland Research Station, near Streeter North Dakota and Carrington Research Extension Station near Carrington North Dakota. Both soybean fields are part of another North Dakota Soybean Council funded project about integrating livestock and cover crops.

We used two, complementary survey methods to better understand the pollinators using and surrounding soybean fields around the time of flowering. We performed active surveys by freely searching for pollinators across 3-4 dates at each location. This method allows us to track the type of pollinator and their behavior when observed. We also performed passive sampling using rows of blue vein traps that were set out at the edge or in the middle of soybeans (right). Traps were left out for several hours to collect bees traveling through or near soybean. These were done on four dates across both locations.

To accomplish objective 2, we have begun a greenhouse study that will allow us to quantify pollen and nectar from greenhouse soybean plants grown in various conditions (left). We unexpectedly needed to modify a greenhouse space for our needs, but our conditions are now what we want them to be, and plants are actively growing.

Progress of Work and Results to Date
Active pollinator sampling found many more pollinators in soybean at Streeter than at Carrington (below). However, both samples were made up of honey bees and various species of bumblebees. Across all active pollinator samples, 73% of bees were actively engaged with a soybean flower in a way that looked like nectaring. This is an excellent sign that at least these groups are using, and likely benefitting from, soybean flowers.

Processing of bees is ongoing for the passive sampling. Thus far, the two days at each location with the most bees have been processed and bees identified and counted. Sampling at Streeter again showed a much higher abundance of bees than Carrington, but with both locations showing a much greater diversity of bees than in the active sampling. This information will be very helpful for helping to give a broader sense of what bees could use soybean fields.

Bee Carrington Streeter
Longhorn bee 181 547
Sweat bee 50 65
Bumblebee 1 106
Honey bee 10 28
Cleptoparasitic bee 5
Leafcutter bee 1 1
Masked bee 2
Miner bee 2
Mason bee 1

Work to be Completed
Objective 1. Processing and identifying of bees from passive sampling needs to be completed. When done, we will be able to better compare patterns against samples from the surrounding area as well as potential differences across time, especially as it relates to the timing of flower bloom. We are also working on using a subsample of bees to look for pollen from soybean flowers. This would be a good indicator that a pollinator visited a soybean flower as opposed to simply traveling near or through a soybean field.

Objective 2. Our greenhouse study is underway with plants actively growing. At flowering, we will begin sampling plants for both pollen and nectar to improve our methodologies with both techniques. While we know greenhouse grown soybeans can vary greatly from field plants, this will give us a starting point for a manipulative experiment that we will perform this spring that will vary greenhouse plants by environmental condition. It will also improve our ability to perform similar measurements in the field if we are funded to continue our work next summer.

Other relevant information: potential barriers to achieving objectives, risk mitigation strategies, or breakthroughs
Processing bees for pollen and then identifying where that pollen comes from can be difficult and time consuming, but we have recent experience in this area and confident we have the tools developed to accomplish this part of the objective, even if it is done on a subset of all collected bees.

Collecting floral rewards, particularly nectar, can be difficult for many plant species. However, we have experience modifying methods and developing alternatives as needed. We are also planning on improving our techniques for this with our first batch of greenhouse grown plants.

Summary
Our pollinator sampling this summer was quite successful and is giving us insights on the bees that have the potential to interact with soybean flowers and those that have actually visited flowers. These results have also been very helpful in developing more efficient plans for next summer. Our greenhouse objective has taken some effort to develop the appropriate conditions and growing logistics, but those obstacles have been overcome and plants are actively growing to let us accomplish our second objective before next

View uploaded report Word file

Final Project Results
Benefit To Soybean Farmers

This is a crucial fist step to determining the advantages of integrating pollinators and ND soybeans. The greatest direct benefit may be yield boosts from encouraging pollinator visits. Understanding floral rewards from soybean can also help farmers collaborate with bee keepers or even consider diversifying by adding honey production to their farm.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.