Thank you. 🤗 I hope you’ll find it an interesting read. 😊

@pozsgaig.bsky.social
#biodiversity #communitygarden #gardening #herbs #housegarden #insectfriendlygarden #kitchengarden #ornamentalplants #pestmanagement #plantgrowingpractices #pollinatorfriendlygarden #pollinators #wildpollinators #urbanforestryurbangreening

✨Highlights
Significant variability both between and within countries in gardening practices
Improving biodiversity in gardens needs regionally scaled strategies
Reducing pesticide use and increasing public awareness are key
Our indicators can support local strategies to increase urban biodiversity

🏡 Our main aim was to explore the ecological values of gardens and gardening practices, identifying characteristics that might contribute to building high biodiversity. 🐞🌿 🦋
The project was conducted in ten languages and implemented across nine countries in Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe.

📢 NEW PAPER 📢
I am excited to share our latest article, entitled 'Improving biodiversity in Central and Eastern European gardens needs regionally scaled strategies', which has just been published in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening and is now available online ⬇️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#urbanecology #AnimalBehavior #BehavioralEcology #bombusterrestris #bombus #Bumblebee #beeresearch #BeeScience #pollinatorecology #pollinatorresearch #insectai #computervision #programming

ℹ️ If you want to learn more about my #research, please visit my website (🌐 vargaszilay.hu) and find me on ResearchGate (🔗 www.researchgate.net/profile/Zsof...) 😉

Many thanks to Hymenoptera Research for the interview and the chance to share what inspires my work as a researcher, some of the projects I’m currently involved in, and why I’m so passionate about studying pollinators. 🐝 I’d love for you to have a read - you can find the link in the comments below 👇

📖"These two books offer a compelling portrait of bees as creatures of remarkable complexity and intelligence. Together, they help bridge the divide between scientists and the general public, fostering a deeper appreciation for insects which should be extended beyond bees."
#bookreview #beeresearch 🐝

📚 Have a read of my latest book review about two amazing and inspiring books: Stephen Buchmann's What a Bee Knows? and Lars Chittka’s The Mind of a Bee. 🐝
🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
@larschittka.bsky.social @islandpress.bsky.social @princetonupress.bsky.social

#anthropogenicdisturbances #anthropogenicnoise #pollution #noise #TrafficNoise #noisyenvironments #pollinators #buzzpollination #bombusterrestris #managedbees #buzzing #pollination #tomatoes #solanaceae #Solanumlycopersicum #crops #Agriculture #yield

💬 This proof-of-concept paper demonstrates that noise can indeed disrupt bumblebee-mediated pollination of crops. 🔊 🍅🐝 @pozsgaig.bsky.social
🔗 DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.ba...

I am excited to share our latest article, entitled 'Anthropogenic noise can decrease tomato reproductive success by hindering bumblebee-mediated pollination', which has just been published in Basic and Applied Ecology and is now available online:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#beeresearch

It is good to know that the fieldwork doesn’t stop – even when I’m currently far away on another fieldwork. 😊
Have a look at one of the beautiful locations of our fieldwork: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR1l...

To collect data, we use action cameras to record bumblebee activity in the field. Then, these recordings are analysed using deep learning techniques to assess behavioural patterns and responses to the different disturbance treatments.

Our project focuses on Lotus creticus (and some other flower species) patches on Terceira, where we observe wild populations of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) to understand how different types of anthropogenic disturbance, such as noise pollution, influence their flower visitation.

Yesterday was the first Bombus-Lotus fieldwork day in this year 🎥🐝
Thanks to Alexandra, Guillaume, and Ricardo for carrying out the data collection this year, helping to ensure the continuity of the study that @pozsgaig.bsky.social and I have been running for four years now.

How AI can support animal behavioural studies 💡
Have a look at how we tracked the bumblebees' flight paths with AI on a flowering Lotus creticus patch. 👀🐝
@pozsgaig.bsky.social
#Yolov5 #Norfair #Bombusterrestris #Beestudies #InsectAI
➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2JZ...

#AnimalBehavior #bombusterrestris #bumblebees #beeresearch #aiinecology #artificialintelligence #deeplearning #computervision #segmentation #yolo #objectdetection #tracking #monitoring #FieldWork #methodsinecology #animalbehaviouralstudies #lotus

By contrast, computer vision-based methods surpass human capabilities in terms of the accuracy of long-term, and large-scale data processing. 🎯

Even if we assume that a person could keep track of this many bumblebees by sitting next to the quadrat and observing their movements, this approach this method is extremely labour-intensive 🧠💪, mentally taxing, subjective, and costly due to the time required.

We are confident that no single observer can accurately track all 7–8 bees, particularly when it comes to precisely determining when each individual leaves the quadrat. 😵‍💫 This is where object detection models excel. 😉

How AI can support animal behavioural studies 💡
👀 Field observations on a flowering Lotus creticus patch have shown that within a relatively small quadrat (60 × 90 cm), up to 5–7 (or more) bumblebees may be foraging simultaneously. 🐝
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DACm... (Watch it in 4K)