Nectar production by natural vegetation

In the strict narrow sense, the ES of wild honey production refers specifically to honey collected from wild bees. However, this practice is currently rare in Armenia. Most honey in Armenia is produced through conventional beekeeping using domesticated honeybees (Apis mellifera). Even so, much of this honey is still derived from natural vegetation. In this case, natural ecosystems produce nectar, which is then processed into honey by domesticated bees. At this stage, for a preliminary assessment of the potential supply of the ES, we used the number of honey plant species across different types of natural vegetation in Armenia. Clearly, this estimate should be refined in the future using data on the abundance and productivity of honey plants. The used ES can be considered as honey production for human consumption. However, since we do not have such statistical data, the used ES was not assessed.

Assessment of the supplied ES based on the number of honey plant species

Data and text – George Fayvush (Institute of Botany after A. Takhtajyan NAS RA)

Honey plants are those that produce large amounts of nectar and/or pollen. According to A.A. Grossheim (1952), all honey plants can be divided into two groups: primary and secondary. Primary honey plants are those that produce significant quantities of nectar and pollen accessible to bees and are, in most cases, characterized by a long flowering period. A limited flowering period is not always a disadvantage for honey plants. For example, plants that bloom in early spring—although for a relatively short time—are important seasonal sources of nectar. Secondary honey plants are of lesser value but still contribute to the overall nectar potential of an area. Their presence in the vegetation increases the usefulness of the land from the perspective of beekeeping.

In Armenia, nearly half of all flowering plant species—over 1,400 species—are considered honey plants, either primary or secondary (Muradyan, 2019). We analyzed only primary honey plants, as their abundance and diversity largely determine the value of ecosystems in terms of the ecosystem service of wild honey provision. When assessing the importance of plant species for this ES, in addition to the flowering period, it is also necessary to consider their representation across various ecosystems, elevation zones, and ecological amplitude. The broader and more widespread these characteristics are, the more valuable the species is as a honey plant.

As a result of the analysis, we identified 238 species of primary honey flowering plants from 47 families and 117 genera. These species are distributed very unevenly across the main vegetation types of Armenia (Figure 1, Table 1).
The great diversity of honey plants is found in the mid-mountain zone—from the middle to subalpine mountain belts (steppe, meadow steppe, and subalpine zones) —where natural ecosystems occupy the largest areas. However, the relatively low number of honey plant species in the alpine belt should not be underestimated: almost all of them are dominant species in alpine meadows and cover the largest areas there. Moreover, their mass flowering occurs in the second half of summer, when most honey plants in the lower belts have already finished blooming.
Semi-deserts should also be considered valuable honey-producing ecosystems, despite the relatively low number of melliferous plant species. This is because their flowering period occurs mainly in spring—when ecosystems at higher elevations have not yet begun to bloom. It should also be noted that the main fruit orchards, which are among the most important honey resources, are located in this zone. However, our analysis does not include cultivated plants.
For desert ecosystems, we identified only two honey plant species. Given the very limited area of true deserts in Armenia, their value as honey-producing ecosystems is minimal.
Marsh ecosystems, represented by waterlogged habitats along the shores of water bodies, also have low value as honey-producing areas.
Forest ecosystems are mainly characterized by spring-flowering and wind-pollinated species, which produce large amounts of pollen.

Figure 1. Number of honey plant species in the main vegetation types

Table 1. Number of honey plant species in the main vegetation types

Vegetation type	Number of honey plant species
Alpine meadows and carpets	12
Broadleaf woodland	108
Desert	2
Forest	112
Juniper	70
Marsh	26
Meadow-steppe	108
Semidesert	59
Steppe	144
Subalpine meadows	105

Figure 2. Map of the ES provided by natural vegetation, assessed by the number of honey plant species

References
Grossgeim A.A. Plant resources of the Caucasus. Moscow, 1952 (In Russian).
Muradyan A.G. Honey plants of the flora of Armenia. Takhtajaniya, 2019, 5, pp. 80-96 (In Russian).
Takhtajan A.L. (ed.) Flora of Armenia, 1954-2009, vols. 1-11 (In Russian).
Fayvush G., Aleksanyan A. et al. Plant profiles. In: Bussmann R. (ed.) Ethnobotany of the Caucasus. Springer International Publishing AG 2017, Switzerland, p. 99-715. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-49412-8