52Tropical regions are subjected to rapid land use changes altering species 53 composition and diversity in communities. The non-Apis bees are vital invertebrates 54 continued to be highly neglected in the tropics. We compared their diversity status, 55 richness and composition across natural areas and agroecosystems in Doon valley, a 56 subtropical-temperate landscape situated at the foothills of outer Himalayas in India. We 57 investigated how two major habitats relate to non-Apis bee diversity, specifically seeking 58 answers to (1) Whether natural habitat is a refuge to richer and rarer bee communities 59 than agroecosystems? (2) Are natural habitats important for supporting wild bee 60 populations in agroecosystems? (3) Do polyculture farms behave similar to natural 61 habitats and therefore support richer bee communities than monoculture? Observation and 62 pantrap sampling were used to collect data. We recorded 43 species belonging to bees of 63 five families. The findings of our investigation demonstrate the importance of natural 64 habitats as a potential refuge for non-Apis bees. The findings highlighted that Doon valley 65 harboured twenty-five rare species of non-Apis bees, and natural habitats are a refuge to 66 11 rare specialist species (clamtest; Specialization threshold K = 2/3, Alpha level = 67 0.005). Natural habitat diversity in Doon valley supports bee communities in nearby 68 agroecosystems (R2 = 0.782, SE = 0.148, P = 0.004). Polyculture practices in 69 agroecosystems (<100m from forest H' = 2.15; >100m from forest = 2.08) in the valley 70 mimic natural habitats (H' = 2.37) and support diverse non-Apis bee communities (2.08) 71 in comparison to monocultures (<100m from forest H' = 2.13; >100m from forest =1.56). 72Bees evolved with flowering plants over 120 million years and they suffice an ever-73 growing anthropogenic nutrition needs with their services through enhanced agricultural 74 production in pursuit of forage. We finally recommend similar assessments of bee 75 diversity and plants they support in different habitats and vice versa. 77Pollinators have a crucial role to play in pollination, a key ecological service, that 78 enhances plant production [1,2]. Bees, in particular, are considered the prime pollinator 79 group [3,4]. Beekeeping has hence become an indispensable part of farming cultures 80 worldwide. Managed honey bees successfully pollinate and are responsible for the 81 production of seeds and fruits of about 75% of the most commonly consumed food crops 82 worldwide [5] and an unknown number of wild plants globally [1,2,5]. In addition to the 83 managed honey bees, pollination by the native wild bees is an indiscernible but 84 imperative process to the ecosystem. Native wild bees (non-Apis) other than honey bees 85 (Apis) are increasingly finding the center stage in the backdrop of the global decline of 86 the managed bees [6,7]. Over the last half a decade the honey bee populations suffered a 87 massive decline globally, predominantly in North America [8,9] and a Eu...
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