Orchid Bees of forest fragments in Southwestern Amazonia

Abstract

Bees of the tribe Euglossini are known as orchid-bees. In general, areas with more vegetation cover have greater abundance and diversity of these bees. This study investigated the effects of forest fragmentation on assemblages of the euglossine bees in the region of Rio Branco municipality, State of Acre, and surrounding areas. Ten forest fragments with varying sizes were selected for the study and were classified as urban or rural. The bees were sampled between December 2005 and August 2006. A total of 3,675 bees in 36 species and 4 genera were collected. In general abundance and richness of bees did not differ statistically between urban and rural fragments. The index of edge in fragments was a predictor of richness and diversity of bees. The connectivity estimated was also an adequate predictor for richness. Fragments with greater similarity in relation to their landscape structure were also more similar in relation to faunal composition. Resumo: As abelhas pertencentes à tribo Euglossini são conhecidas como abelhas das orquídeas. Em geral, áreas com maior cobertura de vegetação apresentam maior abundância e diversidade dessas abelhas. Esse estudo investigou os efeitos da fragmentação florestal sobre as assembleias de abelhas Euglossini na região do município de Rio Branco, Acre e arredores. Os fragmentos florestais com tamanhos variados foram selecionados para a área de estudo e classificados como urbanos e rurais. As abelhas foram coletadas entre dezembro de 2005 e agosto de 2006. Um total de 3.675 machos pertencentes a quatro gêneros e 36 espécies foi coletado. De modo geral, abundância e riqueza de Euglossini não foram estatisticamente diferentes entre fragmentos urbanos e rurais. O índice de borda do fragmento foi preditor de riqueza e diversidade das abelhas. A conectividade estimada também foi preditora da riqueza. Fragmentos com maior similaridade em relação à estrutura paisagística foram também mais similares em relação à composição faunística. Palavras-chave: Euglossini, conservação, diversidade, Estado do Acre.

Temporal variation in the abundance of Orchid Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a Neotropical Hygrophilous Forest

“…Another reason for the smaller number of species observed in the present study, compared to the one made by Silveira et al (2011), could be a difference in sampling effort, which in this latter were analyzed two simultaneous sampling points against one of the RTP. Storck-Tonon et al (2013) reported that those differences is also caused by differences in the index of edge in the fragment, the connectivity and the landscape structure, or as observed by Milet-Pinheiro and Schlindwein (2005) affected by the surrounding matrix of the studied area.…”

Continuous Micro-Environments Associated Orchid Bees Benefit from an Atlantic Forest Remnant, Paraná State, Brazil

“…Scent traps offered for short periods is the most used method (Aguiar & Ganglianone, 2008;Silveira et al, 2011;Gonçalves et al, 2014;Giangarelli et al, 2015;Oliveira-Junior et al, 2015), however the method that we used was of traps offered for long period (8640 hours/12 months), in order to maximize the efficiency of field samplings. According to Storck-Tonon et al (2013), research on the Euglossini fauna requires an efficient sampling effort for better estimates of species richness, including rare species. In this perspective, we highlight that even the volatility being an important factor in the attractiveness of individuals, the method that we used here (long period) presented as a positive point the efficiency in the sampling effort (99.78) and the estimation of richness in the primary (8 spp.)…”

“…Thus, AF fragments are usually both small (< 50 ha) and isolated (Ribeiro et al, 2009). Although orchid bees are considered to be strong flyers, fragmentation may alter their dispersion range and thus affect local diversity, as a consequence, small forest fragments in urban areas may play the role as refuges for these bees (Rosa et al, 2015;Neame et al, 2012;Storck-Tonon et al, 2013;Fischer et al, 2016).…”

Patterns of orchid bee species diversity and turnover among forested plateaus of central Amazonia

“…Furthermore, species richness of FLONA Saracá-Taquera has no known parallel in the Amazon Basin, with orchid-bee samplings in the central and western Amazon of Brazil typically recording from 16 to 38 species [43–46; 23–25]. Furthermore, the region of FLONA Saracá-Taquera harbors many species that are rare and endemic to the Amazon Basin [47]; only the most abundant species were widely distributed on all plateaus.…”