Effects of Plant Diversity, Vegetation Composition, and Habitat Type on Different Functional Trait Groups of Wild Bees in Rural Beijing

Abstract

The loss of flower-rich habitats and agricultural intensification have resulted in significant losses of wild bee diversity from agricultural landscapes that is increasingly threatening the pollination of zoochorous agricultural crops and agricultural sustainability. However, the links of different wild bee functional trait groups with habitat types and plant resources in agricultural landscapes remain poorly understood, thus impeding the formulation of effective policies for bee conservation. We therefore analyzed how bees representing different functional groups responded to variations in habitat type, vegetation composition and plant diversity. Natural shrubland sustained the highest diversity in bees overall, in large-sized bees, solitary bees and belowground-nesting bees, while each habitat harbored unique species. In half of the functional bee groups, species were negatively linked to tree coverage and herb coverage, respectively, while plant diversity was positively related to all functional groups except large-sized bees and aboveground-nesting bees. Overall bee abundance was positively related to abundance of plants in the Sympetalae, and negatively related to abundance of plants in the Archichlamydeae. Different bee functional groups showed distinct preferences for different plant communities. In order to conserve the diversity of wild bees across functional groups to optimize associated pollination services, a diverse habitat mosaic, and particularly plant species in Sympetalae need to be promoted in agricultural landscapes. Future studies should aim to enhance our understanding of plant-pollinator associations and specific food requirement of different wild bee species for their effective conservation.

Diversity of Eusocial Bees in Natural and Anthropized Areas of a Tropical Dry Forest in the Parque da Sapucaia (Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

“…Our findings show that the community of bees also responds positively to the structure of vegetation, corroborating recent studies (e.g. Wu et al, 2018;Alvarenga et al, 2020). As expected, we found a positive effect of tree species richness on the abundance and species richness of bees.…”

“…Another factor that can affect the distribution of bees is the structure of vegetation (Wu et al, 2018). There is evidence that the richness and abundance of bees is positively related to the richness of plants and the abundance of potential nesting resources (Grundel et al, 2010).…”

“…There is evidence that the richness and abundance of bees is positively related to the richness of plants and the abundance of potential nesting resources (Grundel et al, 2010). Thus, the more heterogeneous and diverse the vegetation, the greater the variety of resources offered, and consequently the greater the diversity of bee species (Tews et al, 2004;Wu et al, 2018). In addition, the type of vegetation is also an important determinant of the composition of the bee community (Sydenham et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2018), because the greater the composition of the plant community, the greater the dissimilarity of the bee community (Alvarenga et al, 2020).…”

“…Thus, the more heterogeneous and diverse the vegetation, the greater the variety of resources offered, and consequently the greater the diversity of bee species (Tews et al, 2004;Wu et al, 2018). In addition, the type of vegetation is also an important determinant of the composition of the bee community (Sydenham et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2018), because the greater the composition of the plant community, the greater the dissimilarity of the bee community (Alvarenga et al, 2020). Thus, understanding how the structure of the vegetation influences the diversity of bees is an important step for planning the conservation of bees, especially in vegetations that have been little studied, such as the tropical dry forest, one of the least studied forests on the globe (Miles et al, 2016).…”

Population Growth and Insecticide Residues of Honey Bees in Tropical Agricultural Landscapes

“…The lowest forager abundance and colony weight was shown in agricultural areas, which indicated that agricultural areas had a negative effect on bees. Research by [26] showed that bee species have distinct preferences for different plant communities, and their abundance is related to the abundance of their host plants. Agricultural areas that are dominated by certain crop plants might affect the fitness and population growth of bees.…”