Bee surveys in Brazil in the last six decades: a review and scientometrics

Abstract

Bee surveys bring valuable information regarding species distribution, phenology, and their interactions with host plants, and thus are important to bee conservation, especially in the present scenario of drastic declines reported worldwide. The Brazilian bee fauna has been surveyed intensively since the late 1960s, but the state-of-the-art of this research topic has not been explored in detail. Our main goal is to analyze the scientific literature through a systematic review of Brazilian bee surveys, describing (i) spatial sampling gaps; (ii) preferred sampling frequency and methods; (iii) species identification and vouchering practices; (iv) gender participation; and (v) how the studies are distributed among scientific journals. Our review includes 213 published studies, of which half targeted the entire bee fauna (Apoidea: Apidae sensu lato) while the other half targeted the orchid bees (Euglossini). Sampling sites are predominant in eastern Brazil, particularly within the Atlantic Forest. Hand netting bees for 1 year long was the most frequent sampling protocol to capture bees. Taxonomic identification and voucher deposition practices were mentioned in most of the papers. Men and women published almost the same number of papers, but women were less frequent as lead or senior authors and appeared less as prolific researchers. Most papers were published in a few Brazilian journals. We highlight that surveys in understudied areas are needed, especially in Amazon. Monitoring bees in previously surveyed locations is also encouraged to investigate temporal changes in bee assemblages, such as population declines, impacts of land-use changes, and effects of climate change.

The potential of iNaturalist for bee conservation research—A study case in a southern Brazilian metropolis

“…We find low relative frequencies of functional groups considered more sensitive to urbanisation: ground‐nesters, specialists and cleptoparasites. Ground‐nesting bees suffer directly with soil impermeabilization in urban landscapes, being more vulnerable than above‐grounders (Bates et al, 2011; McCune et al, 2020; Pereira et al, 2021; Xie et al, 2013). Specialists depend on a few plants to gather pollen or other plant resources, such as floral oils, and were considered as the most affected group by urbanisation in Curitiba (Graf et al, 2022).…”

“…The Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, which comprises Curitiba and other 28 nearby municipalities (summing almost 4 million inhabitants), may have one of the largest amounts of data of long‐term monitoring of urban bees around the world. Four green areas were sampled twice or more since the 1950s (Cardoso & Gonçalves, 2018; Graf et al, 2022; Martins et al, 2013; Pereira et al, 2021; Taura & Laroca, 2001), with accumulating evidence of local declines in abundance, richness and diversity related to the growing urbanisation. Thus, the large amount of structured data, that is, surveys with well‐described and standardised sampling protocols (Pereira et al, 2021; Sakagami et al, 1967), for bees in Curitiba allows a robust comparison with the CS data retrieved from iNat .…”

“…Thus, the large amount of structured data, that is, surveys with welldescribed and standardised sampling protocols (Pereira et al, 2021;Sakagami et al, 1967), for bees in Curitiba allows a robust comparison with the CS data retrieved from iNat.…”

“…The Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, which comprises Curitiba and other 28 nearby municipalities (summing almost 4 million inhabitants), may have one of the largest amounts of data of long-term monitoring of urban bees around the world. Four green areas were sampled twice or more since the 1950s (Cardoso & Gonçalves, 2018;Graf et al, 2022;Martins et al, 2013;Pereira et al, 2021;Taura & Laroca, 2001), with accumulating evidence of local declines in abundance, richness and diversity related to the growing urbanisation.…”

Distribution patterns of orchid bees in xeric and mesic habitats on a tropical mountaintop

“…Knowledge of the distribution patterns of this tribe in xeric habitats is still incipient, mainly in relation to differences in composition regarding habitat type (xeric vs. mesic). Additionally, there are still few studies that report on the distribution of euglossine diversity along elevational gradients (Dec & Santos, 2019; Nemésio, 2008; Pinto et al, 2019; Santos et al, 2020; Viana et al, 2021, see also Pereira et al, 2021). Specifically, Santos et al (2020) evaluated the influence of vegetation and climate on euglossine diversity in the xeric habitats of the southern portion of the Serra do Espinhaço and deduced that these bees could be more diverse in the mesic habitat of the studied mountainous region, although their study was not conducted in mesic habitats.…”