Insect pollinator diversity in four forested ecosystems of southern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

This study investigated pollinator assemblage diversity and richness in four forested ecosystems of southern Punjab, Pakistan, with different landscape types. Pirowal is situated in the plains of irrigated Punjab, Lal Suhanra is part of a sandy desert ecosystem, Ghazi Ghat is part of the Indus River delta, and Fort Munro is located in dry hilly mountains. A yearlong survey of pollinator populations was carried out in these four forested ecosystems from January to December of 2010. Fortnightly hand netting was performed for collecting flower-visiting insects whereas, pan traps of three colors (white, blue, and yellow) were deployed for collecting the data. A total of 8,812 individuals from two orders (Lepidoptera and Diptera) were observed, including 22 families and 154 species. Bees were the most abundant, with 4,502 individuals, and the most species-rich taxa, with 70 species in five families, followed by flies having 2,509 individuals and 51species in 10 families. Wasps were the least abundant with 1,801 individuals and 33 species in seven families. The assemblage structure of pollinator communities as visualized through rank abundance curves showed that there were many species with low abundance and only a few species with a much higher abundance. The most abundant species among the bees, in order, were Nomia sp.3, Megachile bicolor, and Colletes sp.3; among flies, Syrphus sp.2, Calliphoridae sp.1, and Empididae sp.4; and among wasps, Tiphiidae sp.1, Myzininae sp.2, and Scelionidae sp.1.

Yearlong association of insect pollinator, Pseudapis oxybeloides with flowering plants: Planted forest vs. agricultural landscape

“…The most visited plant species by P. oxybeloides were A. aspera and L. procumbens followed by Ageratum conyzoides , T. portulacastrum and Cleome viscose . Previously, no such interactions of P. oxybeloides with flowering plants have been reported from Pakistan except few diversity records from forested ecosystems of Punjab (Bashir et al, 2019). However, from neighboring India its interactions have been reported with few plant species i.e.…”

Richness and diversity of insect pollinators in various habitats around Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…The abundance and richness of insect pollinators were tabulated for each habitat, while community structure attributes such as Shannon-Wiener diversity (H '= -Σ pi ln pi), Simpson dominance (D = Σ (ni/N) 2 ) and Pielou evenness (J = H'/lnS) were calculated based on each habitat (Bashir et al 2019). Species richness estimation (Chao1) was used to estimate the number of species in each habitat.…”

“…This explains its wide dominance among pollinating flowering plants. Furthermore, several studies have reported that the dominant insect pollinators found were the order Hymenoptera (Soh and Ngiam 2013;Choi and Jung 2015;Siregar et al 2016;Bashir et al 2019).…”

Pan trap color preference across Hymenoptera in a forest clearing

“…Field studies of insect community composition and diversity are often unintentionally biased by the sampling methods deployed in the study area (Toler et al, 2005;Saunders & Luck, 2013;Heneberg & Bogusch, 2014;Hall, 2016). Pan traps, particularly yellow pan traps, are a common method for passive insect community assessment across a variety of taxonomic levels (Kirk, 1984;Leksono et al, 2005a,b;Laubertie et al, 2006;Campbell & Hanula, 2007;Vrdoljak & Samways, 2012;Saunders & Luck, 2013;Spafford & Lortie, 2013;Harris et al, 2016;Wheelock & O'Neal, 2016;Wang et al, 2017;Bashir et al, 2019;Shrestha et al, 2019). In comparison with Malaise trapping, sweep netting, leaf-litter sifting, and direct rearing, pan trapping is readily deployable with little formal training, is very cost-efficient, and produces a great deal of specimens for research.…”