Onde os mais Adaptados Permanecem: Comunidade de Abelhas sem Ferrão (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini) em Áreas Urbanas do Município de Ubá, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Resumo.A urbanização tem causado a fragmentação de vários ambientes naturais, levando à perda de muitos processos ecológicos como a polinização, realizada principalmente por abelhas, em especial as espécies de Meliponini, que tem reduzido drasticamente as suas populações devido à perda de habitat pela expansão urbana. O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar um levantamento das espécies de abelhas sem ferrão em áreas urbanas do município de Ubá -MG, Brasil, relacionar a riqueza e abundância das espécies encontradas com a taxa de ocupação das variáveis estruturais da paisagem das áreas urbana e relacionar a presença das espécies obtidos com estas variáveis. Foram encontrados 28 ninhos pertencentes a quatro espécies, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille), Trigona spinipes (Fabricius), Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Lepeletier) e Friesella schrottkyi (Friese). Não houve relação significativa entre a riqueza e abundância de Meliponini e variáveis estruturais de vegetação analisadas, possivelmente devido a valores baixos no número de ninhos e espécies encontrados. Somente T. spinipes se mostrou relacionada com a presença de vegetação. Os resultados mostram que a comunidade Meliponini é composta por espécies generalistas capazes de utilizar cavidades artificiais e plantas ornamentais como uma fonte alternativa de recursos, comuns em áreas urbanas. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo servem de alerta para atuais condições dos remanescentes vegetais em áreas urbanas na cidade de Ubá, além de também poderem ser usados como material de apoio na tomada de decisão sobre projetos de conservação e recuperação de áreas degradadas, tendo como foco sobre as abelhas e sua importância para a sustentabilidade destes ecossistemas.Palavras-Chave: Mata Atlântica; Conservação; Nidificação; Polinização; Urbanização.Where the most Adapted Remain: Stingless Bees Community (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini) in Urban Areas of the City of Uba, Minas Gerais, BrazilAbstract. The urbanization has caused the fragmentation of various natural environments, taking to loss of many ecological processes in which includes pollination, realized mainly by bees, in special Meliponini species, which has drastically reduced their populations due to loss of habitat for urban expansion. The aim of this study was to survey the species of stingless bees in urban areas of the municipality of Ubá -MG, Brazil, relate the richness and abundance of species found with the percentage of occupation of the structural variables of the urban landscape and relate the presence of the species obtained with these variables. Were found 28 nests belonging to four species, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille), Trigona spinipes (Fabricius), Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Lepeletier) and Friesella schrottkyi (Friese). There was no significant relationship between richness and abundance of Meliponini and structural variables of vegetation, possibly due to low values in the number of nests and species obtained. Only T. spinipes showed related to the presence of vegetation. The results show that th...

Checklist of bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) in the urban areas of Cerrado in Barreiras, Bahia, Brazil

“…As for the Meliponini tribe, with social habits, greater abundance was recorded for the place with the lowest degree of urbanization, not corroborating the findings ofArAújo et al (2016) for urban areas in Minas Gerais (Atlantic Rainforest area). Most of the work on urban apifauna inventories has focused its efforts on the Meliponini tribe due to its high adaptability to areas with intermediate and high degrees of anthropization(AidAr et al 2013;ArAújo et al 2016; de ArAujo & Witt 2020).The effect of urbanization can generate negative impacts leading to the loss of natural habitats, as well as the reduction of food sources and nesting sites, so it is important to have urban planning in order to mitigate these effects(MArtinS et al 2017;de SAntiS & chAcoFF 2020).…”

“…The process of urbanization, as one of the many anthropomorphic activities, changes the landscape drastically and irreversibly, increasing the proportion of buildings and decreasing areas of forest remnants (Fortel et al 2014). Urbanization has a tendency to modify the space and thus threaten biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides (Fortel et al 2014;ArAújo et al 2016;doS SAntoS et al 2020).…”

“…In a global context, few studies have investigated the effects of urbanization on apifauna, as well as the importance of green areas in urban centers for the conservation of local bee fauna (grAndolFo et al 2013;ArAújo et al 2016;cArdoSo & gonçAlveS 2018;de SAntiS & chAcoFF 2020). In Brazil, this line of research is still quite recent, with most studies carried out in regions with a predominance of the Atlantic Rainforest phytogeographic domain (AidAr et al 2013;ArAújo et al 2016;cArdoSo & gonçAlveS 2018;SAntAnA & oliveirA 2010). For the State of Bahia, such research is still scarce and, especially, if we consider the large territorial dimension that this state denotes, which encompasses the convergence of three phytogeographic domains (Atlantic Rainforest, Caatinga, and Cerrado).…”

“…Most of the work on urban apifauna inventories has focused its efforts on the Meliponini tribe due to its high adaptability to areas with intermediate and high degrees of anthropization(AidAr et al 2013;ArAújo et al 2016; de ArAujo & Witt 2020).The effect of urbanization can generate negative impacts leading to the loss of natural habitats, as well as the reduction of food sources and nesting sites, so it is important to have urban planning in order to mitigate these effects(MArtinS et al 2017;de SAntiS & chAcoFF 2020). Thus, as noted byFortel et al (2014) andArAújo et al (2016), the place with the highest level of urbanization was characterized by less biodiversity.Bearing in mind the configuration and characteristics of urban spaces, the overlapping of permeable and impermeable areas, decrease in the supply of foraging resources, and habitat fragmentation subject bee populations to anthropogenic pressure, what together corresponds the serious consequences generated by urbanization. Urban centers can serve as a refuge for certain groups of pollinators, disfavoring species that nest in the soil and favoring those that nest in pre-existing cavities, as is the case of Eulaema (Apeulaema) nigrita Lepeletier.…”

Presence of Plebeia aff. flavocincta Nests in Urban Areas

“…In Brazil, bees have been studied in urban areas concerning aspects as food resources (Knoll et al, 1993;Taura & Laroca, 2001;Faria et al, 2012;Aleixo et al, 2013;Antonini et al, 2013) and nesting behavior (Taura & Laroca, 1991;Alvarenga, 2008;Araújo et al, 2016). Studies on the nesting habits of bees may, in fact, be useful for predicting how bees respond to habitat fragmentation in urban areas (Cane et al, 2006).…”