Range increase of a Neotropical orchid bee under future scenarios of climate change

Abstract

Along with other human impacts, climate change is an important driver of biological changes worldwide and is expected to severely affect species distributions. Although dramatic range shifts and contractions are predicted for many taxa occurring at higher latitudes, including bumble bees, the response of widespread tropical species is less clear due in part to scarcity of reliable occurrence data. Newly mobilized specimen records and improved species distribution models facilitate more robust assessment of future climate effects under various scenarios. Here, we predict both current and future distribution of the orchid bee Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841 (Apidae: Euglossinae), a large-bodied species widely distributed in the Neotropics whose populations within the Amazon region are believed to be controlled by cleptoparasitic Euglossini bees, such as Exaerete smaragdina Guérin-Menéville, 1844 and Aglae caerulea Lepeletier and Serville, 1825. Under both current and future scenarios of climate change, El. nigrita is expected to persist in deforested areas including those that might suffer desertification. While under current climatic conditions this species is not expected to occur in central Amazonia where the forest is still conserved, its range is expected to increase under future scenarios of climate change, especially in areas corresponding to the arc of deforestation in eastern Amazonia. The increase of human-related disturbances in this biome, as well as changes in the relationship of El. nigritaEx. smaragdina and El. nigrita-A. caerulea may explain the potential range increase of El. nigrita under future scenarios of climate change.

Richness of Wild Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in a Forest Remnant in a Transition Region of Eastern Amazonia

“…e bee diversity observed in Carutapera was greater than that reported in other studies and ecosystems using more than one collection technique, such as those by Pereira [49] in Cerrado, Kamke et al [18] in restinga, Batalha-filho et al [50] in caatinga (an area with xerophilous spiny trees and shrubs) and Krug and Alves-dos-Santos [32] and Gruchowski et al [51] in the Atlantic forest. Comparisons of fauna in different locations are important for an understanding of communities and ecosystems but are made difficult by the existence of many variables, such as differences between collectors and sampling effort [52], capture modes [32,53], and climate/geographic variations [54][55][56].…”

Forest reserves and riparian corridors help maintain orchid bee (Hymenoptera: Euglossini) communities in oil palm plantations in Brazil

“…Given the ability of this species to occur in disturbed landscapes and its high flight capacity, habitat loss is not expected to cause populational decreases of this species (Silva and De Marco Jr 2014). Nonetheless, this species is expected to benefit in future scenarios of climate change and deforestation in this biome, what may facilitate its expansion to Central Amazonia (Silva et al 2015).…”

Habitat suitability for the invasion of Bombus terrestris in East Asian countries: A case study of spatial overlap with local Chinese bumblebees

“…terrestris 40 . These models were selected mainly for their different mechanistic features 69 . Due to the variation in the distribution data of a species, there is error in the estimation of the spatial distribution of species by different modelling approaches.…”