Diversity and community composition of euglossine bee assemblages (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in western Amazonia

Abstract

Tropical forests are known for their diverse insect fauna. We aimed to determine the effect and relative importance of latitude, elevation and climatic factors affecting species richness and turnover in euglossine bee assemblages along a gradient of 18°lat-itude from tropical rainforests to subtropical, deciduous dry forests in Peru and Bolivia. Sixteen forest sites were sampled during the dry season. Variance partitioning techniques were applied to assess the relative effects of the spatial and environmental variables on species richness and composition. Furthermore, we conducted a Species Indicator Analysis to find characteristic species for the biogeographic zones. There was a significant decrease in species richness towards the subtropical area. The best predictors of species richness were precipitation and its consequences on soil properties as well as temperature seasonality. The abundance of euglossines was most closely related to precipitation and soilpH, but the causal links of abundance to these factors is unclear since soil-pH itself is correlated to a drastic turnover of vegetation structure. Based on the analysis of assemblage composition we propose three different assemblages with a transitional zone at the southern tropical area. The biogeographical distribution of euglossine bees along our study transect appears to be primarily related to climatic conditions and does not reflect the common subdividion of Amazonia into drainage systems.

Is the “Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco” a biodiversity hotspot for orchid bees?

“…Ackerman, 1983Ackerman, , 1989Janzen et al, 1982;Pearson and Dressler, 1985;Roubik and Ackerman, 1987;Powell and Powell, 1987;Nemésio and Silveira, 2006a, b, 2007a, 2010Rasmussen, 2009;Abrahamczyk et al, 2011;Nemésio and Vasconcelos, 2013). The ease of collecting their males, which are strongly and readily attracted to synthetic aromatic scents that mimic natural floral fragrances (Vogel, 1966;Dodson et al, 1969), greatly contributes to the popularity of field studies involving these bees.…”

“…Roubik, 2004b;Oliveira, 2006;Rasmussen and Skov, 2006;Nemésio, 2006Nemésio, , 2007Nemésio, , 2008Nemésio, , 2009Nemésio, , 2010aNemésio, , 2011bNemésio, , c, d, 2012aAyala and Engel, 2008;Bembé, 2008;Hinojosa-Díaz and Engel, 2011a, b;Hinojosa-Díaz et al, 2011Nemésio and Engel, 2012), faunistic and ecological studies in the last decade have been mainly focused on the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil (e.g. Bezerra and Martins, 2001;Tonhasca Júnior et al, 2002;Santos and Sofia, 2002;Martins and Souza, 2005;MiletPinheiro and Schlindwein 2005;Darrault et al, 2006;Nemésio and Silveira, 2006b, 2007a, 2010Farias et al, 2007;Farias et al 2008;Aguiar andGaglianone, 2008, 2011;Moura and Schlindwein, 2009;Nemésio, 2010bNemésio, , 2011aNemésio, , b, e, 2012cMattozo et al, 2011;Cordeiro et al, 2013;Nemésio and Vasconcelos, 2013), although a few studies have also been conducted in the Amazon Morato, 2004, 2006;StorckTonon et al, 2009;Rasmussen, 2009;Abrahamczyk et al, 2011;Nemésio et al, 2014).…”

The orchid-bee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of a forest remnant in the southern portion of the Brazilian Amazon

“…Synthetic aromatic scents that mimic the floral fragrances attractive to male orchid bees have been used since the late 1960's (Vogel, 1966;Dodson et al, 1969) as powerful tools in field studies involving these bees (e.g. Nemésio and Silveira, 2006, 2007, 2010Rasmussen, 2009;Abrahamczyk et al, 2011). These studies eventually led to the discovery of a previously unknown astonishing diversity among orchid bees (e.g.…”

“…Pearson and Dressler, 1985;Dressler, 1985;Powell and Powell, 1987;Becker et al, 1991;Morato, 1994;Oliveira and Campos, 1996;Bembé, 2002;Morato, 2004, 2006;Rasmussen, 2009;Storck-Tonon et al, 2009Abrahamczyk et al, 2011;Nemésio et al, 2014), the orchid-bee fauna of the state of Rondônia, southwestern Amazonia, is virtually unknown. The region of Porto Velho, state of Rondônia, is of particular interest due to its singular location, at the southern limits of the Amazon and in the transition between lowland rainforest and the "Cerradão", a more xeric, savanna-like vegetation with tall trees.…”

Biodiversity and conservation of insects and other invertebrates

“…While it is beetles are the principle insect saproxylics of concern in forest ecosystems, invasive beetles can be significant factors in forest health (Borkowski and Podlaski 2011), and they are far from the only insects and other invertebrates to be considered. Examples of others groups included here are spiders (Hsieh and Linsenmair 2011), millipedes (Galanes and Thomlinson 2011), bees (Abrahamczyk et al 2011), and a leaf-mining weevil (Kenis and co-workers 2011).…”