Is Planting Trees Enough? The Effect of Different Types of Reforestation on the Offspring of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in the Southern Amazon

Abstract

The deforestation has led to local loss of species and important ecosystem services performed by them, causing ecological and economic losses. It is proposed that the reforestation of such areas aims to reduce those impacts. However, particularly in the tropics, little is known about the real success of different types of reforestation in the recovery of the species, and especially of the population parameters. Here we evaluated whether different types of reforestations affect Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) lactitarse Saussure (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in terms of abundance, percentage of emergence, proportion of males, fluctuating asymmetry, and foraging capacity. We compared primary forest (control) data to data collected in five different habitats: pasture, secondary forest, and tree plantations of Teak, Ficus, and a mixture of native species. The abundance of T. lactitarse was higher in tree plantations than in pasture. However, among the analyzed parameters, Teak plantation presented lower emergence percentage and the majority of individuals born were males. The emerged females in this habitat showed higher asymmetry and lower foraging capacity. Ficus showed lower individual abundance and mixed plantation showed lower emergence percentage, with both plantation types showing higher male emergence. On the other hand, in secondary forest, the analyzed parameters did not differ in relation to the primary forest, being the habitat more efficient in relation to those with tree planting. The changes in population parameters of T. lactitarse in different reforestations and particularly on Teak monocultures were probably attributed to indirect effects, such as low food availability and inadequate environmental conditions.

Hymenoptera functional groups’ shifts in disturbance gradients at Andean forests in Southern Ecuador

“…Therefore, it seems that, even when the areas labeled as low conservation presented a high degree of perturbation, being embedded into a preserved area matrix helped to increase diversity in these areas, since the hymenopteran diversity is positively affected by the proximity to forest (Banks et al 2013). Furthermore, not all types of forest restoration will equally favour Hymenopterans, with ecological restoration, as applied in all the studied reserves, being more effective than monoculture tree plantations (de Araújo et al 2019). This indicates that ecological restoration in these areas has a positive effect on hymenopteran diversity, and the more disturbed areas within the reserve matrix do not significantly impact these assemblages, at least at family level.…”

Temporal stability of cavity‐nesting bee and wasp communities in different types of reforestation in southeastern Amazonia

“…In this treatment, bees showed a high variation in abundance throughout the seasonal climate gradient. This is probably due to the high structural variation of this treatment in the function of the total deciduous characteristic of the species (Tangmitcharoen et al 2006;Tonini et al 2009;Araújo et al 2019). The variation in the occurrence of these insects is strongly related to the availability of environmental conditions and food resources presented by habitats (Klein et al 2002(Klein et al , 2007.…”

“…It demonstrates that the reestablishment of the species richness of the groups is also affected differently over time by the environmental heterogeneity presented by reforestations (Araújo et al 2018a). But independent of the group, more heterogeneous environments tend to be more constant for these insects over time due to the different sources of resources and conditions that they can offer (Antonini et al 2016; Araújo et al 2018b; Araújo et al 2019).…”

“…Thus, areas of NR possibly have not yet been able to establish a heterogeneity that allows the occurrence of resources necessary to house a bee community similar to that of the PF as they were for the wasp community. Prey required by the wasps present in primary environments apparently are less affected by the variation of vegetation than pollen, nectar, and oil required by bees (Fye 1972; Araújo et al 2018a; Araújo et al 2019). Then, during the NR process, faster recovery of this group is expected than the floral resources, and the recovery of the resources used by bees in tropical forests may occur later.…”

“…In degraded livestock pasture habitats formed following the destruction and clearing of rainforest in southern Amazonia, subsequent reforestation can lead to the reestablishment of seminatural forest conditions and the parallel recovery of bees and solitary wasps (Araújo et al 2019). However, the type of reforestation strategies employed can have a large influence on the rate of recovery of resources and environmental conditions, affecting the composition of local species (Suganuma & Durigan 2015; Martínez‐ramos et al 2016; Wheeler et al 2017).…”