The Ecological Basis for Biogeographic Classification: an Example in Orchid Bees (Apidae: Euglossini)

Abstract

Biogeography has been difficult to apply as a methodological approach because organismic biology is incomplete at levels where the process of formulating comparisons and analogies is complex. The study of insect biogeography became necessary because insects possess numerous evolutionary traits and play an important role as pollinators. Among insects, the euglossine bees, or orchid bees, attract interest because the study of their biology allows us to explain important steps in the evolution of social behavior and many other adaptive tradeoffs. We analyzed the distribution of morphological characteristics in Colombian orchid bees from an ecological perspective. The aim of this study was to observe the distribution of these attributes on a regional basis. Data corresponding to Colombian euglossine species were ordered with a correspondence analysis and with subsequent hierarchical clustering. Later, and based on community proprieties, we compared the resulting hierarchical model with the collection localities to seek to identify a biogeographic classification pattern. From this analysis, we derived a model that classifies the territory of Colombia into 11 biogeographic units or natural clusters. Ecological assumptions in concordance with the derived classification levels suggest that species characteristics associated with flight performance, nectar uptake, and social behavior are the factors that served to produce the current geographical structure.

Spatial and temporal variation in pollinator community structure relative to a woodland-almond plantation edge

“…SHE analysis examines the relationship between three core measures of biodiversity, species richness (S), diversity (H) and evenness (E), as they accumulate through quadrats, transects or time, and it is useful as a robust measure for identifying zonation in community structure along a spatial or temporal gradient (Buzas & Hayek, ; Osterman et al ., ; Magurran, ). Historically, SHE analysis has been used mostly for studying marine palaeo‐communities (Buzas & Hayek, ; Osterman et al ., ), although it is increasingly being applied to a wide range of terrestrial plant and invertebrate communities (Small & McCarthy, ; Leponce et al ., ; Parra‐H & Nates‐Parra, ). In the present study, we use SHE analysis to identify changes in pollinator community structure relative to the woodland–plantation ecotone.…”

Redes de interacciones y uso de recursos florales por abejas macho de orquídeas (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Euglossini) en un bosque primario de la región del Chocó (Colombia).

“…championi, Eg. mixta. Differences in bee community composition also may be due to human intervention events (Otero & Sallenave, 2003;Otero & Sandino, 2003), as well as natural factors such as altitudinal variation (Janzen, 1981;Parra-H & Nates-Parra, 2012), which in our case seems to be a consequence of the flight and thermoregulation bee capabilities (May & Casey, 1983).…”

“…They also collect food resources such as nectar with their long tongues (a characteristic of the tribe) playing a determinant ecological and physiological role (Borrell, 2004;Borrell & Krenn, 2006). The proboscis length could have preponderant implications in niche segregation, due to its capacity for accessing deep corollas and the pressure generated across the mouth parts during nectar intake (Borrell, 2006;Parra-H & Nates-Parra, 2012). Palynological studies of male euglossine floral preferences, could provide a more detailed assessment of plant species spectrum pollinated by these bees, since both males and females collect nectar from the same plant species and especially because there is no systematic methodology for female sampling (Ackerman, 1985).…”

Abejas Euglossinas (Apidae: Euglossini): un enfoque de conservación e importancia ecológica / Euglossine bees (Apidae: Euglossini): a conservation approach and ecological importance

“…Esta tribu se distribuye en todas las regiones del país (Parra-H. & Nates-Parra, 2007), predominando en áreas extensas de selvas tropicales (Brito et al, 2017), debido a que la estratificación vegetal de estos ecosistemas crea condiciones especiales de nicho para estas especies (Vélez & Pulido-Barrios, 2005). Colombia cuenta con 174 especies de Euglossinas (Parra-H & Nates-Parra, 2012), siendo Caquetá con 43 especies el departamento con mayor número, seguido de Meta y Amazonas con 42 y 36 especies respectivamente.…”