Orchid bee diversity responds positively to forest cover and landscape heterogeneity in the Brazilian Savanna
摘要
Habitat loss and degradation can cause population declines in bee species, mainly through agricultural and cattle-raising pasture activities, resulting in the loss of ecosystem services. Understanding how pollinator biodiversity responds to anthropogenic changes is necessary to dimension and mitigate the impact of the human effect on the ecological and agricultural functions performed by this group. We aimed to evaluate how landscape structure (composition and configuration) influences orchid bee diversity (i.e., species richness, abundance, and species composition) in the Brazilian Cerrado Savanna. We collected the orchid bee community with chemical baits in natural patches (forest or savanna), patch edges, and matrix (agriculture or pasture) sites in 20 landscapes. We used variance inflation factor and generalized linear mixed models to evaluate the effects of landscape structure at different spatial scales on species richness, and abundance, and PERMANOVA on species composition. We sampled 728 euglossine bees from four genera and 14 species. Species richness and abundance were explained by forest cover, compositional heterogeneity, and shape of patches. Species composition was explained by forest cover. The increase in natural area and landscape diversity favored the assemblages of orchid bees. The findings of our study highlight the importance of forest cover and landscape compositional heterogeneity in supporting the species richness and abundance of orchid bees in the Brazilian Cerrado.