Abstract
Urbanization is one of the most intense forms of landscape change, and it is likely to increase in the coming years. Although there is a consensus that urbanization has drastic effects on biodiversity, recent discussions on the conservation of urban plant-pollinator interactions have not properly included biodiverse tropical regions. Here, we investigate how the structure of plant-pollinator networks changes along the urbanization gradient. We examined changes in structure of 21 plant-pollinator networks along six urbanization gradients. We also accessed the centrality of Apis mellifera (an exotic bee) and Trigona spinipes (a native bee), both generalist species, highly abundant and tolerant to urban environments. Finally, we identified important species of plants in urban pollination networks. We found that connectance and interaction evenness increases with urbanization, probably due to the loss of bee species. Complementary specialization (H2’) and modularity were not affected by the urban landscape. Closeness centrality of A. mellifera increased with increasing impermeable cover reinforcing the hypothesis that invasive and super-generalist species are generally more central in more urbanized areas. In contrast, eigenvector centrality of T. spinipes decreased with the increase in urbanization, suggesting a decrease in the importance of this species for the network as urban areas get denser. Our results support to understand the effects of urbanization on mutualistic networks in tropical environments and can contribute to the protection of native biodiversity against urban expansion.
Implications for insect conservation: Our results show that plant-bee interactions networks become simplified as urbanization increases. We also show that the invasive non-native bee Apis mellifera dominate urban plant-bee interactions in neotropical cities. To improve insect conservation in cities, it is recommended to plant native plant species and manage invasive non-native species.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Brazilian Fund for Biodiversity (FUNBIO) for funding the research through a KPTB scholarship; the Federal University of Lavras and the Federal Institute of Minas Gerais (Machado Campus) for the infrastructure offered for the development of the research. We thank Ana Carolina Matos and Patrick Brancher for assistance with fieldwork. RDZ acknowledges funding from CNPq (grant number 304701/2019-0).
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The research leading to these results received funding from the Brazilian Fund for Biodiversity (FUNBIO). Partial financial support was received from CNPq (grant number 304701/2019-0).
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All authors contributed to the development of the research. Study design: Karla Palmieri Tavares Brancher and Rafael Dudeque Zenni. Data collection, statistical analysis, and writing (original draft preparation): Karla Palmieri Tavares Brancher. Identification of collected material: Leticia Vanessa Graf and Walnir Gomes Ferreira Junior. Assistance in network analysis and writing: Lucas Del Bianco Faria. Supervision and writing: Rafael Dudeque Zenni. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Tavares-Brancher, K.P., Graf, L.V., Ferreira-Júnior, W.G. et al. Plant-pollinator interactions in the neotropics are affected by urbanization and the invasive bee Apis mellifera. J Insect Conserv 28, 251–261 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00547-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00547-6