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Diversity and Phenology of Wild Bees in a Highly Disturbed Tropical Dry Forest “Desierto de la Tatacoa”, Huila–Colombia

  • Ecology, Behavior and Bionomics
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Abstract

Colombian tropical dry forest is considered the most endangered tropical biome due to anthropic activities. Desierto de la Tatacoa (DsT) is an example of high disturbed tropical dry forest which still maintains a high biodiversity. The objective of the study was to record the diversity and phenology of wild bees in this place by monthly sampling between December 2014 and December 2016 in a 9-km2 area. During the study, there was a prolonged El Niño–Southern Oscillation period. Bees were collected by entomological nets, malaise traps, eugenol scent trapping, and nest traps. Shannon index was calculated to estimate diversity and Simpson index to determine dominance of a species. The effect of environmental conditions (wet and dry season) in richness and abundance was analyzed by paired T tests. A total of 3004 bee specimens were collected, belonging to 80 species from Apidae, Megachilidae, Halictidae, and Colletidae. Apidae was the most diverse. Shannon index value was 2.973 (discarding Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758 data); thus, DsT can be considered as a zone of high wild bee diversity. Dry and rainy season showed differences in diversity (p < 0.05). Rainy season showed larger blooming periods and higher bee diversity than dry season. In both seasons, social species were dominant (e.g., A. mellifera or Trigona fulviventris Guérin 1844). Although DsT is a highly disturbed ecosystem, this study found it has the second highest number of genera and the fourth highest number of species reported in Colombia.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to Nueva Granada University (CIAS 1785-2015) and Professional Biology Council for the financial support of project. We would also thank Professor Gabriel Melo, Universidade Federal do Paraná, and Felipe Vivallo, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, for their help in the identification of the bees and Paola Cruz, from Université du Québec à Montréal, for her comments and suggestions that improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab of “Biodiversidad y Ecología de Abejas Silvestres” (BEAS), Nueva Granada Univ, Carrera 11 - 101 80, Bogotá, Colombia

    C A Poveda-Coronel, D Riaño-Jiménez & J R Cure

Authors
  1. C A Poveda-Coronel
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  2. D Riaño-Jiménez
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  3. J R Cure
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Correspondence to C A Poveda-Coronel.

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Edited by Fernando B Noll – UNESP

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Supplementary material

List of bee species collected at “Desierto de La Tatacoa” (DsT). * = new record for Colombia. ** = bees collected on preliminary sampling (XLSX 11 kb)

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Poveda-Coronel, C.A., Riaño-Jiménez, D. & Cure, J.R. Diversity and Phenology of Wild Bees in a Highly Disturbed Tropical Dry Forest “Desierto de la Tatacoa”, Huila–Colombia. Neotrop Entomol 47, 786–790 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0578-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-017-0578-z

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