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Bee diversity in a fragmented landscape of the Mexican neotropic

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Abstract

The effects of fragmentation on tropical bee communities are not well understood. The present study investigated these effects on wild bee species richness and diversity in fragments of tropical forest in the Yucatan Estate (Mexico). We present an analysis of bee community structure based on fragment size, connectivity, and bee life form, and include an analysis of m-dominance to evaluate if large fragments sustain greater species diversity compared to small fragments. Results indicated that the bee community within each fragment was composed of different bee species, and that species richness and diversity increased with fragment size, although this relationship varied between the life forms. Results suggest a high degree of isolation between fragments and greater differences in species composition. The m-dominance analysis indicated that 37% of the species recorded were restricted to medium and large-size fragments, while all other species were randomly distributed across fragments of different size in general; ours results indicate that not only do large fragments support greater species diversity than small fragments, but they are also essential for the conservation of wild bee species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank S. Bastida, R. Cauich, R. Cortez and J. Gío for their field work assistance and E. Reyes-Novelo for his colaboration in the field, and help with the identification of some specimens. Thanks also to L. Abdala-Roberts for comments on a previous draft of this manuscript. Special thanks to the anonymous referees for their critical reviews. This study was financially supported by CONACyT through the project CONACyT-SEMARNAT-2004-CO1-180/A-1 granted to Virginia Meléndez Ramírez. Laura Meneses also received financial support by CONACyT through the studies Grant and the project CONACyT-63361.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Zoologia, Campus de Ciencias Biologicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Ap. Postal 4-116, Itzimna, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

    Laura Meneses Calvillo & Virginia Meléndez Ramírez

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Campus de Ciencias Biologicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

    Víctor Parra-Tabla & Jorge Navarro

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  1. Laura Meneses Calvillo
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  2. Virginia Meléndez Ramírez
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  3. Víctor Parra-Tabla
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  4. Jorge Navarro
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Correspondence to Laura Meneses Calvillo.

 

 

Appendix Family, species and the life form of wild bee in fragmented landscape of the Yucatan Peninsula
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Meneses Calvillo, L., Meléndez Ramírez, V., Parra-Tabla, V. et al. Bee diversity in a fragmented landscape of the Mexican neotropic. J Insect Conserv 14, 323–334 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-010-9262-x

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