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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Patterns of bee diversity in mosaic agricultural landscapes of central Uganda: implication of pollination services conservation for food security

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This article was retracted on 20 February 2014

Abstract

Little is known about bee communities and pollination services conservation strategies in sub-Sahara Africa. A study was conducted at 26 different sites with varying local landscape characteristics in farmlands of central Uganda in 2006. Bees were sampled using coloured pantraps, handnet and line transect counts. Overall 80,883 bee individuals from 6 families and 652 species were encountered. The bee fauna was characterized by a lower diversity of Melittidae and Andrenidae and a high diversity of Apidae, Megachilidae and Halictidae. Megachile and Lasioglossum were the two most species-rich genera. The most abundant species was Apis mellifera adansonii Linnaeus (23 % of total individuals) followed by Hypotrigona gribodoi Magretti (19 %), Meliponula ferruginea Lepeletier (13 %), Lasioglossum ugandicum Cockerell (7 %), Apis mellifera scutellata Latreille (6 %), Allodapula acutigera Cockerell (6 %), Ceratina rufigastra Cockerell (5 %), Ceratina tanganyicensis Strand (5 %), Braunsapis angolensis Cockerell (5 %), Megachile rufipes Fabricius (5 %), Meliponula bocandei Spinola (5 %) and Seladonia jucundus Smith (5 %). The mean number of species recorded per study site per day ranged between 14 and 49, whereas the abundance ranged between 188 and 1,859 individuals. Study sites in areas with intense land-use had species-poor bee communities compared to sites with medium to low land-use intensities. Study sites with riparian forest fragments and wetlands, or with forest fallows in their vicinity had significantly (P < 0.05) higher species richness and diversity than sites dominated by small-scale monoculture/polyculture fields or sites dominated by either simple or complex traditional agroforestry systems. An ordination analysis also revealed that bee communities were significantly (P < 0.01) influenced by the presence of semi-natural habitats (woodlands, fallows) and forest fragments in the surrounding of fields. Thus, natural and semi-natural habitats are of great value for afrotropical farmland bee communities. There is a need to put in place strategies and policies for semi-natural and forest fragments preservation for spatio-temporal stability of pollination services in rural landscapes. Farmers are recommended to increase on-farm trees cover to safeguard and enhance pollination function and services in fields. Mimicking natural vegetation through promoting establishment of forest plantations and village community forestry in rural landscapes is also critical for conserving pollination services.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Darwin Initiative (Defra, UK; project reference: 14-032; project title: Conserving biodiversity in modernized farm landscapes in Uganda) for funding this study. We are also very grateful to bee taxonomists: Dr. Connal Eardley (RSA), Dr. David Roubik (Smithsonian Tropical Institute Panama), Dr. David Notton (London Museum of Natural Historiy UK) and to Mr.Roberts Stuart (University of Reading, UK). Mr. Maurice Mutabazi (research assistant) is thanked for his assistance in the field. Early comments from anonymous reviewers of this journal are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Environment, National Center for Research in Natural Sciences, CRSN-Lwiro, D.S. Bukavu, Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo

    M. B. Théodore Munyuli

  2. Centre de recherche pour la promotion de la santé, Département de Nutrition et Diététiques, Institut Supérieur des Techniques Médicales, ISTM-Bukavu, Sud-Kivu, République Démocratique du Congo

    M. B. Théodore Munyuli

  3. Department of Forest Ecology and Ecosystem Management, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Philip Nyeko

  4. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, Reading University, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK

    Simon Potts

  5. British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK

    Phil Atkinson

  6. Department of Environment, College of Agriculture and Environment, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    Derek Pomeroy

  7. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Potton Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK

    Juliet Vickery

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  1. M. B. Théodore Munyuli
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Correspondence to M. B. Théodore Munyuli.

Additional information

This paper has been retracted. The decision is made jointly by the editor and Springer after an investigation following the comments of the named authors. The retraction is on the basis that some of the co-authors did not agree to the submission of the manuscript and were unaware that it had been submitted. It is the policy of the journal that all authors must agree to the submission of a manuscript in which they are named as an author.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10841-014-9622-z.

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Fig. 6
figure 6

Species accumulation curves showing observed (actual data) and estimated (using Jackknife-1 estimator) bee species sampled in farmlands of central Uganda in 2006

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Munyuli, M.B.T., Nyeko, P., Potts, S. et al. RETRACTED ARTICLE: Patterns of bee diversity in mosaic agricultural landscapes of central Uganda: implication of pollination services conservation for food security. J Insect Conserv 17, 79–93 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-012-9488-x

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