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The spatial dynamics of diversity in Centridini bees: the abundance of oil-producing flowers as a measure of habitat quality

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Abstract

It is assumed that oil bees in the tribe Centridini and oil flowers in the family Malpighiaceae have a conservative evolutionary association, and it is postulated that they also have a tight ecological relationship. Here, we test the hypothesis that variations in the availability of Malpighiaceae flowers affect the abundance and richness of centridine bees. We measured oil availability and sampled bees on oil flowers of Byrsonima sericea DC. (Malpighiaceae) in 12 localities (habitats), along the Northeastern Brazilian Atlantic coast. The availability of floral oil was strongly correlated with richness and abundance of centridine bees. In contrast, no significant correlation was observed between abundance and richness of centridine bees after excluding the effect of oil abundance. We proposed that the asymmetry of density dependence is determining the observed pattern of regional diversity for centridine bees.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the many people, who had helped with field sampling, especially our friends from the Pollination Ecology Lab (ECOPOL) of the Federal University of Bahia-Brazil (UFBA). We thank Dr. Favizia Freitas de Oliveira (UFBA) for helping with bees’ identification. We are grateful to Dr. Cândida Maria Lima Aguiar, Dr. Claudia Maria Jacobi, and Dr. Kevin Flesher for their comments and suggestions. We thank CAPES for the grant support to the first author, CNPq (481113/2004-5), and FAPESB (APR0114/2006) for their financial support and to the “Plantações Michelin da Bahia Ltda.” for general logistic facilities and field support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Professores, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Baiano, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Baiano, Campus Guanambi. Distrito de Ceraíma, Post Office Box 9, 46430000, Guanambi, Bahia, Brazil

    Jaqueline Figuerêdo Rosa

  2. Laboratório de Ecologia da Polinização (ECOPOL), Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, s/n Ondina, 40170115, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Mauro Ramalho

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  1. Jaqueline Figuerêdo Rosa
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  2. Mauro Ramalho
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Correspondence to Jaqueline Figuerêdo Rosa.

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Manuscript editor: Marla Spivak

La dynamique spatiale des abeilles Centridini: abondance des fleurs productrices d’huile comme mesure de la qualité de l’habitat

Diversité des abeilles / Centridini / huile florale / qualité de l’habitat / Malpighiaceae

Räumliche Dynamik von Diversität bei Centridini-Bienen: Verfügbarkeit von ölproduzierenden Pflanzen als Maß für die Qualität des Lebensraums

Diversität der Bienen / Centridini / Florale Öle / Lebensraumqulität / Malpighiaceae

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Rosa, J.F., Ramalho, M. The spatial dynamics of diversity in Centridini bees: the abundance of oil-producing flowers as a measure of habitat quality. Apidologie 42, 669–678 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-011-0075-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-011-0075-z

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