Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Xalapa, Mexico.
CONACYT, CIIDIR-Oaxaca, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Xoxocotlan, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Neotrop Entomol. 2021 Aug;50(4):524-536. doi: 10.1007/s13744-021-00867-1. Epub 2021 Apr 20.
Buzz-pollinated plants are an essential source of pollen for a significant portion of local bee communities. Buzz pollination research has focused on studying the properties of bee buzzes and their implications on pollen release, morphological specialization of flowers, and the reproductive ecology of buzz-pollinated plants. In contrast, diversity patterns and ecological interactions between bees and buzz-pollinated plants have been studied less. This study analyzed the buzzing bee community of twelve tropical buzz-pollinated co-occurring plant species in a tropical montane cloud forest during the flowering periods of two consecutive years, focusing on diversity, compositional similarity, structure, and specialization (H´) of the network. Twenty-one bee species belonging to Apidae, Colletidae, and Halictidae were recorded, fifteen species in 2014, and eighteen in 2015. Floral display and visited flowers doubled from first to second year, although the flowering period was 2 months longer in the first year. Bee compositional similarity between plants tended to be low; however, this was due rather to a high nestedness than species replacement. Temporal bee compositional similarity was also low but variable, and different plant species showed the highest similarity between years. The number of bee visits depended significantly on the number of flowers and years. Interactions between bees and plants showed a tendency to generalization. Compared to other buzz-pollinated networks, specialization (H´) was similar, but diversity was low and the network small. In endangered ecosystems like the Mexican cloud forest, however, buzzing bees support biodiversity and provide an essential ecological service by pollinating dominant understory flora.
受蜂鸣授粉的植物是当地蜜蜂群落中相当一部分花粉的重要来源。蜂鸣授粉研究主要集中在研究蜜蜂嗡嗡声的特性及其对花粉释放、花朵形态特化和受蜂鸣授粉植物生殖生态学的影响。相比之下，蜂类和受蜂鸣授粉植物之间的多样性模式和生态相互作用研究得较少。本研究分析了两年内开花期间热带山地云雾森林中 12 种热带共生受蜂鸣授粉植物的嗡嗡作响的蜜蜂群落，重点关注多样性、组成相似性、结构和网络的专业化（H´）。记录了 21 种属于 Apidae、Colletidae 和 Halictidae 的蜜蜂物种，2014 年有 15 种，2015 年有 18 种。虽然第一年的开花期长了 2 个月，但第二年的花展和被访问的花朵数量增加了一倍。植物之间的蜜蜂组成相似性往往较低；然而，这主要是由于嵌套度高而不是物种替代造成的。时间上蜜蜂组成的相似性也较低但变化较大，不同的植物物种在不同年份之间表现出最高的相似性。蜜蜂访问的次数与花朵的数量和年份显著相关。蜜蜂和植物之间的相互作用表现出泛化的趋势。与其他受蜂鸣授粉的网络相比，专业化（H´）相似，但多样性较低，网络较小。然而，在像墨西哥云雾森林这样的濒危生态系统中，嗡嗡作响的蜜蜂通过为占优势的林下植物授粉，支持生物多样性并提供重要的生态服务。
