Critical role of native forest and savannah habitats in retaining neotropical pollinator diversity in highly mechanized agricultural landscapes

Ferreira, José Victor Alves, Storck-Tonon, Danielle, Ramos, Alexander Webber Perlandim, Costa, Hugo C.M., Nogueira, David Silva, Mahlmann, Thiago, Oliveira, Márcio L., Pereira, Mônica Josene Barbosa, da Silva, Dionei José and Peres, Carlos A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765 (2022) Critical role of native forest and savannah habitats in retaining neotropical pollinator diversity in highly mechanized agricultural landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 338. ISSN 0167-8809

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Abstract

Increasing food production while preserving natural ecosystem services linked to native biodiversity is one of the most important societal challenges in the 21st-century. Natural pollination performed by bees significantly increases yields even in crops that do not strictly depend on animal pollination, such as soybean. However, several factors, such as habitat loss and degradation, have contributed to the decline in abundance and diversity of bees. Here, we assess the effects of the type, complexity and amount of native habitats on Neotropical bee assemblages within agricultural landscapes. We sampled bees at 43 landscapes in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, within a region encompassing Amazonian rainforests, the drier Cerrado savannahs, and transitional vegetation between these biomes. We collected 1359 individuals representing 134 bee species. Bee species richness differed between soybean and core native only in Amazonian forest landscapes, while species composition differed in both forest and transition landscapes. Overall bee species richness did not differ between the three vegetation types, but species composition in forest landscapes diverged from those in transition and Cerrado areas. The amount of native habitat remaining had a positive effect on both species richness and composition. Our results show that the relentless replacement of natural ecosystems with soybean monoculture detrimentally affects bee species richness, and substantially changes the species composition. Pollinator decline has negative consequences for economics and biodiversity conservation. Therefore, we suggest that areas of native vegetation should be protected and monitored due their crucial importance for maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services through the landscape. Ideally, we suggest that strategies for the conservation of bee diversity consider the amount of native habitats at landscape scale.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding Information: This study is part of Rede Bioagro which was funded by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Mato Grosso ( FAPEMAT ). We are grateful to C.B. Andrade and N.S. Oliveira, for fieldwork and lab assistance, and to R.S. Silva for statistical advice. We are grateful to all landholders for logistical support. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Uncontrolled Keywords: agribusiness,bees,ecosystem services,habitat loss,landscape ecology,ecology,animal science and zoology,agronomy and crop science,sdg 2 - zero hunger ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2303
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 21 Mar 2023 10:30
Last Modified: 21 Mar 2023 10:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/91630
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2022.108084

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