Pollinator communities diversity in the main Camellia oleifera producing areas of China

Author of the article:ZHANG Huan, LIU Wen-Ping, WEI Wei, ZHAO Kai-Xuan, LU Huan-Huan, LI Hong-Ying, ZHOU Ze-Yang, NIU Ze-Q

Author's Workplace：Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Pollinator Resources in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China

Key Words：Camellia oleifera; pollinators; dominant species; diversity

Abstract：[Objectives]  To investigate the main of pollinators of Camellia oleifera, a woody plant endemic to China that has a high edible oil content and medicinal value, differences in pollinator communities in different regions, and provide information useful for the conservation and utilization of pollinators. [Methods]  Pollinators of C. oleifera were collected and identified at 80 sample sites in 16 provinces using the timed sweep-net method between 2015 and 2020. Pollinator diversity was analyzed using indices of species evenness, dominance and richness. [Results]  A total of 4 379 pollinators were collected and classified into 6 orders, 26 families, 53 genera and 90 species. The main orders were the Hymenoptera and Diptera. Among these, the Andrenidae, Apidae, Vespidae, Colletidae and Syrphidae comprised 28.48%, 24.27%, 16.78%, 10.78%, and 10.12% of the total number of pollinators, respectively. The Yongzhou forestry research institute in Hunan had the highest number of species (S), number of individuals (N), Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H'), and Berger-Parker dominance index (D), of pollinators, whereas the Weidu forestry farm in Laibin city Guangxi had the lowest of these indices. Wufu town, Wuyishan city in Nanping city, Fujian had the highest richness correlation index (Chao1), whereas the Weidu forest farm had the lowest. The Yongzhou forestry science research institute had the highest Pielou evenness index (J′) whereas Liancheng town, Guangnan county, Wenshan city, Yunnan, Geping town, Xiajiang county, Jian city in Jiangxi, and Jingxi town, Minhou county, Fuzhou city, Fujian, had the lowest. A community similarity analysis showed that Gaosha town, Shaxian county, Sanming city in Fujian, and Huicheng town, Shexian county, Huangshan city, Anhui, had the highest similarity coefficient (CS =0.97), whereas Shuibei town, Yushui county, Xinyu city in Jiangxi, and Lingtoushan town, Jinan county, Fuzhou city, Fujian and Xinji town, Nanzheng county Hanzhong city in Shaanxi, had the lowest (CS=0.07). [Conclusion]  Members of the Andrenidae and Colletidae families, soil-nesting wild bees, are the dominant pollinators of C. oleifera. The activity periods of these bees coincide with the flowering period of C. oleifera and they are important pollinators of this plant.