Diversity and distribution of pollinator wasps and bees in the southern Anhui agroforestry ecotone
Abstract：[Objectives] To investigate the relationship between pollinator wasps and bees,
species diversity and flowering plants, in the agroforestry ecotone of southern
Anhui.
[Methods] Four typical
villages in the agroforestry ecotone of southern Anhui: Yangwu village, Yixiu
district, Anqing; Matou village, Jing county Xuancheng; Sanzeng village,
Qingyang county, Chizhou and Jiaocao village, Shitai county, Chizhou, were
selected as study sites. Pollinator wasps and bees were collected from
flowering plants with manual sweep nets from July 2019 to April 2021. The
community structure and species diversity of
pollinator wasps and bees on different plant species was then analyzed and compared.
[Results] A total of 4
484 individual wasps and bees were collected, which could be assigned to 118
species, 53 genera and 11 families. These wasp and bee species visited four
types of flowering plants; crops, cash crops, ornamental plants and wild
plants. Significantly (
P < 0.01) more species and individuals
belonged to the Apidae than to other families, and members of this family also
visited significantly more plants than other families. The extinction slope
coefficient of the Apoidea-plant bipartite network was higher than that of the
Vespoidea-plant bipartite network. Significantly more species and individual
wasps and bees visited wild plants than other plants (
P < 0.01).
Ornamental plant species were significant correlated with both the
Shannon-Wiener diversity index and the Marglaf richness index (
P <
0.01) of wasps and bees. No such correlation was found for other types of
plants. The wasp and bee-ornamental plant bipartite network had the lowest
niche overlap coefficient. Wasp and bee species had little competition pressure
for pollen resources.
[Conclusion] Pollinator
diversity in the agroforestry ecotone of southern Anhui is significantly higher
in summer than in spring or autumn. The Apidae play a major role in the
pollination of agroforestry ecosystems and are particularly important for
maintaining the stability of pollination networks in the agroforestry ecotone.
Wild plants attract both more species and individuals of wild bees and
consequently are an important component of the agroforestry ecosystem. High
ornamental plant diversity helps maintain pollinator diversity. However, not
all ornamentals attract bees. This study provides fundamental information for
protecting the habitat of wild wasps and bees, thereby promoting pollination in
the agroforestry ecotone.