Influence of local and landscape factors on flower visiting bees within Atlantic Forest patches

Abstract

The pollination is an important ecological process for the functioning of ecosystems. Pollinating insects, mostly bees, are responsible for the maintenance of plant species reproduction in natural and anthropic ecosystems. However, bees are very sensitive, to natural habitats loss and fragmentation. This disturbance in the landscape can lead to decreased pollinator richness and visitation frequencies. On the other hand, the structural diversity and abundance of plant species in the environment may alter the visitation rates and bees visiting behavior. The aim of this study is to understand how surrounding landscape structure (amount of habitat and isolation) and local characteristics of forest fragments (temperature, humidity, abundance and diversity of floral resources, presence of dominant species, canopy and undergrowth density) influence the abundance and species richness of floral visiting bees. In landscapes with lower forest loss, we expect higher species richness of pollinating bees. In fragments with less internal resources and favorable conditions, we expect lower abundance of pollinating bees. We will study forest fragments in the region between the Serra da Cantareira and Mantiqueira, in order to vary both local characteristics and the structure and composition of the landscape. Within each fragment, we will activelly collect floral visiting bees. To evaluate the effect of landscape and local characteristics on these bees community, we will use the approach of comparing several Multiple Linear Regression usinf Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). (AU)