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Diversity and community composition of euglossine bee assemblages (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in western Amazonia

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Abstract

Tropical forests are known for their diverse insect fauna. We aimed to determine the effect and relative importance of latitude, elevation and climatic factors affecting species richness and turnover in euglossine bee assemblages along a gradient of 18° latitude from tropical rainforests to subtropical, deciduous dry forests in Peru and Bolivia. Sixteen forest sites were sampled during the dry season. Variance partitioning techniques were applied to assess the relative effects of the spatial and environmental variables on species richness and composition. Furthermore, we conducted a Species Indicator Analysis to find characteristic species for the biogeographic zones. There was a significant decrease in species richness towards the subtropical area. The best predictors of species richness were precipitation and its consequences on soil properties as well as temperature seasonality. The abundance of euglossines was most closely related to precipitation and soil-pH, but the causal links of abundance to these factors is unclear since soil-pH itself is correlated to a drastic turnover of vegetation structure. Based on the analysis of assemblage composition we propose three different assemblages with a transitional zone at the southern tropical area. The biogeographical distribution of euglossine bees along our study transect appears to be primarily related to climatic conditions and does not reflect the common subdividion of Amazonia into drainage systems.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Y. Gareca, C. Hamel, S. K. Herzog, S. Reichle, V. Sandoval and J. Q. Vidoz for their support and advice during field work. We are grateful to the Botanical Garden in Santa Cruz, the University of Cochabamba, Prometa, the municipal governments of Villa Tunari and Río Seco, and R. Clarke Gemuseus for the permission to work on their land, and to G. Lamas, the National Herbarium at La Paz, the Museum for Natural History, Lima, Peru, as well as the Ministry of the Environment and the INRENA for supporting our study. Furthermore, we thank B. Bembé and G. Gerlach for technical advice, C. Rasmussen and B. Bembé for the support and advice in identifying the specimens, J. Diller for the kind support and advice in the preparation phase, S. Sylvester for reviewing the manuscript, and M. Schwerdtfeger for the baiting agents. Funding was provided by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland

    Stefan Abrahamczyk & Michael Kessler

  2. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Goettingen, Untere Karspuele 2, 37073, Goettingen, Germany

    Peter Gottleuber

  3. Department of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, German Primate Center (DPZ), Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Goettingen, Germany

    Christian Matauschek

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  1. Stefan Abrahamczyk
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  4. Michael Kessler
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Correspondence to Stefan Abrahamczyk.

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Table 5 Species abundance per site
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Abrahamczyk, S., Gottleuber, P., Matauschek, C. et al. Diversity and community composition of euglossine bee assemblages (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in western Amazonia. Biodivers Conserv 20, 2981–3001 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-0105-1

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