The influence of climate and seasonality on bee communities: a complementary method for bee sampling in forest patches of an anthropic matrix

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate the influence of climate and seasonality on the wild bee community from forest patches of an anthropic matrix located in a transition area between two biodiversity hotspots in southeastern Brazil using complementary sampling methods. The bees were sampled for all seasons of the year, using pan traps and sweep nets. We analyzed the bee community in terms of dominance, diversity, and equitability, to construct a description of the bee community in relation to its seasonal distribution. We studied the relationships between climatic variables, sampling methods, and seasonality for both individuals and species using generalized linear models. We collected a total of 805 individuals (non-Apis) belonging to 46 genera and 117 species. Although the sampling methods differed in terms of numbers of collected individuals, the methods were complementary regarding the species collected. Significant differences were observed in relation to the number of individuals and species across the seasons. The sampling method, precipitation, and temperature were the primary parameters identified as statistically significant in the bee survey. Autumn demonstrated the highest bee diversity, with a lower dominance and higher equitability compared to other seasons. Understanding how pollinators respond to different human-modified landscapes under various seasonal conditions in highly anthropic scenarios would improve conservation strategies for these pollinators in forest patches of an anthropic matrix.