Abstract
AbstractThe mining bee (Andrena spp.) play a key role in ensuring plant and animal diversity. The present study examines their diversity in a post-agricultural landscape exemplified by the Kampinos National Park (KNP), a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Poland. The following hypotheses were addressed: (H1) the mining bees demonstrate a narrow ecological amplitude, (H2) there are no indicator species for particular habitats, and (H3) the studied mining bees have the same ecological preferences to those presented in the literature. A total of 40 catch per unit effort samples (CPUE) were collected across various habitats with different soil humidity. Forty-six species were recorded, representing 46% of mining bees and approximately 10% of the known Polish bee fauna. Nineteen of the recorded species (41%) were assigned to CR-NT threat categories, indicating that the national park plays a significant role in preserving mining bee species diversity and their conservation. None of the hypotheses (H1, H2, H3) were confirmed. The mining bees were found to demonstrate a wide ecological amplitude. Surprisingly, habitats located in dry and wet soils were both characterised by high abundance and species richness. Seventeen indicators were distinguished among the dominant and rarer species. Our findings suggest that Andrena nigroaenea and A. ventralis (lower humidity), as well as A. alfkenella and A. minutuloides (higher humidity), have different significant relationships with habitat soil humidity to those reported in the literature.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference84 articles.
1. Michener, Ch. The Bees of the World 2nd edn. (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).
2. Falk, S. & Lewington, R. Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland (Bloomsbury, 2015).
3. Polaszek, A. Fauna Europaea: Apidae. Fauna Europaea version 2017.06 https://fauna-eu.org (2021).
4. Celary, W. Digital Catalogue of Biodiversity of Poland—Animalia: Arthropoda: Hexapoda: Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apocrita: Apoidea: Apiformes. Polish Biodiversity Information Network. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ht7mu7 accessed via GBIF.org (2023).
5. Ollerton, J., Winfree, R. & Tarrant, S. How many flowering plants are pollinated by animals?. Oikos 120, 321–326 (2011).