The species richness/abundance–area relationship of bees in an early successional tree plantation

Abstract

2017AbstractAnimal pollination is a vital ecosystem service, and wild bees are essential providers of this service for both crops and wildflowering plants. The early successional stage of a plantation, which can be dominated by grasses and herbaceous plant species,can provide a habitat for various species of wild bees. We sampled bees from 13 early successional plantation patches of differentsizes, ranging from 1.3 to 10 ha. We then applied a hierarchical community model to infer species richness/abundance–arearelationships. The results showed that estimates of population densities of individual species were unchanged with respect toarea, suggesting that smaller patches can have the same value per area as larger patches. Estimated species richness increasedrapidly for the small range of patch sizes examined. Total abundance was found to linearly increase with area. The inclusionof random site effects into the model resulted in significant density variations among patches; therefore, patch area was not theonly determining factor of species abundance. These outcomes in relation to management operations for forests and plantationssuggest that small patches of early successional forest contribute to conserve and restore wild bee diversity.