Coffee cover surrounding forest patches negatively affect Euglossini bee communities

Abstract

Orchid bees (Euglossini) are pollinators sensitive to landscape pressures related to agricultural land use, such as coffee farming. Coffee crops occupy a large land area in Brazil, and understanding the effects of coffee farming on bee communities is essential to pollinator conservation in modified landscapes. Here, we evaluated the Euglossini communities in forest patches surrounded by coffee crops in the Atlantic Forest. We hypothesized the negative effects of coffee cover (%) on euglossine richness and abundance. The euglossine males were sampled at a sampling point within forest patches of 15 landscapes in southeastern Brazil. A total of 1890 euglossine males in four genera and 14 species were sampled. Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841 was the dominant species (55.1%), followed by Euglossa cordata (Linnaeus, 1758) (25.5%). We found a new record for Euglossa liopoda Dressler, 1982, increasing the species’ known range in the Atlantic Forest. The results showed that the euglossine richness and species abundance decreased in forest patches surrounded by a high coffee cover (%). These negative effects of coffee cover on the Euglossini communities are related to forest cover substitution by monocultures with low or no floral attractiveness for these bees. This study highlights that forest patches in agricultural landscapes sustain high levels of euglossine richness. Thus, we indicate the conservation importance of these Atlantic Forest patches for bee species requirements.