Global taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of bees in apple orchards

• An essential prerequisite to safeguard pollinator species is characterisation of the multifaceted diversity of crop pollinators and identification of the drivers of pollinator community changes across biogeographical gradients. The extent to which intensive agriculture is associated with the homogenisation of biological communities at large spatial scales remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated diversity drivers for 644 bee species/morphospecies in 177 commercial apple orchards across 33 countries and four global biogeographical biomes. Our findings reveal significant taxonomic dissimilarity among biogeographical zones. Interestingly, despite this dissimilarity, species from different zones share similar higher-level phylogenetic groups and similar ecological and behavioural traits (i.e. functional traits), likely due to habitat filtering caused by perennial monoculture systems managed intensively for crop production. Honey bee species dominated orchard communities, while other managed/manageable and wild species were collected in lower numbers. Moreover, the presence of herbaceous, uncultivated open areas and organic management practices were associated with increased wild bee diversity. Overall, our study sheds light on the importance of large-scale analyses contributing to the emerging fields of functional and phylogenetic diversity, which can be related to ecosystem function to promote biodiversity as a key asset in agroecosystems in the face of global change pressures. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Apple pollination

Biodiversity–agroecosystem functioning

Biogeographical zones

Biotic homogenisation

Crop production

Pollinators

Crops

Cultivation

Ecosystems

Fruits

Orchards

Agro-ecosystems

Apple orchards

Biogeographical zone

Biotic homogenizations

Functional diversity

Phylogenetic diversity

Pollinator

agricultural ecosystem

biodiversity

biogeography

crop production

ecosystem function

herb

honeybee

intensive agriculture

monoculture

orchard

perennial plant

phylogenetics

taxonomy

agroecosystem

animal pollination

apple

article

biogeographic region

biome

ecosystem

filtration

global change

human

morphospecies

nonhuman

wild species

Biodiversity

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)