Wild bees provide invaluable ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes such as pollination. However, in recent decades, pollinator biodiversity, especially in wild bees, is declining on a global scale, with potentially far‐reaching consequences for crop production. Thus, there is an urgent need to determine whether wild bees are present in agricultural systems, such as fruit orchards. In the present study, we examined the wild bee fauna at species and community levels during the period of bee activity (May to August) in apple and high‐bush blueberry orchards in New England. Bee communities are crop‐specific and dominated by very few species, which fluctuate according to crop and season. The blueberry associated bee fauna was more diverse. In apple, communities were phylogenetically clustered at the genus level and dominated by solitary ground nesting bees within the genus Andrena. Species fluctuated widely in presence and abundance throughout the season, leading to differences in community composition and functional trait structure. The results obtained in the present study show that apple and blueberry harbour a distinct and diverse bee fauna that performs vital pollination services in orchards. Our results provide essential baseline data for wild bees in blueberry and apple orchards and this can be used to improve management and conservation strategies for wild bee preservation in these crops.

中文翻译：

---

苹果园和蓝莓园野生蜜蜂群落特征

野生蜜蜂在授粉等农业景观中提供了宝贵的生态系统服务。然而，近几十年来，传粉媒介生物多样性，尤其是野生蜜蜂，在全球范围内正在下降，可能对作物生产产生深远的影响。因此，迫切需要确定农业系统中是否存在野生蜜蜂，例如果园。在本研究中，我们在蜜蜂活动期间（5 月至 8 月）检查了新英格兰苹果园和高丛蓝莓园的物种和群落水平的野生蜜蜂动物群。蜜蜂群落具有作物特异性，以极少数物种为主，这些物种根据作物和季节而波动。与蓝莓相关的蜜蜂动物群更加多样化。在苹果中，群落系统发育在属水平上聚集，并由安德雷纳属内的孤独地面筑巢蜜蜂主导。物种在整个季节的存在和丰度波动很大，导致群落组成和功能性状结构的差异。本研究中获得的结果表明，苹果和蓝莓拥有独特而多样的蜜蜂动物群，它们在果园中提供重要的授粉服务。我们的研究结果为蓝莓和苹果园中的野生蜜蜂提供了重要的基线数据，这可用于改进这些作物中野生蜜蜂保护的管理和保护策略。本研究中获得的结果表明，苹果和蓝莓拥有独特而多样的蜜蜂动物群，它们在果园中提供重要的授粉服务。我们的研究结果为蓝莓和苹果园中的野生蜜蜂提供了重要的基线数据，这可用于改进这些作物中野生蜜蜂保护的管理和保护策略。本研究中获得的结果表明，苹果和蓝莓拥有独特而多样的蜜蜂动物群，它们在果园中提供重要的授粉服务。我们的研究结果为蓝莓和苹果园中的野生蜜蜂提供了重要的基线数据，这可用于改进这些作物中野生蜜蜂保护的管理和保护策略。