Wind is a critical factor in the ecology of pollinating insects such as bees. However, the role of wind in determining patterns of bee abundance and floral visitation rates across space and time is not well understood. Orchid bees are an important and diverse group of neotropical pollinators that harvest pollen, nectar and resin from plants. In addition, male orchid bees collect volatile scents that they store in special chambers in their hind legs, and for which the wind-based dispersal of odours may play a particularly crucial role. Here, we take advantage of this specialized scent foraging behaviour to study the effects of wind on orchid bee visitation at scent sources in a fragmented tropical forest ecosystem. Consistent with previous work, forest cover increased orchid bee visitation. In addition, we find that temporal changes in wind speed and turbulence increase visitation to scent stations within sites. These results suggest that the increased dispersal of attractive scents provided by wind and turbulence outweighs any biomechanical or energetic costs that might deter bees from foraging in these conditions. Overall, our results highlight the significance of wind in the ecology of these important pollinators in neotropical forests.

中文翻译：

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在一个支离破碎的热带森林中，风驱使传粉者访视的时间变化。

风是蜜蜂等授粉昆虫生态的关键因素。然而，人们对于风在确定蜜蜂的丰度和跨空间和时间的花访率的模式中的作用尚不十分了解。兰花蜂是一组重要的新近性传粉媒介，它们从植物中采集花粉，花蜜和树脂。此外，雄性兰花蜂会收集挥发性气味，并将它们存储在后腿的特殊隔间中，为此，风中散发的气味可能会发挥特别重要的作用。在这里，我们利用这种特殊的气味觅食行为来研究风对零散的热带森林生态系统中的气味源兰花蜂造访的影响。与以前的工作一致，森林覆盖增加了兰花蜂的访视。此外，我们发现风速和湍流的时间变化会增加对站点内气味站的访问。这些结果表明，由风和湍流引起的诱人气味的散播增加，超过了可能阻止蜜蜂在这些条件下觅食的任何生物力学或能量消耗。总体而言，我们的结果突出了风在新热带森林中这些重要授粉媒介生态中的重要性。