Understanding the factors that influence the composition and structure of bee communities in natural habitats is critical for conservation and restoration efforts, mainly in disturbed ecosystems that are widely used for agricultural crop production, such as tropical dry forests (TDF). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of tree species composition and vegetation structure on the composition, abundance and species richness of eusocial and non-eusocial wild bee assemblages. Bees (19.909 individuals of 96 species) were collected in fifteen plots in different secondary succession stages in a TDF in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We found a positive relationship between tree community similarity and bee community similarity, for both eusocial and non-eusocial bees. Average tree height positively affected the abundance and species richness of eusocial bees, while the abundance of non-eusocial bees was negatively affected by tree species richness. Similar tree species composition and vegetation structure between plots at the same stage of secondary succession probably determined more similar bee communities than dissimilar tree communities. Most eusocial bee species are dependent on cavities in large trees to house their colonies, while most non-eusocial bees probably prefer open habitats because they provide a greater density and diversity of floral resources, and suitable areas for ground-nesting species. Since eusocial bees represented 94% of the individuals sampled, the conservation and restoration of mature forests is of primary importance in order to increase eusocial bee diversity, and the maintenance of these areas in the vicinity of agricultural systems is crucial to increase the ecosystem service of pollination.

中文翻译：

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植被组成和结构决定了热带干旱森林中的野生蜜蜂群落

了解影响自然栖息地中蜜蜂群落组成和结构的因素对于保护和恢复工作至关重要，主要是在广泛用于农作物生产的受干扰生态系统中，例如热带干旱森林 (TDF)。本研究的目的是评估树种组成和植被结构对真社会性和非社会性野蜂组合的组成、丰度和物种丰富度的影响。在巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州的一个 TDF 中，在 15 个不同次生演替阶段的地块中收集了蜜蜂（96 种，19.909 只）。我们发现树群落相似性和蜜蜂群落相似性之间存在正相关关系，无论是真社会性蜜蜂还是非社会性蜜蜂。平均树高对真社会性蜜蜂的丰度和物种丰富度产生积极影响，而非社会性蜜蜂的丰度则受到树种丰富度的负面影响。次演替同一阶段样地之间相似的树种组成和植被结构可能决定了比不同树群落更相似的蜜蜂群落。大多数真社会性蜜蜂物种依赖大树的空洞来安置它们的殖民地，而大多数非社会性蜜蜂可能更喜欢开阔的栖息地，因为它们提供了更大密度和多样性的花卉资源，以及适合地面筑巢物种的区域。由于真社会性蜜蜂占采样个体的 94%，因此保护和恢复成熟森林对于增加真社会性蜜蜂多样性至关重要，