Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America

Despite the long intertwined evolutionary histories of bees and plants, bee diversity peaks in the xeric areas of the eastern and western hemispheres and not the tropics, where plant diversity is greatest. Intensive sampling in the northeast Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Robert L. Minckley, William R. Radke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2021-04-01
Series:Journal of Hymenoptera Research
Online Access:https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/60895/download/pdf/
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spelling doaj-cca0c1e9aee64e92937263719c0ad6962021-09-28T14:24:19ZengPensoft PublishersJournal of Hymenoptera Research1314-26072021-04-018231734510.3897/jhr.82.6089560895Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North AmericaRobert L. Minckley0William R. Radke1University of RochesterUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service Despite the long intertwined evolutionary histories of bees and plants, bee diversity peaks in the xeric areas of the eastern and western hemispheres and not the tropics, where plant diversity is greatest. Intensive sampling in the northeast Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United States provide the first quantitative estimate of bee species richness where high diversity had been predicted in North America from museum records. We find that the density of bee species in a limited area of 16 km2 far exceeds any other site in the world and amounts to approximately 14% of the bee species described from the United States. Long-term studies of bees and other pollinators from areas that are minimally impacted by humans provide much-needed baseline data for studies of bees where human impacts are more severe and as climate change accelerates. https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/60895/download/pdf/
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Robert L. Minckley
William R. Radke
spellingShingle Robert L. Minckley
William R. Radke
Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
Journal of Hymenoptera Research
author_facet Robert L. Minckley
William R. Radke
author_sort Robert L. Minckley
title Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
title_short Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
title_full Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
title_fullStr Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
title_full_unstemmed Extreme species density of bees (Apiformes, Hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of North America
title_sort extreme species density of bees (apiformes, hymenoptera) in the warm deserts of north america
publisher Pensoft Publishers
series Journal of Hymenoptera Research
issn 1314-2607
publishDate 2021-04-01
description Despite the long intertwined evolutionary histories of bees and plants, bee diversity peaks in the xeric areas of the eastern and western hemispheres and not the tropics, where plant diversity is greatest. Intensive sampling in the northeast Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico and the United States provide the first quantitative estimate of bee species richness where high diversity had been predicted in North America from museum records. We find that the density of bee species in a limited area of 16 km2 far exceeds any other site in the world and amounts to approximately 14% of the bee species described from the United States. Long-term studies of bees and other pollinators from areas that are minimally impacted by humans provide much-needed baseline data for studies of bees where human impacts are more severe and as climate change accelerates.
url https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/60895/download/pdf/
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