Bee diversity patterns in coastal Amazonia: effects of local habitat and landscape heterogeneity

Estuarine floodplain forests and mangroves play an important ecological role in nature. Little is known, however, about the contribution of these environments and their surroundings to the maintenance of pollinating insects, specifically bees. We investigate the effects of these forest types and the structure of the surrounding landscape, at different spatial scales, on bee communities along the Brazilian Amazon coast. We collected bees using Malaise traps and aromatic baits at 23 collection points in estuarine floodplain forests and 24 in mangroves, along a gradient of landscape composition and configuration, throughout 2020. We collected a total of 1420 specimens from 49 bee species. The abundance, richness, and diversity of bees were significantly greater in the estuarine floodplain, and the two forests differed significantly in species composition. Landscape heterogeneity positively affected the abundance, richness, diversity, and composition of bees around forests. Finally, we identified nine indicator species for estuarine floodplains and two for mangroves. Our results suggest that the two forests preserve distinct bee communities that are apparently adapted to each environment, as they respond differently to landscape structure.