ABSTRACT
Background: Xicotli data is the short name given to the dataset generated within the project framework "Integration of Biodiversity Data for the Management and Conservation of Wild Bee-Plant Interactions in Mexico (2021-2023)", as xicotli is the generic word for a bee in Nahuatl. The team comprised eco-informaticians, ecologists and taxonomists of both native bees and flora. The generated dataset contains so far 4,532 curated records of the plants, which are potential hosts of species of three focal families of bees native to Mexico: Apidae, Halictidae and Megachilidae and morphological and ecological data of the plant-bee interactions. This dataset was integrated and mobilised from citizen observations available at naturalista.mx (iNat), which were compiled through the iNaturalist project. New information: The new information obtained with the Xicotli data project was: Taxonomic information about bee species curated by taxonomists based on the information contained in iNaturalist;Taxonomic identification of the host plants by a botanist from the photos compiled by the Xicotli Data project;Data on the ecomorphological traits of bees and plants based on expert knowledge and literature. All the data were integrated into the Xicotli Data Project via the creation of new "observation fields". The visibility of the information originally contained in iNaturalist was maximized and can be consulted directly on the iNaturalist platform.
ABSTRACT
Buzz-pollinated plants are an essential source of pollen for a significant portion of local bee communities. Buzz pollination research has focused on studying the properties of bee buzzes and their implications on pollen release, morphological specialization of flowers, and the reproductive ecology of buzz-pollinated plants. In contrast, diversity patterns and ecological interactions between bees and buzz-pollinated plants have been studied less. This study analyzed the buzzing bee community of twelve tropical buzz-pollinated co-occurring plant species in a tropical montane cloud forest during the flowering periods of two consecutive years, focusing on diversity, compositional similarity, structure, and specialization (H2´) of the network. Twenty-one bee species belonging to Apidae, Colletidae, and Halictidae were recorded, fifteen species in 2014, and eighteen in 2015. Floral display and visited flowers doubled from first to second year, although the flowering period was 2 months longer in the first year. Bee compositional similarity between plants tended to be low; however, this was due rather to a high nestedness than species replacement. Temporal bee compositional similarity was also low but variable, and different plant species showed the highest similarity between years. The number of bee visits depended significantly on the number of flowers and years. Interactions between bees and plants showed a tendency to generalization. Compared to other buzz-pollinated networks, specialization (H2´) was similar, but diversity was low and the network small. In endangered ecosystems like the Mexican cloud forest, however, buzzing bees support biodiversity and provide an essential ecological service by pollinating dominant understory flora.
