Trap nest preference of solitary bees in fragments of the Baturité massif, Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

The study investigated native solitary bee species that nest in pre-existing cavities in the Baturité Massif, State of Ceará, Brazil, their preference for nest substrates and aspects of these bee communities. Samples were taken in four distinct areas of the Baturité Massif using three types of trap-nests: dried bamboo internodes, cardboard tubes and rational boxes. Out of the 185 nests offered, 34 were colonized and 24 of them produced 131 bees, belonging to two families (Apidae and Megachilidae) and five genera (Centris, Mesocheira, Euglossa, Megachile and Coelioxys) from six species, including parasitic ones. Nesting preference was observed to certain types of substrates (χ²=17.89, p<0.001), with bamboo internodes being preferred by bee to build their nests, while monthly variation in temperature and humidity did not affect bee emergency. Spite of few nests foundations and the few species sampled, this work contributed to an unprecedented knowledge about the species that use pre-existing cavities in the Baturité Massif that may contribute to assist in the maintenance and conservation of this mountainous area and can be useful for pollination services of native and agricultural plants.

Data relating to threats to passion fruit production in the Neotropics due to agricultural area loss and pollinator mismatch as consequence of climate changes.

The data in this article are associated with the research article 'Agricultural area losses and pollinator mismatch due to climate changes endanger passion fruit production in the Neotropics' (A.D. Bezerra et al. 2019). The data consists of the occurrence points, AUC scores models, presence and absence and co-occurrence maps of the passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) crop and its pollinators, Xylocopa bees (Xylocopa frontalis and Xylocopa grisescens), in current and future scenarios (RPC 4.5 and 8.5, in the years 2060 and 2080) in the Neotropics. Data was obtained though literature review (articles, systematic surveys, dissertation and thesis), as well as systematic searches in entomological collections available in data portals provided by the SpeciesLink and Global Biodiversity Information Facility - GIBF, and analyses by the MaxEnt algorithm and binary transformation. Occurrence error points that did not represent the actual spatial distribution of the species were removed to obtain the current occurrence points and data analyses proved good performance of models for all prediction scenarios. The data-generated maps of pollinators and crop occurrence and co-occurrence also show how climate change may impact the spatial distribution of pollinators and potential losses of this crop's agricultural areas.

Mutually beneficial pollinator diversity and crop yield outcomes in small and large farms.

Ecological intensification, or the improvement of crop yield through enhancement of biodiversity, may be a sustainable pathway toward greater food supplies. Such sustainable increases may be especially important for the 2 billion people reliant on small farms, many of which are undernourished, yet we know little about the efficacy of this approach. Using a coordinated protocol across regions and crops, we quantify to what degree enhancing pollinator density and richness can improve yields on 344 fields from 33 pollinator-dependent crop systems in small and large farms from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For fields less than 2 hectares, we found that yield gaps could be closed by a median of 24% through higher flower-visitor density. For larger fields, such benefits only occurred at high flower-visitor richness. Worldwide, our study demonstrates that ecological intensification can create synchronous biodiversity and yield outcomes.