Article

Pereira, F. W., M. L. Araujo, F. T. Brum, G. A. R. Melo, M. O. Moura, and R. B. Gonçalves. 2024. Bees travelling south: Climate‐induced range shifts and suitable habitat losses in south‐eastern neotropics. Journal of Biogeography 51: 2259–2273. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14989

Aim To provide an assessment of climate change impacts on a set of wild pollinators restricted to one of the regions with the greatest diversity of bees in the world. Also, we aimed to test whether functional groups responded differently to climate projections.LocationSouth‐eastern South America (SES).TaxonBees (Hymenoptera: Apidae sensu lato).MethodsWe selected 18 species of bees mostly restricted to the SES region, modelled their distributions and assessed the possible impacts of near future (2050) climate change in species richness and shifts in range centroids. Potential impacts related to different functional groups were evaluated through t‐tests.ResultsSES species richness was projected to decrease in the northernmost regions and increase southward. Most bee species were predicted to shift their range centroids towards the south‐west and south, while suitable stable areas were found in southern Brazil. We also found higher proportional losses in suitable areas for eusocial species compared to solitary ones, while generalists showed slightly lower gains than specialists.Main ConclusionSES bees are likely to undergo changes in the near future, with projected losses of species at northern portions and southward increases. The identified stable areas in southern Brazil underscore the importance of conservation efforts in the region, particularly in natural grasslands – an endangered habitat with high bee diversity. Although our results suggest higher vulnerability for functional groups traditionally considered more resilient, it is essential to acknowledge that other factors, including habitat and mutualists availability, behavioural particularities, phenology and range size, must be determinants for the vulnerability of species to ongoing climate change.

Moacyr Alvarenga

1915 – 2010

Apidae

Collected Apidae and identified Erotylidae

George Edward Bohart

September 21, 1916 – July 13, 1998

United States

Andrenidae

Collected Andrenidae and identified Andrenidae

Richard M. Bohart

September 28, 1913 – February 01, 2007

United States

Andrenidae

Collected Andrenidae and identified Crabronidae

John Keith Bouseman

August 11, 1936 – May 13, 2006

Ixodidae

Collected Ixodidae and identified Andrenidae

Hermann Burmeister
Hermann Burmeister

January 15, 1807 – May 02, 1892

Argentina; Swedish Pomerania; Kingdom of Prussia

Asteraceae

Collected Asteraceae and identified Toxodontidae

Adolpho Ducke

October 19, 1876 – January 05, 1959

Austria-Hungary; Brazil

Fabaceae

Collected Fabaceae and identified Fabaceae

Heinrich Friese

May 04, 1860 – September 08, 1948

Germany; German Reich

Apidae

Collected Apidae and identified Apidae

Terry Griswold

United States

Andrenidae

Collected Andrenidae and identified Megachilidae

Paul David Hurd, Jr.

April 02, 1921 – March 12, 1982

United States

Apidae

Collected Apidae and identified Apidae

Charles Duncan Michener
Charles Duncan Michener

September 22, 1918 – November 01, 2015

United States

Apidae

Collected Apidae and identified Halictidae

Charles W. O'Brien
Charles W. O'Brien

March 27, 1933 – August 10, 2019

Curculionidae

Collected Curculionidae and identified Curculionidae

Grace Sandhouse
Grace Sandhouse

June 01, 1896 – November 09, 1940

United States

Apidae

Collected Apidae and identified Megachilidae

F. Christian Thompson

April 24, 1944 – February 04, 2021

United States

Syrphidae

Collected Syrphidae and identified Syrphidae

Ignatz Urban
Ignatz Urban

January 07, 1848 – January 07, 1931

Kingdom of Prussia; German Reich

Fabaceae

Collected Fabaceae and identified Rubiaceae