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The effects of human disturbance on a stingless bee community in a tropical rainforest |
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| Authors: | Hiromitsu Samejima Marfaizal Marzuki Teruyoshi Nagamitsu Tohru Nakasizuka |
| Institution: | a Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Kamitanakami-Hirano, Otsu 520-2113, Japan b Center for Forest Research, Forest Department of Sarawak, 93250 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia c Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Hitsujigaoka 7, Toyohira, Sapporo 062-8516, Japan d Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Takashima 335, Kamigyo, Kyoto 602-0878, Japan |
| Abstract: | Human disturbance of tropical rainforests may change pollinator communities indirectly as a result of changes in resource availability. We studied the mechanisms by which human disturbance affects a community of major pollinators, stingless bees, in Sarawak, Malaysia. We surveyed forest structure and flowering activity, and conducted a nest census and a bait-trap survey of stingless bees, both in primary forests and in forests disturbed by logging and shifting cultivation. The densities of late successional trees and large trees (diameter at breast height >50 cm) were higher in the primary forests than in the disturbed forests. The density of flowering trees was lower one year after logging, but recovered in old disturbed forests because of the active flowering of pioneer trees that became established after the disturbance. Stingless bees nest only in large trees, and nest density was positively correlated with the density of large trees. However, we found no relationship between the numbers of foragers and floristic parameters. Some species preferred nesting in dipterocarps, while others preferred dead trees. The results of the bait-trap survey also indicated that some species were abundant in the primary forests, whereas other species were abundant in the disturbed forests. These results suggest that human disturbance alters the species composition of the stingless bee community. Such changes in the bee community may affect the reproductive success of plants, and ultimately forest composition. |
| Keywords: | Pollinator Stingless bee Commercial logging Shifting cultivation Borneo |
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