Bee pollinator functional responses and functional effects in restored tropical forests

Wild pollinators are necessary for ensuring plant reproduction not only among crop fields but also remnant and restored ecosystems. Restoration activities should, therefore, lead to wild pollinator recovery, and thus be monitored to evaluate effects on pollinator diversity and functionality. We assessed bee pollinator functional responses in restoration plantings by creating functional groups (traits: body size, nesting location, sociality and foraging strategy), comparing their abundance and diversity to that of other habitats (i.e. conserved and degraded primary forest fragments, anthropogenic wetlands and sugarcane fields), and testing for an effect of source habitat (i.e., primary forest fragments) isolation. We analyzed functional effects on pollen transportation by identifying the pollen grains attached on the bodies of bees; creating plant functional groups with the identified species (traits: habit, successional class, geographic origin and pollination mode); comparing their fre...