Título:	The Role of Multiple Spatial Scales in Sustaining Native Bees and Pollination Services in Organic Agroecosystems
Outros títulos:	O papel de múltiplas escalas espaciais na manutenção de abelhas nativas e no serviço de polinização em agroecossistemas orgânicos
Autor(es):	Assunção, Rafaela Mendes
Orientador(es):	Togni, Pedro Henrique Brum
Coorientador(es):	Pires, Carmen Silvia Soares
Assunto:	Abelha Polinização Serviços ecossistêmicos Cerrado Tomate
Data de publicação:	2-Jul-2026
Data de defesa:	18-Dez-2026
Referência:	ASSUNÇÃO, Rafaela Mendes. The Role of Multiple Spatial Scales in Sustaining Native Bees and Pollination Services in Organic Agroecosystems. 2025. 199 f., il. Tese (Doutorado em Ecologia) — Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2025.
Abstract:	Pollination by wild bees is a key ecosystem service threatened by agricultural expansion, and effectively mitigating this threat requires understanding how landscape structure shapes bee communities, their ecological interactions, and their genetic structure. Therefore, this thesis aimed to investigate the drivers that sustain wild bees in and its effects on pollination in organic tomato agroecosystems in the Cerrado, using a multi-scale approach. First, we assessed how landscape and farm-level factors influence wild bee communities and their interaction networks (Chapter I). After that, we systematically reviewed the application of molecular markers in bee research to establish a methodological framework on the suitability of using this approach to understand spatial patterns of bee populations (Chapter II). This framework was then applied to investigate how landscape structure shapes gene flow and abundance in a native model species, Exomalopsis analis (Chapter III). Finally, we evaluated the introduction of managed Melipona quadrifasciata hives as a complementary pollination strategy and to understand the caveats of assisted pollination vs. natural pollination by wild bees (Chapter IV). Our results revealed that pollination services emerge from a complex interplay of spatial scales. At the landscape-level, natural vegetation cover predicted bee abundance, while on-farm non-crop plant richness shapes plant-pollinator network interactions and, ultimately, tomato fruit quality (Chapter I). Furthermore, based on the usefulness of genetic markers for bee studies (Chapter II), we found that E. analis abundance was highly sensitive to fine-scale habitat, while maintained broad-scale genetic connectivity across the landscape, using natural remnants as 'stepping stones' for gene flow (Chapter III). Finally, the introduction of managed M. quadrifasciata hives did not enhance fruit quality, with wild bees remaining the primary drivers of pollination (Chapter IV). This thesis demonstrates that simply introducing managed pollinators cannot compensate for the loss of functional wild bee communities. While the surrounding landscape determines the regional species pool and dictates the potential for genetic connectivity, farm-level conditions, specifically floral diversity, modulate which species are present, how they interact, and whether introduced managed bees can thrive. Therefore, effective pollination management in tropical agroecosystems must prioritize the conservation of landscape-scale natural habitats while simultaneously enhancing on-farm biodiversity to support robust local bee communities and their complex interaction that drives pollination service.
Unidade Acadêmica:	Instituto de Ciências Biológicas (IB)
Informações adicionais:	Tese (doutorado) — Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, 2025.
Programa de pós-graduação:	Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia
Licença:	A concessão da licença deste item refere-se ao termo de autorização impresso assinado pelo autor com as seguintes condições: Na qualidade de titular dos direitos de autor da publicação, autorizo a Universidade de Brasília e o IBICT a disponibilizar por meio dos sites www.unb.br, www.ibict.br, www.ndltd.org sem ressarcimento dos direitos autorais, de acordo com a Lei nº 9610/98, o texto integral da obra supracitada, conforme permissões assinaladas, para fins de leitura, impressão e/ou download, a título de divulgação da produção científica brasileira, a partir desta data.
Agência financiadora:	Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) , Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) , Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (INCT) e Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF).
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