Plant traits rather than plant phylogenetic and functional diversity drive bee diversity in a subtropical forest

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag110

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtag110

• Research Article • Next Articles

Plant traits rather than plant phylogenetic and functional diversity drive bee diversity in a subtropical forest

Peng-Fei Guo^1,2, Yi Li³, Ming-Qiang Wang⁴, Michael Orr^2,5, Massimo Martini⁶, Jing-Ting Chen², Qing-Song Zhou², Xiao-Yu Shi², Arong Luo^2,7, Ze-Qing Niu², Alexandra-Maria Klein⁶, Chao-Dong Zhu^2,7*

¹College of Pharmacy, Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 550025， Guiyang, China
²State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China
³Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100093, Beijing, China
⁴Mountain Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 610213, Chengdu, China
⁵Entomologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany
⁶Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, 79106, Freiburg, Germany
⁷College of Biological Sciences/International College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
^*Corresponding authors. E-mails: zhucd@ioz.ac.cn (C.D.Z.)

Received:2025-10-21 Accepted:2026-04-07 Published:2026-06-03
Supported by:
This work was supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32330013). P.-F. G. was supported by the Guizhou Science and Technology Planning Program (Qian Ke He Jichu[2023]1Y432) and Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctoral Start-up Fund (2022) No. 11. A.M.K. and M.M. acknowledges support from the German Research Foundation DFG within the MultiTroph research unit (452861007/FOR 5281). Data were collected with supports from both the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB310304) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (31625024) to C.D.Z. CDZ's lab has been continuously supported by grants from the Key Laboratory of the Zoological Systematics and Evolution of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant number 2008DP173354) and the State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management (Grant No. SKLA250X).

植物性状而非系统发育与功能多样性驱动亚热带森林蜜蜂多样性

Abstract

Abstract: Interactions between plants and pollinators are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Bees, especially wild and solitary bees, play a vital role in this process. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between multiple components of plant diversity and cavity-nesting bee diversity remain unclear, particularly in understudied subtropical forests. This study investigated how plant phylogenetic diversity (PD), functional diversity (FD), and specific leaf morphological-chemical traits influenced solitary bee diversity in a large-scale biodiversity experiment in subtropical China. We sampled solitary bees using trap nests across a tree diversity gradient. Results showed that plant leaf area (LA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) positively influenced bee species richness, while plant PD and FD had no significant effects. Our findings highlight the importance of specific plant traits over broad diversity metrics in supporting bee diversity and abundance, suggesting that conservation efforts should prioritize functionally diverse plant assemblages rather than maximizing species counts.

This study reveals that in subtropical forests, specific plant traits such as leaf area and leaf dry matter content significantly influence the diversity of solitary bees, whereas plant phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity show no significant effects, indicating that plant traits, rather than broad diversity metrics, are key drivers of bee diversity.

Key words: solitary bees, cavity-nesting bees, trap nests, plant diversity, leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf K content, subtropical forests, BEF-China, pollinator conservation

摘要：
植物与传粉者之间的相互作用对维持生物多样性和生态系统稳定性至关重要。蜜蜂，尤其是野生独栖蜜蜂，在这一过程中发挥着重要作用。然而，植物多样性的多个组成部分与筑巢独栖蜜蜂多样性之间的关系机制仍不明确，尤其是在研究相对不足的亚热带森林中。本研究在中国亚热带地区的一项大型生物多样性实验中，探讨了植物系统发育多样性、功能多样性以及特定叶片形态化学性状如何影响独栖蜜蜂多样性。我们利用陷阱巢箱沿树木多样性梯度采集了独栖蜜蜂。结果表明，植物叶面积和叶片干物质含量对蜜蜂物种丰富度有显著正向影响，而植物系统发育多样性和功能多样性则无显著效应。本研究强调，相较于广泛的多样性指标，特定的植物性状在支持蜜蜂多样性和多度方面更为重要，提示保护工作应优先考虑功能多样化的植物组合，而非单纯最大化物种数量。

关键词: 独栖蜜蜂, 筑巢蜜蜂, 人工巢管, 植物多样性, 叶面积, 叶片干物质含量, 叶片钾含量, 亚热带森林, BEF-China, 传粉者保护

Peng-Fei Guo, Yi Li, Ming-Qiang Wang, Michael Orr, Massimo Martini, Jing-Ting Chen, Qing-Song Zhou, Xiao-Yu Shi, Arong Luo, Ze-Qing Niu, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Chao-Dong Zhu. Plant traits rather than plant phylogenetic and functional diversity drive bee diversity in a subtropical forest[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag110.

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Plant traits rather than plant phylogenetic and functional diversity drive bee diversity in a subtropical forest

植物性状而非系统发育与功能多样性驱动亚热带森林蜜蜂多样性

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