Mapping Bumblebee Community Assemblages and Their Associated Drivers in Yunnan, China.

Abstract

Bumblebees are among the most important wild pollinators; however, their populations are declining worldwide due to factors such as climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use. For their conservation, it is important to understand the community structure at the local scale and the drivers responsible for their assemblages. However, little is known about bumblebee community assemblages and their drivers in Yunnan Province, China. In this study, we mapped bumblebee community assemblages across 125 counties in Yunnan Province using field-collected and published data. We also quantified the climatic and land use/land cover (LULC) drivers shaping these assemblages. The climatic habitat suitability for 21 bumblebee species was assessed at the county level across Yunnan using species distribution modeling. The biogeographic zones (groups of counties) were identified using Ward's agglomerative cluster analysis, and the impacts of 12 bioclimatic and LULC drivers on the zonation pattern were assessed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Results indicated that more than 70% of bumblebee species showed their highest environmental suitability in the northern region of Yunnan. Among climatic factors, temperature-related bioclimatic variables were identified as dominant drivers influencing the spatial distribution of 15 out of 21 bumblebee species within the counties of Yunnan. In contrast, five species, B. grahami, B. impetuosus, B. lepidus, B. picipies, and B. securus, showed the highest contribution from precipitation-related factors. Six biogeographic zones (I, II, III, IV, V, and VI) were identified using Ward's agglomerative cluster analysis. All 12 drivers were found to play critical roles in shaping the community assemblages of bumblebee species. This study provides essential insights for devising targeted conservation strategies at a local scale to maintain bumblebee populations in Yunnan.