Journal of Plant Ecology, rtag110, https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtag110
Involved members of MultiTroph: 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
Summary: This study examines the relative importance of plant traits, phylogenetic diversity, and functional diversity in shaping the diversity of cavity-nesting solitary bees in subtropical forests. It shows that forests dominated by plants with larger leaf areas and higher leaf dry matter content support more bee species, whereas measures of plant phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity have little or no effect. The results suggest that bees respond primarily to plant characteristics that influence habitat structure and resource availability, highlighting the importance of considering key plant traits, not just species richness, when designing forest restoration and pollinator conservation strategies.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that specific plant traits are stronger predictors of solitary bee diversity than broader measures of plant phylogenetic or functional diversity. Consequently, conservation and restoration efforts may benefit more from considering the functional characteristics of plant species than from maximizing the number of plant species alone.