Global Patterns and Drivers of Bee Distribution (vol 31, pg 451, 2021)

Insects are the focus of many recent studies suggesting population declines, but even invaluable pollination service providers such as bees lack a modern distributional synthesis. Here, we combine a uniquely comprehensive checklist of bee species distributions and >5,800,000 public bee occurrence records to describe global patterns of bee biodiversity. Publicly accessible records are sparse, especially from developing countries, and are frequently inaccurate throughout much of the world, consequently suggesting different biodiversity patterns from checklist data. Global analyses reveal hotspots of species richness, together generating a rare bimodal latitudinal richness gradient, and further analyses suggest that xeric areas, solar radiation, and non-forest plant productivity are among the most important global drivers of bee biodiversity. Together, our results provide a new baseline and best practices for studies on bees and other understudied invertebrates.

Automated summary

By analyzing the global distribution of bee species and their occurrence records, this study reveals biodiversity hotspots and identifies key drivers of bee diversity, including xeric areas, solar radiation, and non-forest plant productivity. These findings provide a new foundation and guidelines for research on bees and other understudied invertebrates.