Oligolectic bee species. An understudied group in Global Change impacts?

Abstract

Global change is considered the primary cause of the decline in bees worldwide, posing a significant threat to crucial pollination services they provide, carrying negative economic and ecological implications. Despite the extensive research conducted on the responses of bee communities to anthropogenic impacts, the focus has predominantly been on commercially interesting bees. In contrast, studies on solitary wild bees are notably scarce, especially on oligolectic bees (i.e. pollen specialists), despite their significant representation, accounting for up to 30% of species in some regions. This study seeks to address important knowledge gaps surrounding oligolecty and the responses of oligolectic bee species to global change. Objectives include providing a comprehensive explanation of "oligolecty"; provide a revised list of Swedish oligolectic species; reviewing current knowledge on global change impacts, indications of the potential vulnerability of oligolectic bees, and quantitatively presenting the distribution of research studies on global changes and bees. Existing knowledge has been drawn from scientific articles via global databases, reports, and experts. The used method is partly qualitative and partly quantitative. This study also reveals obscurities and misleading generalizations. Possible reasons for the sparse number of studies, what consequences this may have and what can be done to change this are discussed to some extent.