TY - JOUR
T1 - Recipe for disruption: multiple recent arrivals of megachilid bees in Pacific archipelagos
AU - Groom, Scott
AU - Hayes, Sarah
AU - Ngo, Hien
AU - Stevens, Mark
AU - Schwarz, Michael
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - When examining how the ecosystems of remote islands have developed, it is important to know the timing of when various elements arrived and whether they then diversified. Our understanding of the histories behind the biodiverse south west Pacific (SWP) archipelagos is limited, and further impeded by the complex geological histories of this region. Previous studies of the SWP short-tongued halictine bee fauna suggest their presence is much younger than the geological ages of these archipelagos, which is surprising given their critical role as pollinators in other terrestrial ecosystems. The long-tongued megachilid bees represent a considerable proportion of the known bee species for the region, yet little is known of their origin. Here we use genetic diversity within mitochondrial DNA to infer the likely ages and origins of megachilid species from Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa. Our results indicate a very recent origin for megachilids in the SWP, with many species exhibiting small intraspecific genetic distances. Three species share almost identical haplotypes with specimens from Southeast Asia, suggesting multiple human-aided introductions. Combined with data from recent studies on other bee groups present in the region, our results have broad implications for how the Pacific island biota developed and how we should approach its management.
AB - When examining how the ecosystems of remote islands have developed, it is important to know the timing of when various elements arrived and whether they then diversified. Our understanding of the histories behind the biodiverse south west Pacific (SWP) archipelagos is limited, and further impeded by the complex geological histories of this region. Previous studies of the SWP short-tongued halictine bee fauna suggest their presence is much younger than the geological ages of these archipelagos, which is surprising given their critical role as pollinators in other terrestrial ecosystems. The long-tongued megachilid bees represent a considerable proportion of the known bee species for the region, yet little is known of their origin. Here we use genetic diversity within mitochondrial DNA to infer the likely ages and origins of megachilid species from Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa. Our results indicate a very recent origin for megachilids in the SWP, with many species exhibiting small intraspecific genetic distances. Three species share almost identical haplotypes with specimens from Southeast Asia, suggesting multiple human-aided introductions. Combined with data from recent studies on other bee groups present in the region, our results have broad implications for how the Pacific island biota developed and how we should approach its management.
KW - Conservation
KW - Fiji
KW - Island biogeography
KW - Pollinators
KW - Samoa
KW - Vanuatu
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905698547&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10841-014-9665-1
DO - 10.1007/s10841-014-9665-1
M3 - Article
VL - 18
SP - 613
EP - 622
JO - Journal of Insect Conservation
JF - Journal of Insect Conservation
SN - 1366-638X
IS - 4
ER -