Diversity and spatial distribution of native bees in Mt. Banahaw de Lucban, Philippines

Native bees are pollinators and bioindicators of ecosystem health but only little is known about its abundance, species distribution, and habitat range, especially in the Philippines. This study assessed the diversity and spatial distribution of native bees in Mt. Banahaw de Lucban (MBDL). Belt transect coupled with opportunistic sampling were used in the inventory of bees and their nests. Nests occurrence and 7 environmental predictor variables including; 1) annual mean temperature; 2) precipitation of warmest quarter; 3) elevation; 4) slope; 5) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); 6) distance to agricultural areas (m); and 7) distance to forested areas (m) were used for modeling species distribution by MaxEnt. A total of 16 species of native bees including representatives from genus Apis, Tetragonula, Lasioglossum, Halictus, Hylaeus and Megachile were identified. A total of 96 bee nests from 5 species were also recorded yielding a nests density of 234 nests per km². Results showed medium diversity of solitary native bees with H’ of 2.488. Most bee nests were found in lower elevations while the distance from agricultural areas and the distance from forest areas had the highest contributions to the nesting of Apis breviligula, A. cerana, and Tetragonula biroi. The mean distance from forest areas of all bee nests was 649.930 m and the mean extent of suitable area for these species was 5.340 km². Hence, a landscape approach may be more appropriate to conserve native bees and sustain the ecosystem services they provide in MBDL.