Bioclimatic and Land Use/Land Cover Factors as Determinants of Crabronidae (Hymenoptera) Community Structure in Yunnan, China

TL;DR

This study explores how climate and land use affect wasp communities in Yunnan, China, highlighting the importance of habitat protection for these ecologically important insects.

Contribution

The study provides the first province-level assessment of Crabronidae assemblages and their environmental determinants in Yunnan using species distribution modeling and multivariate analyses.

Findings

Land use/land cover (LULC) factors were the primary determinant for 90% of Crabronidae species assemblages in Yunnan.

Species richness peaked in southern Yunnan, particularly in counties like Jinghong and Mengla.

Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that LULC and climatic factors together explained 70% of the variance in community structure.

Abstract

Many ecologically and economically important species of Crabronidae wasps (Hymenoptera) perform hunting of soft-bodied insect pests and pollen transformation services. Because of these highly beneficial economic services, Crabronidae deserve to be studied. This paper investigates the impact of environmental factors on the community structure and distribution patterns of these wasps in Yunnan Province, China. The Yunnan Province is an ideal place for this study as it is a biodiversity hotspot within China due to its climatic and topographic conditions. Our results suggest that environmental factors influenced the shape and community assemblages of Crabronidae species in Yunnan. In addition, different areas of the provinces support different species and this pattern is strongly associated with environmental factors. The land use/land cover (LULC) factors played a primary role in most species’ assemblages, whereas bioclimatic factors played a secondary role. Finally, we indicate that the wasp species are most sensitive to environmental changes, including climatic and land-cover changes, emphasizing the need for effective habitat protection measures. The information obtained from this study provides a baseline that can help conservation planning, monitor future challenges and support efforts to maintain healthy wasp communities.

Crabronid wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) are ecologically important predators that provide various ecological services by regulating the arthropod populations, enhancing soil processes through nesting, serving as sensitive indicators of habitat condition, and providing pollen transfer for plants. However, as other invertebrates face biodiversity threats, these wasps might be under threat from environmental changes, and we need to assess the biodiversity patterns of these wasps in Yunnan Province. Unfortunately, no information is currently available about the pattern and factors responsible for the assemblages of these wasps within our study region. This study provides the first province-level assessment of habitat suitability, species richness, assemblage structure, and environmental determinants for Crabronidae in Yunnan by integrating species distribution modeling (SDM), multivariate clustering, and ordination analyses. More than 50 species were studied to assess habitat suitability in Yunnan using MaxEnt. Model performance was robust (AUC > 0.7). Suitability patterns varied distinctly among regions. Species richness peaked in southern Yunnan, particularly in the counties of Jinghong, Mengla, Menghai, and Jiangcheng Hani & Yi. Land use/land cover (LULC) variables were the dominant predictors for 90% of species, whereas precipitation-related variables contributed most strongly to the remaining 10%. Ward’s hierarchical clustering grouped the 125 counties into three community assemblage zones, with Zone III comprising the most significant area. A unique species composition was found within a particular zone, and clear separation among zones based on environmental variation was supported by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which explained more than 70% variability among zones. Furthermore, Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) indicated that both LULC and climatic factors shaped community structure assemblages, with axes 1 and 2 explaining 70% of variance (p = 0.001). The most relevant key factors in each zone were precipitation variables (bio12, bio14, bio17), which were dominant in Zone I; for Zone II, temperature and vegetation variables were most important; and urban, wetland, and water variables were most important in Zone III.

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