Curcio Santiago, Andrés

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    Floral and pollen pellet composition of two life zones in Puerto Rico and their importance for apiculture
    (2023-12-11) Curcio Santiago, Andrés; Robles-Vázquez, Wilfredo; College of Agricultural Sciences; Gallardo-Cova, Fernando; Segarra-Carmona, Alejandro E.; Armstrong , Aristides; Department of Crops and Agro-Environmental Sciences; Rúa-de la Asunción, Armando
    Honeybees (Apis mellifera) aid in pollinating around 87.5% of all flowering plants and 75% of cultivated crops, produced for human consumption, alongside other pollinators. In the tropics, approximately 70% of crops are benefited by the pollination services that species like the honeybees offer. Puerto Rico, a subtropical archipelago in the Caribbean, has a high diversity of flowering plants all year round due to its climactic conditions. Additionally, Puerto Rico counts with six distinct life zones driven by its temperature, precipitation, rainfall distribution, evapotranspiration rates, soil, and drainage. Such factors lead to a distinct floral species composition which therefore affects melliferous plant species. Assessing the melliferous flora for honeybees at the different life zones could prove as a useful strategy to contribute both the beekeeping industry and conservation of the honeybee. A one-year survey of the pollen floral resources honeybees used in two different life zones in Puerto Rico was conducted in order to identify and detect changes in the honeybee’s pollen diet throughout a year in the Agricultural Research Station of Adjuntas (18.1735° N, 66.7989° W), represents the subtropical wet forest zone, and Agricultural Research Station of Lajas (18.0322°N, -67.0731° W), represents the subtropical dry forest zone. Simultaneously a point-intercept plant survey was conducted for the purpose of identifying and detecting changes in the botanical composition honeybees have available to them in the environment. In the wet forest zone the most frequent plant taxa were the Asteraceae (74%), Poaceae (54%) and Fabaceae (42%) families. In the dry forest zone, the most frequent plant taxa were the Poaceae (72%), Fabaceae (49%) and Malvaceae (24%) families. In the pollen collection, the Arecaceae (41%) family was classified as a secondary pollen type and the Asteraceae (7%) and Poaceae (7%) families as important minor pollen in the subtropical wet forest zone. In the subtropical dry forest zone, the Arecaceae (17%) and Poaceae (17%) families were classified as secondary pollen types honeybees and three unidentified tricolporate pollen types as important minor pollen. Significant differences were found between the trimonthly frequencies in which these pollen taxa were observed, suggesting that the Arecaceae, Asteraceae and Poaceae families were used differently in the two life zones and they play different roles in the honeybee’s pollen diet during different periods throughout the year. Moreover, a significant increase in the presence of nutrient poor pollen, Asteraceae and Poaceae pollen, suggest that honeybees in Puerto Rico might experience flower scarcity during the later part of the year and rely on these plant taxa to survive through this period in both life zones. The results of this study can help beekeepers and honeybee conservationists make informed decisions on what plant taxa to promote and conserve during different periods in the year for better colony development and honeybee conservation in Puerto Rico.