A review of ecosystem service benefits from wild bees across social contexts

Abstract

In order to understand the role of wild bees in both social and ecological systems, we conducted a quantitative and qualitative review of publications dealing with wild bees and the benefits they provide in social contexts. We classified publications according to several attributes such as services and benefits derived from wild bees, types of bee-human interactions, recipients of direct benefits, social contexts where wild bees are found, and sources of changes to the bee-human system. We found that most of the services and benefits from wild bees are related to food, medicine, and pollination. We also found that wild bees directly provide benefits to communities to a greater extent than individuals. In the social contexts where they are found, wild bees occupy a central role. Several drivers of change affect bee-human systems, ranging from environmental to political drivers. These are the areas where we recommend making interventions for conserving the bee-human system.

Keywords: Community; Ecosystem cascade framework; Livelihoods framework; Social–ecological systems.

Fig. 1

Increase in publications. There is a general trend of increase in publications on wild bees in social contexts during the last decade. The shaded area is the 95% confidence region of the nonlinear regression

Fig. 2

Research mobility of the Northern Hemisphere. Most of the (first) authors from the Northern Hemisphere conducted their studies outside of their own region. European first authors conducted research in Asia, Africa, and Latin America while North American first authors conducted research in all regions except Australia and the Middle East. First authors from Africa (with the exception of one author with dual affiliation with Asia), Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East conducted research only in their own regions

Fig. 3

Domination of ecology and anthropology. Most of the publications on wild bees fall within the fields of ecology, followed by anthropology

Fig. 4

Comparison of wild bee services identified in publications that used either an ecosystem cascade (pink) or livelihoods (green) framework. Publications that used a livelihoods framework identified honey and bee products as the main services that wild bees provide. Publications that used an ecosystem cascade framework identified pollen and the bees themselves as main services

Fig. 5

Comparison of benefits derived from wild bee services identified in publications that used either an ecosystem cascade (pink) or livelihoods (green) framework. Material and food benefits are mostly identified in publications that used a livelihoods framework. Medicine, pollination, and cultural benefits dominate in publications that used an ecosystem cascade framework

Fig. 6

Wild bees in social contexts. Humans interact directly with bees during bee product harvest, beekeeping, or bee hunting. Indirectly, bees become involved in social contexts when their products are used or traded