Effects of farmland consolidation in southern China on wild bee species composition, nesting location and body size variations

Traditional smallholding-dominated agricultural landscapes in Southern China are increasingly homogenized and consolidated, resulting large mono-cropped fields impoverished pollinator communities. The exact impact of this farmland consolidation on composition functional traits wild bee communities remains poorly understood. We studied these oilseed rape embedded 18 located Jiangxi Province, China, with 11 sites representing traditional (pre-consolidation) the remaining 7 consolidated landscapes. assemblages was not differentiated into mean body size species similarly did shows significant differences between farmland. intraspecific for a dominant species, Lasioglossum proximatum, larger than farmland, while individuals co-dominant Eucera floralia showed no such differentiation. In proportion semi-natural habitat positively linked to abundance-based average interspecific species. For calculations, aboveground nesting lower ones. Our study suggests that might affect composition, particularly abundant small-bodied Above-ground bees may require specific management interventions promote their persistence, which could take form patches introduced can also benefit community more widely.