Vulnerability of Crop Pollination Ecosystem Services to Climate …
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of the richest areas with solitary bees [79–91]. The agricultural cultivated areas all
over Egypt have been changed dramatically over the last 20 years. Some agricultural
areas have been changed to be urban and suburban communities. Since then, a lot
of impacts have been affected by several issues in the agriculture ecosystem with
special concern to flora and fauna including wild and domestic bees. On the other
hand, the newly reclaimed areas are shortened due to the limited water resources and
low rainfall which mainly affected by climate changes. This has been proved with the
bee of the genus Anthophora, which Egypt was so rich with over 80 species, but right
now the species richness of this genus was fewer than the past [90]. Also, the increase
of temperature is well recognized in both seasons; winter season becoming short
and the summer season becoming longer, which will effect on the species thermal
tolerance levels, distributions and the whole lifecycle. In additions, some species
may disappear, and some other species will have more superiority for dominating
in the ecosystem [92, 39]. There are a lot of studies in this regard worldwide, but
unfortunately there is no any information or data about the real or expected scenarios
for insect pollinators in Egypt. Recently, Apis florea, the dwarf honeybees were
recorded in Egypt, which considered as a biological invasion, and it is expected to
compete with domestic honeybees Apis mellifera on their foraging resources [93].
So, this species in the coming two-decades probably will invade the whole of North
Africa.
5.2 Solitary Bees and Nest Fragmentation
Several bee species, which are “cavity and ground-nesting bees” are threatened
by nesting fragmentation, habitat elimination, degradation and urbanization [94,
78]. The populations of some bee species from the family: Megachilidae was less
than their populations in the past, such species as Chalicodoma siculum (Rossi,
1792), Chalicodoma nigripes (Spinola, 1838), Chalicodoma flavipes (Spinola, 1838),
Megachile minutissima (Radoszkowski, 1876), Osmia latreillei (Spinola, 1806) and
Osmia submicans (Morawitz, 1870) [89, 78]. The same case was found with another
bee species, Eucera nigrilabris (Lepeletier, 1841). The whole nesting area of this
species was eliminated for to national project of covered drainage [95]. Therefore, a
lot of attempts were carried out in the Bee Research Center of Suez Canal University
for conserving several cavity nesting bee species. This was done successfully with
three major species Chalicodoma siculum (Rossi, 1792), Megachile minutissima
(Radoszkowski, 1876) and Osmia latreillei (Spinola, 1806).
5.3 Bees and Shortage of Foraging Resources
One of the major threats for bees is the threat of plant pollinator interactions. This
could be recognized in several studies worldwide. The climate change is affecting
231
of the richest areas with solitary bees [79–91]. The agricultural cultivated areas all
over Egypt have been changed dramatically over the last 20 years. Some agricultural
areas have been changed to be urban and suburban communities. Since then, a lot
of impacts have been affected by several issues in the agriculture ecosystem with
special concern to flora and fauna including wild and domestic bees. On the other
hand, the newly reclaimed areas are shortened due to the limited water resources and
low rainfall which mainly affected by climate changes. This has been proved with the
bee of the genus Anthophora, which Egypt was so rich with over 80 species, but right
now the species richness of this genus was fewer than the past [90]. Also, the increase
of temperature is well recognized in both seasons; winter season becoming short
and the summer season becoming longer, which will effect on the species thermal
tolerance levels, distributions and the whole lifecycle. In additions, some species
may disappear, and some other species will have more superiority for dominating
in the ecosystem [92, 39]. There are a lot of studies in this regard worldwide, but
unfortunately there is no any information or data about the real or expected scenarios
for insect pollinators in Egypt. Recently, Apis florea, the dwarf honeybees were
recorded in Egypt, which considered as a biological invasion, and it is expected to
compete with domestic honeybees Apis mellifera on their foraging resources [93].
So, this species in the coming two-decades probably will invade the whole of North
Africa.
5.2 Solitary Bees and Nest Fragmentation
Several bee species, which are “cavity and ground-nesting bees” are threatened
by nesting fragmentation, habitat elimination, degradation and urbanization [94,
78]. The populations of some bee species from the family: Megachilidae was less
than their populations in the past, such species as Chalicodoma siculum (Rossi,
1792), Chalicodoma nigripes (Spinola, 1838), Chalicodoma flavipes (Spinola, 1838),
Megachile minutissima (Radoszkowski, 1876), Osmia latreillei (Spinola, 1806) and
Osmia submicans (Morawitz, 1870) [89, 78]. The same case was found with another
bee species, Eucera nigrilabris (Lepeletier, 1841). The whole nesting area of this
species was eliminated for to national project of covered drainage [95]. Therefore, a
lot of attempts were carried out in the Bee Research Center of Suez Canal University
for conserving several cavity nesting bee species. This was done successfully with
three major species Chalicodoma siculum (Rossi, 1792), Megachile minutissima
(Radoszkowski, 1876) and Osmia latreillei (Spinola, 1806).
5.3 Bees and Shortage of Foraging Resources
One of the major threats for bees is the threat of plant pollinator interactions. This
could be recognized in several studies worldwide. The climate change is affecting