Succession of plant communities and soil development

Changes of plant communities (or biotic communities) are classified according to their causes. The term succession is restricted inClements' original sense to gradual directional replacemental changes of phytocenoses (or biocenoses) caused by their reaction upon the environment including soil development and a classification of succession is proposed. Gradual changes of communities caused by external factors are termed adaptive changes. The connection between succession and soil development as a unified process as well as the concept of climax as its result are discussed. A brief historical survey of the theory of succession as well as soil development is presented and definitions of some successional terms are proposed.     

Succession of microfungal communities on decaying leaves of Castanopsis fissa

A total of 38 fungal taxa were identified on senescent untreated and autoclaved Castanopsis fissa leaves during a 4-month study period. Seventy-six percent of the fungal genera found in this survey have not previously been recorded from Castanopsis. Frequency and time of occurrence of fungal taxa occurring on untreated senescent leaves were clustered into four groups when analyzed by cluster analysis, suggesting the replacement of microfungi in stages of succession on naturally senescent leaves. Autoclaved leaves revealed significantly different fungal communities, with only 26% of overlap with the natural ones and no clear patterns of replacement of fungal communities. Factors regulating the rates of decomposition are also discussed.     

九段沙湿地植被群落演替与格局变化趋势

长江口新生湿地九段沙由上沙、中沙和下沙三部分组成。2004年对湿地植被群落的演替与格局变化进行了研究。结果表明,九段沙湿地植被群落由芦苇(Phragmites austra-lis)、互花米草(Spartina alterniflora)、海三棱藨草(Scirpus mariqueter)和藨草(S.triqueter)构成。芦苇和互花米草生长于潮滩高程,海三棱藨草和藨草生长于低潮位。1998—2004年,上沙植被覆盖面积年平均约增长17%,中沙22%,下沙38%~39%,植被群落处于快速增长演替状态,这可能与沙洲发育速度有关。由于在中沙、下沙人为种植过外来物种互花米草,其增长速度最快,覆盖面积占九段沙植被总面积的比例从1998年不足1%上升到2004年的22%,地上部分总生物量的年平均增长率为79.79%,互花米草对藨草-海三棱藨草的竞争压力较大。鉴于互花米草对九段沙的影响尚无定论,本文提出了初步的植被管理措施。     

Changes in size and composition of weed communities during planted and natural fallows

The use of trees and herbaceous cover crops for weed management in smallholder farms is a promising alternative to the unsustainable traditional shifting cultivation system. The reported experiment was conducted from 1993 to 1996 in fallow plots established in 1989 to rehabilitate a degraded Alfisol after 10 years of continuous cultivation of maize/cassava. Treatments consisted of four plots each of woody legume species (Acacia auriculiformis, A. leptocarpa, Leucaena leucocephala, and Senna siamea), and a herbaceous legume cover crop (Pueraria phaseoloides). Two controls (natural bush fallow and continuous maize/cassava) were included. Each treatment was cleared and cultivated in 1993 and 1995 (after 4 and 6 year fallow). Cultivation was repeated in 1994 for plots cleared in 1993 and in 1996 for subplots cleared in 1995. In all the years, weed density and dry weight was lower in planted fallows than in the controls. Per capita weed population growth rate decreased in all the fallow treatments most notably in A. auriculiformis and S. siamea fallow. All fallow species except A. auriculiformis would require more than 6 years of fallow to prevent growth of the weed population over the long term. The weed seed bank was 75% lower in A. auriculiformis and P. phaseoloides fallow than the control plots. Canonical correspondence and redundancy analysis indicated differences in species composition between treatments in the aboveground weed flora and in the weed seed bank. Cynodon dactylon and Digitaria horizontalis dominated continuously cultivated maize/cassava plots. Chromolaena odorata occurred more in natural bush fallow. In contrast, annual broadleaf weeds dominated the planted fallow treatments.Die Einsatz von stickstoffbindenden Bäumen und Bodenbedeckungspflanzen zur Unkrautbekämpfung in kleinbäuerlichen Anbausystemen ist eine vielversprechende Alternative zum traditionellen Wanderfeldbau. Zwischen 1993 und 1996 wurde auf einem degradierten Alfisol ein Feldversuch durchgeführt, mit dem Ziel, den Einfluss von verschiedenen Brachesystemen auf den Unkrautbefall zu ermitteln. Die Versuchsfläche hatte seit 1989 brachgelegen, zwischen 1979 und 1989 wurde die Fläche alljährlich zum Anbau von Mais und Maniok genutzt. Der Versuch beinhaltete fünf Behandlungen mit verbesserter Brache: Acacia auriculiformis, A. leptocarpa, Leucaena leucocephala und Senna siamea als Baumleguminosen and Pueraria phaseoloides als stickstoffbinden Bodenbedecker. Als Kontrollbehandlungen dienten Naturbrache und jährlicher Anbau von Mais/Maniok. Alle Parzellen wurden nach 4- und 6-jähriger Brache in 1993 and 1995 kultiviert, die Bodenbearbeitung auf diesen Parzellen wurde jeweils im folgenden Jahr wiederholt. In allen Jahren waren die Unkrautdichte und Unkrauttrockenmasseerträge in den Baum- und P. phaseoloides Parzellen geringer als in den Kontrollparzellen. Die Abnahme war deutlich niedriger in A. auriculiformis und in S. siamea. Mit Ausnahme von A. auriculiformis, würden alle verbesserten Brachesysteme mehr als 6 Jahre benötigen, um die Wachstumrate der Unkrautpopulation zu hemmen. Die Unkrautsaatgutdichte im Boden war 75% niedriger in A. auriculiformis und in P. phaseoloides Parzellen als in der Kontrolle. Canonical Korrespondenz- und Redundanzanalysen zeigten, dass die Behandlungen die Zusammensetzung der Unkrautarten sowie die Unkrautsaatgutdichte beeinflussten. Cynodon dactylon und Digitaria horizontalis waren die dominanten Arten in den Parzellen, auf denen jährlich Mais/Maniok angebaut wurde. Chromolaena odorata war die dominante Art in Parzellen mit Naturbrache während einjährige, zweikeimblättrige Unkrautarten in den verbesserten Bracheparzellen vorherrschend waren.     

Local and landscape effects on bee communities of Hungarian winter cereal fields

• 1 Pollination is a key ecosystem service. Although bees are the most important pollinators, they are endangered by intensive agricultural practices. The present study investigated the effects of farmland management and environmental factors at local and landscape scales on bees in Central Hungary.
• 2 Bees were sampled in winter cereal fields that varied in the amount of applied fertilizer and insecticide use. Measurements included total, small and large bee species richness and abundance; stability of total species richness and abundance (coefficient of variation, CV); the nitrogen content of fertilizers; the number of insecticide applications; within‐field location; species richness and abundance of insect‐pollinated plants; and the percentage of semi‐natural areas in a 500‐m radius circle around the fields under study.
• 3 Increasing the amount of fertilizer decreased total and small bee abundance and increased the CV of total bee abundance. Insecticide use had a significant negative effect on total and small bee species richness and on large bee abundance. The percentage of semi‐natural habitats in a 500‐m radius did not influence bee species richness and abundance.
• 4 The results obtained confirms that the intensification of farmland management poses a threat to bee diversity, and thus may reduce pollination services. Recently‐introduced agri‐environment schemes are one potential approach for managing agricultural land use: reduced amounts of fertilizer and a cessation of insecticide application might lead to high bee species richness and abundance and ensure the pollination of wild plants and flowering crops.

     

Succession of bird communities in young temperate rainforests following thinning

We repeated bird and vegetation surveys in 1991–1992 and 2005–2006 among young managed stands and old-growth forests in southeast Alaska to evaluate whether pre-commercial thinning of managed stands influenced the bird community. We compared decadal changes in bird densities and forest vegetation among 3 stand types: managed stands originating from clearcuts 35 years ago that were left untreated (unthinned), managed stands thinned at uniform spacing (thinned), and old growth with no prior timber harvest. We did not detect differences in decadal trends in avian densities between thinned and unthinned stands for 15 of 16 common bird species using a repeated-measures design. Thinning did not result in greater recruitment of overstory-nesting species as predicted. This was likely because of 1) similar increases in tree heights ( = 9–10 m) and canopy cover ( = 29–43%) between unthinned and thinned stands across decades and 2) the relatively young successional stage of these stands, which had only begun to recruit medium and large size conifers (dbh ≥ 36 cm). Decadal trends in densities of most (88%) understory-nesting bird species did not differ between thinned and unthinned stands. Shrub cover decreased by 22% and 31% across decades in thinned and unthinned stands, respectively. Bird community composition in managed stands reflected the general decadal changes in forest vegetation with a shift in dominance from understory species in the early 1990s (80–85% of total bird density) to an equal abundance of understory (45–54%) and overstory species in the mid-2000s. The latter was more similar to old-growth stands, which were dominated by overstory species (67–71%). Overstory-nesting birds in old growth increased in density by 49% across decades. Densities of cavity-nesting species remained unchanged in managed stands and less than densities in old growth across decades, possibly because of a lack of large trees and snags for nest sites. Overall, thinning of clearcut stands, the primary silvicultural system in the region, had few measurable benefits to birds nearly 20 years after treatment. Monitoring over the 70–100-year harvest rotation may be necessary to fully test whether thinning accelerates succession of bird communities in clearcut stands. However, partial harvests that retain large trees and snags should also be explored as alternatives to better maintain late-succession avifauna throughout the harvest rotation in southeast Alaska. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.     

On the dynamics of vegetation: Succession in model communities

Summary Successional change is thought to be at least partially driven by forees originating from within the community, namely by reaction and competition. Both processes operate through changes in the environment, but from the literature on the subject it is not clear how they differ.To clarify these issues successiens of model communities are studied. This leads us to conclude that competition represent an instantaneous interaction, whereas reaction has historical aspects since it relies on cumulative changes in the environment. The three models considered-one relying on reaction to cause vegetational change, one relying on competition and differential growth rates, and a hybrid third one-yield very similar predictions: roughly bell-shaped curves displaced along the time axis. This shows that the mere fit of a certain model to successional data may easily be spurious (recently some workers have empirically fitted models identical to one derived here from first principles). The three models do behave radically different under perturbation, however: any model relying completely or partially on historical interactions cannot account for the well known possibility of artificially arresting succession. Even if the importance of historical interactions in succession (i.e. the Markovian character of succession) cannot easily be ascertained, one can nevertheless ask whether historical interactions are at all necessary for the explanation of successional change. It is argued here that succession can be entirely understood in terms of instantaneous interactions, notably competition. The argument rests upon the well known relationship between colonizing and competitive ability, and on the fact, proven here, that stress, defined as expressing itself in severe random fluctuations in the growth parameters, is negatively correlated with competition intensity.The author gratefully acknowledges the critical support be received from Professor László Orlóci. This paper forms part of a wider research program supported by a NCR grant to Proc. Orlóci.     

Characterization of wild bee communities in apple and blueberry orchards

1. Wild bees provide invaluable ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes such as pollination. However, in recent decades, pollinator biodiversity, especially in wild bees, is declining on a global scale, with potentially far‐reaching consequences for crop production. Thus, there is an urgent need to determine whether wild bees are present in agricultural systems, such as fruit orchards.
2. In the present study, we examined the wild bee fauna at species and community levels during the period of bee activity (May to August) in apple and high‐bush blueberry orchards in New England.
3. Bee communities are crop‐specific and dominated by very few species, which fluctuate according to crop and season. The blueberry associated bee fauna was more diverse. In apple, communities were phylogenetically clustered at the genus level and dominated by solitary ground nesting bees within the genus Andrena. Species fluctuated widely in presence and abundance throughout the season, leading to differences in community composition and functional trait structure.
4. The results obtained in the present study show that apple and blueberry harbour a distinct and diverse bee fauna that performs vital pollination services in orchards. Our results provide essential baseline data for wild bees in blueberry and apple orchards and this can be used to improve management and conservation strategies for wild bee preservation in these crops.

     

五鹿山国家级自然保护区森林群落演替分析

植物群落演替分析对植被恢复,森林管理等有重要的意义。以空间代替时间的方法,搜集数据,运用TWINSPAN和DCA进行分析。结果表明:五鹿山植物群落的演替系列:酸枣灌丛→荆条灌丛→黄刺玫灌丛→白皮松+侧柏林→白皮松林→油松林→辽东栎林;虎榛子灌丛→茶条槭灌丛→华北落叶松林→白桦林。这可以作为五鹿山植物群落演替的模型。在演替进程中物种的结构、组成以及生活型变化显著。使用六个指数来分析演替过程中物种的异质性、均匀度和丰富度变化。随着演替的进行,物种异质性、丰富度均有所增加,均匀度逐渐降低。     

Succession of sea-ice bacterial communities in the Baltic Sea fast ice

Coastal fast ice and underlying water of the northern Baltic Sea were sampled throughout the entire ice winter from January to late March in 2002 to study the succession of bacterial biomass, secondary production and community structure. Temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) and sequencing of TGGE fragments were applied in the community structure analysis. Chlorophyll-a and composition of autotrophic and heterotrophic assemblages were also examined. Overall succession of ice organism assemblages consisted of a low-productive stage, the main algal bloom, and a heterotrophic post-bloom situation, as typical for the study area. The most important groups of organisms in ice in terms of biomass were dinoflagellates, plasticidic flagellates, rotifers and ciliates. Ice bacteria showed a specific succession not directly dependent on the overall succession events of ice organisms. Sequenced 16S rDNA fragments were mainly affiliated to α-, β-, and γ-proteobacterial phyla and Cytophaga–Flavobacterium–Bacteroides-group, and related to sequences from cold environments, also from the Baltic Sea. Temporal clustering of the TGGE fingerprints was stronger than spatial, although lower ice and underlying water communities always clustered together, pointing to the importance of ice maturity and ice–water interactions in shaping the bacterial communities.     

Sampling technique affects detection of habitat factors influencing wild bee communities

Reliable and consistent monitoring is essential for bee conservation. Correctly interpreting the influence of habitat characteristics on native bee communities is necessary to develop effective strategies for bee conservation and to support the provision of pollination services to agricultural crops or natural plant communities. Biases imposed by different sampling methods used to monitor bee populations can affect our ability to discern important habitat characteristics, but the extent of this bias is not well understood. We used three common sampling methods (blue vane traps, colored pan traps, and aerial net collection) to assess bee communities in fragments of Palouse Prairie in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. We determined differences in abundance, species richness, proportional representation of different genera, and functional trait characteristics among the three sampling techniques. We also evaluated differences in the relationships between bee species richness and diversity and two key habitat variables known to mediate bee populations: local plant species richness and the amount of suitable bee habitat in the surrounding landscape. Community metrics for bees collected using blue vane traps were correlated with the amount of suitable habitat in the landscape but not with plant species richness. Conversely, community metrics for bees collected using an aerial net were correlated with the local plant species richness but not with the amount of suitable habitat. Our results indicate that effective conservation of insect communities will require a combination of sampling methods to reliably discern the influence of habitat variables at different scales and across taxa with varying functional traits.     

Cavity-nesting bee communities in areas with different levels of vegetation disturbance

ABSTRACT

The reasons for the decline of bee diversity and abundance include the destruction and loss of natural habitats. Protected areas are created for biodiversity conservation, but these areas vary strongly in their level of vegetation disturbance. Using trap-nests, we assessed changes in solitary bee abundance, richness, and composition in areas ranging from naturally conserved to degraded. Solitary bees were sampled during an 18-month period in three areas of southeastern Brazil: a preserved area in Rio Preto State Park – PERP; a restored/altered area with exotic plants at the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys – JK Campus; and a degraded area in Biribiri State Park – PEBi. A total of seven species of bees built 115 nests. In the degraded area, only two nests were built. Abundance of built nests was higher in the preserved area (PERP), but diversity was higher in the restored area (JK Campus). Our results show that the solitary bee population responds positively to habitat complexity (local scale). The presence of a diverse solitary bee fauna in the restored area indicates that altered areas should also be protected as suitable areas for re-colonization of cavity-nesting bees.     

Plant-insect communities and predator-prey ratios in field margin strips,adjacent crop fields,and fallows

The management of field margin strips for the enhancement of biodiversity of plant-insect communities and natural-enemy populations was studied on experimental farms near Göttingen (Germany). Young and old, sown and naturally developed field margin strips were compared and differences to large fallows established. The five types of field margin strips (around cereal fields) were: (1, 2) 1- or 6-year-old naturally developed strips, (3) strips sown with a Phacelia mixture, (4) strips sown with a mixture of 19 wild flower species, and (5) strips sown with winter wheat or oat as a control. The naturally developed vegetation of the field margin strips was dominated by aggressive weeds, presumably due to the intensive farming practices and the fertile soils. Cirsium arvense populations decreased, while Elymus repens populations increased with age of habitat. Sowings were suitable to suppress these aggressive weeds. Potted plants of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) were exposed in the field margin strips to study arthropod colonization of these experimentally standardized plant patches. Arthropod species richness did not differ between field margin types, reflecting the overall similarity in floristic diversity, but sprayed and strip-free edges of cereal fields had a reduced diversity. Dispersal of insect populations of red clover into the cereal fields decreased with increasing distance, but benefited from adjacent field margin strips. Populations of predators (mainly spiders) as well as predator-prey ratios were significantly larger in 6-year-old than in 1-year-old strips emphasizing the importance of habitat age for natural enemies and possible biological control. Predator-prey ratios were also higher on old than young fallows. Large fallows had greater predator-prey ratios than small field margin strips emphasizing the trophic-level hypothesis of island biogeography in that the relative importance of natural enemies increased with habitat area. Insect species richness was only marginally influenced by area and not by age. As species richness of predators did not increase with area and age, species diversity and the possible biological-control function did not covary.     

Negative effects of pesticides on wild bee communities can be buffered by landscape context

Wild bee communities provide underappreciated but critical agricultural pollination services. Given predicted global shortages in pollination services, managing agroecosystems to support thriving wild bee communities is, therefore, central to ensuring sustainable food production. Benefits of natural (including semi-natural) habitat for wild bee abundance and diversity on farms are well documented. By contrast, few studies have examined toxicity of pesticides on wild bees, let alone effects of farm-level pesticide exposure on entire bee communities. Whether beneficial natural areas could mediate effects of harmful pesticides on wild bees is also unknown. Here, we assess the effect of conventional pesticide use on the wild bee community visiting apple (Malus domestica) within a gradient of percentage natural area in the landscape. Wild bee community abundance and species richness decreased linearly with increasing pesticide use in orchards one year after application; however, pesticide effects on wild bees were buffered by increasing proportion of natural habitat in the surrounding landscape. A significant contribution of fungicides to observed pesticide effects suggests deleterious properties of a class of pesticides that was, until recently, considered benign to bees. Our results demonstrate extended benefits of natural areas for wild pollinators and highlight the importance of considering the landscape context when weighing up the costs of pest management on crop pollination services.     

长白山落叶松和白桦-沼泽生态交错带群落演替规律研究

研究了长白山落叶松、白桦沼泽生态交错带群落演替规律,通过野外观测和建立斑块状态、林木蒸腾量与林木年龄的相关模型,利用相关模型定量地分析斑块和林木蒸腾量随林木年龄增长的动态变化过程,并分析了区域气候变化和群落演替的关系。探讨森林沼泽交错群落对湿地生境改造作用、湿地生境的中生化过程以及区域气候变暖对森林湿地演替的影响机制,揭示森林沼泽生态交错带群落的演替规律。结果表明,斑块宽度、高度、面积、体积随林木年龄增长均呈现三次式相关关系,林木蒸腾量随林木年龄增长呈现幂函数相关关系。落叶松、白桦沼泽交错群落经过60年左右时间发育,斑块将不断扩大,使地势平均升高0．405～0,590m;林木蒸腾量也不断增大,平均降低水位1．050～1．442m。森林湿地生境将演变为中生化的森林生境,同时,区域气候变暖与森林树种向湿地侵入存在密切关系,区域气候变暖将加快森林向湿地侵入进程,进而森林沼泽交错群落在相对较短的时间内(50～60年)将演替为森林群落。     

Contrasting responses of bee communities to coffee flowering at different spatial scales

While investigating biodiversity patterns on different spatial scales, ecological processes determining these patterns have been rarely analysed. Flower visitation by bees is an important ecological process that is related to floral resource availability. However, little is known about whether responses of bee communities to floral resource availability change at different spatial scales. We studied density and species richness of flower-visiting bees in relation to floral resource availability, provided by coffee, in traditional agroforestry systems on a field, shrub, and branch scale. On a field scale, mean bee density per shrub increased with decreasing proportion of flowering coffee shrubs per site, showing a dilution effect. Conversely, on shrub and branch scales bee density per shrub, or shrub part, increased with increasing number of inflorescences, showing a concentration effect. Additionally, bee density per shrub was higher on those that were only partly, rather than totally surrounded by other flowering coffee shrubs. Species richness of flower-visiting bees was positively affected by high resource availability on a shrub and a branch scale, expressed by a high number of inflorescences, but at the field scale the proportion of flowering shrubs per site did not have any effect on species richness. Our results show contrasting responses of the community of flower-visiting bees to floral resource availability, depending on the spatial scale considered. We conclude that patterns of flower-visiting bee communities of only one spatial scale can not be generalized, since the number of pollinators may be limited on a field scale, but not on smaller scales.     

云南省自然休闲地与桤木休闲地地上部分生物量与养分蓄积量的研究

通过样方调查和采样 ,对云南省西盟县新厂乡阿莫村自然条件相似、经历了相同休闲年限的桤木休闲地和自然休闲地的地上部分植被生物量和养分蓄积量进行了比较研究 ,结果表明 ,休闲 3a后 ,桤木休闲地的休闲效果显著高于自然休闲地。表现在桤木休闲地的地上部分生物量高于自然休闲地 ,休闲 6 a后 ,桤木林的地上部分生物量干重达到 6 9,6 4 0 kg/hm2 ,是自然休闲地的 4倍 ;桤木休闲地 N、P、K三大营养元素的地上部分蓄积量 ,经过 2～ 3a超过自然休闲地 ,并在休闲 3a后显著高于自然休闲地 ,休闲 6 a后 ,N蓄积量达到 5 5 7kg/hm2 ,是自然休闲地的 3倍 ,P、K的蓄积量分别达到 4 1kg/hm2 、2 6 5 kg/hm2 ,是自然休闲地的 2倍。目前研究说明桤木种植有改进轮歇农业的明显作用 ,具有在类似地区推广应用的价值。     

Succession of internal sulfur cycles and sulfur-oxidizing bacterial communities in microaerophilic wastewater biofilms

The succession of sulfur-oxidizing bacterial (SOB) community structure and the complex internal sulfur cycle occurring in wastewater biofilms growing under microaerophilic conditions was analyzed by using a polyphasic approach that employed 16S rRNA gene-cloning analysis combined with fluorescence in situ hybridization, microelectrode measurements, and standard batch and reactor experiments. A complete sulfur cycle was established via S(0) accumulation within 80 days in the biofilms in replicate. This development was generally split into two phases, (i) a sulfur-accumulating phase and (ii) a sulfate-producing phase. In the first phase (until about 40 days), since the sulfide production rate (sulfate-reducing activity) exceeded the maximum sulfide-oxidizing capacity of SOB in the biofilms, H(2)S was only partially oxidized to S(0) by mainly Thiomicrospira denitirificans with NO(3)(-) as an electron acceptor, leading to significant accumulation of S(0) in the biofilms. In the second phase, the SOB populations developed further and diversified with time. In particular, S(0) accumulation promoted the growth of a novel strain, strain SO07, which predominantly carried out the oxidation of S(0) to SO(4)(2-) under oxic conditions, and Thiothrix sp. strain CT3. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that the dense populations of Thiothrix (ca. 10(9) cells cm(-3)) and strain SO07 (ca. 10(8) cells cm(-3)) were found at the sulfur-rich surface (100 microm), while the population of Thiomicrospira denitirificans was distributed throughout the biofilms with a density of ca. 10(7) to 10(8) cells cm(-3). Microelectrode measurements revealed that active sulfide-oxidizing zones overlapped the spatial distributions of different phylogenetic SOB groups in the biofilms. As a consequence, the sulfide-oxidizing capacities of the biofilms became high enough to completely oxidize all H(2)S produced by SRB to SO(4)(2-) in the second phase, indicating establishment of the complete sulfur cycle in the biofilms.     

Flower-feeding specialization in wild bee and wasp communities in seasonal neotropical habitats

Summary Flower visitation records were obtained for 192 species of bees and 138 species of wasps in three neotropical habitats. Four indices of feeding specialization were calculated for common species, and similar patterns were observed using each index. Variation in specialization could be attributed to several factors: the habitat and season in which species were found, the degree of sociality of species, and whether species were bees or wasps. Important differences among habitats and seasons were the number of coexisting consumer species and the species richness and phenology of resource plants. Differences in average consumer specialization among habitats and seasons may have been the result of differences in competitive pressures and to a lesser extent, differences in the flowering strategies of local plants. Eusocial bees and wasps were much more generalized in feeding than solitary species, and bees were more generalized than wasps. Bees in these neotropical communities were much less specialized than their north temperate counterparts. This pattern is reflected by the near absence of species that feed at only one or two plant species in Guanacaste, as compared to a very high frequency of these extreme specialist species in north temperate areas. Temperate zone species of bees have less even visitation rates to their resources than tropical bees. Consequently, temperate zone bees are more specialized in both the variety of plant species visited and the dominance of visitation to each set of resource plants. Several hypotheses are examined as possible explanations for this apparent qualitative difference in community structure between neotropical and temperate communities.