Multiscale Drivers of Species Number and Composition of Bees and Wasps in Shaded Cocoa Agroforests

Understanding the main factors determining the maintenance of native species in agroecosystems is of great importance to promote biodiversity-friendly practices. Here, we assessed the individual and interactive effect of local (management intensity, tree basal area, and tree diversity) and landscape (forest cover) predictors on the diversity of bees and social wasps in shaded cocoa agroforests located in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Using Malaise and attractant traps to survey these insects on 29 agroforests, we revealed that bee species number was positively associated only with forest cover, whereas tree diversity influenced bee species composition. In contrast, wasp species number enhanced with increasing management intensity, but only in agroforests inserted in landscapes with low forest cover, while no variable influenced the composition of social wasp species. These results reinforce the greater tolerance and ecological plasticity of social wasps, which can benefit from intensified management in structurally complex systems such as shaded agroforests. Nevertheless, bees tend to be more sensitive and dependent on forest cover at the landscape scale. Therefore, restoration efforts to increase forest cover in more deforested landscapes are urgently needed to ensure the high conservation value of shaded cocoa agroforests, especially for bee assemblages.