Conditions of Urban Green Areas Influences Bee Guilds Responses ^†

The deforestation consequent of urban sprawl is one of the causes of decline of wild bee communities and the urban green areas (UGA) can be important refuges for bees. This study analyzed the influence of UGA conditions and their surroundings in bee guilds responses in a medium-sized Brazilian city (Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ). The bees were sampled for 12 months (2017–2018) in 12 UGAs; bee abundance and richness were evaluated in guilds considering: sociality (eusocial, intermediate and solitary), nesting (cavity and soil) and foraging (generalist and specialist). We used as explanatory variables conditions of UGAs—number of trees (NT), DBH, flower cover (FC), plant richness (PR), percentage of paving (PV)—and of their surroundings—paving (SPV) and number of buildings (NB). Results showed 80% of eussocial and generalist bees and 13% solitary; 82% nest in cavities and 20% were specialists. From all explanatory variables PV, NB, FC and SPV explained the responses of different guilds in study areas. This study confirms different responses by the guilds analysed. In order to conserve bee diversity, the management of UGAs must consider the abundance and richness of flowers, maintenance of exposed soil areas and the density of trees.