Trends and Developments in Biodiversity Informatics
Introduction
Bees are the most important pollinators of wild and cultivated
plants. Their action, as pollen vectors, ensure the continuity
of sexual life cycles of plants and the genetic variability
that plant populations need to survive and continue to evolve.
Pollination by bees is also responsible for the production of
seeds and fruits on which many other wild animals depend for
food and for the quality and quantity of our crop plants
needed to feed the human population.
Until several years ago, we depended almost entirely on the
common honey bee (Apis mellifera) for the pollination services
we needed. Presently, with the North American and European
apicultural industries in deep crisis and with the recognition
that the honeybee is not the most efficient pollinator for the
needs of all cultivated and wild plants, great interest is
being devoted to the wild bees (and other wild pollinators).
It is widely recognized, today, that the conservation of wild
bees and the development of sustainable-use systems for their
populations should be among the priority items of our
environmental agendas if adequate crop product ion and wild
plant conservation are to be reached and maintained.
At this point, however, we are forced to accept that we do not
have much of the basic knowledge necessary for us to design
action plans to deal with wild pollinators. Central to this,
is a set of items usually referred to as the "taxonomic
impediment." Until we get to know how many wild bee species
there are, where they live, and what their names are, we will
not be able to link the scattered biological, ecological and
agricultural information in an efficient retrieval system.
This is essential for us to use the current knowledge on
pollinator-plant systems and to plan on acquiring the
information we still lack.
Objectives
- To gather specialists together in an effort to organize
our current knowledge on bee taxonomy.
- To establish a framework on which we can build a retrieval
system where the information on the biological and ecological
needs of pollinators and the plants they pollinate can be
easily accessed.
- To propose a plan of action to build such a retrieval
system.
Products
- A provisional checklist of the bee species of the world
with geographic distributions by country and
state/province. Preliminary list of world Colletinae species
- A worldwide list of bee taxonomists. Preliminary list
- A worldwide list of scientific collections containing
bees - Preliminary list of Museums Collections
- World Bee Checklist Workshop - Final Report
Coordination
Vera Fonseca, USP
Fernando Silveira, UFMG
Mike Ruggiero, ITIS
Vanderlei P. Canhos, CRIA
Venue
Vitória Hotel
Av. Presidente Vargas, 3041
13330-000 Indaiatuba SP Brazil
phone/fax: +55 19 3801-8000
email: vitoria@vitoriahotel.com.br
Programme
October 17
| 9:00 | Welcome/Introduction |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 11:00 | Discussions on World Bee Checklist |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Bee Checklist Discussions -Continued |
| 17:00 | Adjourn |
| 19:00 | Dinner |
October 18
| 9:00 | Discussions on Bee Experts Checklist |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 11:00 | Discussions on Bee Collections List |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Review and Next Steps |
| 17:00 | Adjourn |
Documents
Web-site for the workshop at
http://uio.mbl.edu/beeworkshop
webmaster@cria.org.br