Monday, December 10, 2007
D0088

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) production in Puerto Rico under climate change

Diana Delgado, dianadelourdes@hotmail.com, Alberto Galindo-Cardona, coleopterino@gmail.com, and Carla Restrepo, crestre@cnnet.upr.edu. University of Puerto Rico, Biology, Dpt. Biology NCN 310 PO Box 23360, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Honeybees provide invaluable ecosystem services such as honey production and pollination. Actually honeybee declines worldwide, and little is known about the direct and indirect effects of climate on this pattern. We examine island-wide patterns of honeybee production in Puerto Rico and ask, what is the relationship between honey production and climate? And, how honey yields may change under future scenarios of climate change in the island? We used honeybee production data obtained on a bi-annual basis (Department of Agriculture) and interviews with beekeepers. Data on honeybee yields (1998-2005) was summarized by municipality and entered in a GIS (Geographical Information System) to generate an island-wide map of honey production. This map together with monthly average temperature and precipitation data and a digital elevation model were used as input variables in BIOCLIM to model patterns of honey yield as a function of climate. Honey yields in Puerto Rico ranged between 0.14 - 4.38 l/colony. The predicted suitable sites for honey production varied among three honey yield categories [low (<0.8 l/colony), intermediate (0.8-2.0 l/colony), and high (>2.0 l/colony)]. The highest predicted honey yields are reported for SE Puerto Rico whereas the lowest for coastal and some mountainous areas throughout the island. With a 2°C temperature increase, the areas that will suffer the greatest impact are those with intermediate (622 km2) and high (308 km2) honey yields. Our data show that the bee industry may be affected in the near future, and suggests that pollination services may also be impacted through mechanisms poorly understood.


Species 1: Hymenoptera Apidae Apis mellifera (honey bee)