In June 2024, a collaborative project started between the Centre for Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Changes (CE3C), at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal, and Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE).
The project is led by Octávio S. Paulo and André F. Henriques and aims at evaluating, in three regions of Portugal, the potential impact of Small-Scale Farming (SSF) on the genetic variability and adaptation of three wild bee species: Andrena flavipes (Panzer, 1799), Bombus terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758), and Lasioglossum malachurum (Kirby, 1802). Our hypothesis posits that Small-Scale Farming landscapes may positively influence the genetic diversity of these three common wild bees species, thereby promoting their adaptation to the crop mosaic seen in these landscapes.
Using data from ESRI | Sentinel-2 Land Cover 2022 we chose three regions of Portugal with suitable areas for two contrasting landscapes: low agriculture landscapes (LoA) and Small-Scale Farming landscapes (SFF). An extensive field work was done across these three regions of Portugal, where samples from the three target species were collected. These samples will be processed in the CE3C facilities, in Lisbon, to obtain high-quality genomic DNA and subsequently shipped to state-of-the-art laboratories to perform next-generation sequencing of pooled samples (Pool-seq).
In search of native bees: The project included extensive field work to collect samples from the three target species. | Photo taken by Eduardo Sousa.
To test our hypothesis, we will combine high-quality reference genomes and the pool-seq data for the three species, to compare, within each region and between the three different regions, the SSF and LoA landscapes. Preliminary results based on RAD-seq data seem to support our hypothesis.
This innovative project not only enhances our scientific understanding of the genetic status of three important wild bee species but also highlights the importance of genomics in biodiversity conservation. Should our hypothesis prove correct, the results could be relevant for designing a conservation plan for wild bees, guided by genetic and genomic principles and the capacity of these species to adapt to small-scale farming landscapes. This project has received funding from the European Union under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, co-funded by the Swiss Government and the British Government, with additional support from national research grants FCT 2022.14424.BD awarded to André F. Henriques and FCT Unit funding UID/BIA/00329/2019. We also extend our gratitude to BGE-ERGA for providing the collaborative platform that made this research possible.
About the Authors:
Octávio S. Paulo and André F. Henriques are members of the ERGA Portugal and participate in the ERGA Sequencing & Assembly, Annotation and Data Analysis Committees. Octávio S. Paulo leads the CoBiG2 group of CE3C and André F. Henriques is a PhD student in the same group. More information can be found at CoBiG2 group.
Photo credits:
Lasioglossum malachurum: By James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, CC BY-SA 2.5
Andrena flavipes: Fritz Geller-Grimm, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bombus terrestris: Paulo Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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