Bioinput Use and Native Vegetation Fragments Are Associated With Higher Bee Community Evenness in Large‐Scale Soybean Crops

ABSTRACT

Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is one of the most important crops worldwide, yet its rapid expansion across Brazilian biomes, particularly the Cerrado, raises concerns about pollinator loss and the decline of ecosystem services. Although soybean is mainly self‐pollinated, several studies highlight the contribution of wild and managed bees to yield improvement. Understanding how landscape structure and farm management affect bee communities in soybean agroecosystems is therefore essential for sustainable production. This study assessed how the composition of adjacent native vegetation and local management practices influence bee richness, abundance, and community structure in soybean fields with different application frequencies and types of pesticides and fertilizers. Bee samples were collected using pan traps and entomological nets. A total of 599 bee specimens were recorded, with 207 individuals in native vegetation and 392 in soybean fields. Halictidae, especially Dialictus spp., dominated in soybean areas, whereas Ceratina ( Crewella ) duplocarinata (Apidae) was the most abundant species in native vegetation. Species richness did not differ significantly between habitats, but species composition varied. The sampled native‐vegetation assemblage overlapped strongly with, and appeared nested within, the soybean‐field assemblage, a pattern that may partly reflect mass‐flowering effects and sampling conditions during soybean bloom. Distance from native vegetation negatively affected native bee abundance and richness, while Apis mellifera abundance remained unaffected. Higher fungicide and insecticide use reduced community evenness and showed that species richness and abundance alone may not be good predictors in environments with high disturbance, since a few tolerant species may affect these metrics. These findings suggest that both landscape configuration and management intensity shape bee assemblages in soybean systems. Maintaining nearby native vegetation and reducing reliance on chemical inputs are essential to sustaining diverse bee communities and the pollination services they provide in large‐scale soybean production.