Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:52:42.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) of Bwindi impenetrable forest, Uganda and Abayanda indigenous knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2007

Dominic Byarugaba
Dominic Byarugaba*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, PO Box 1410, Mbarara, Uganda
*
*Email: plants@infocom.co.ug
Get access

Abstract

Stingless bees are little-known organisms but important plant pollinators in Bwindi Forest. They risk disappearance, as with other pollinators and seed dispersers, as a result of pesticide and herbicide poisoning, habitat alteration, invasion by alien species (plant and animal) and insularization of habitats. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park forest has five species of stingless bees in two genera (Meliponula and Hypotrigona). The conservation of pollinators in Bwindi needs to be urgently addressed, and among the required measures are studies on plant–pollinator relationships. The study also demonstrated the accuracy of Abayanda indigenous systematic knowledge.

Keywords

Abayandastingless beesBwindipollinationpollinatorMeliponulaHypotrigonaindigenous knowledge
Type
Short Communication
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 117 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bond, J. W. (1994) Do mutualisms matter? Assessing the impact of pollinator and disperser disruption on plant extinction. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 344, 83–90.Google Scholar
Byarugaba, D. (1998) Stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae) Abayanda honey hunters: A study linking bee ecology and indigenous knowledge. MSc thesis.Google Scholar
Hamilton, A. C., Cunningham, A. B., Kayanja, F. I. B., Byarugaba, D. (2000) Conservation in a region of political conflict: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda. Conserv. Biol. 14, 1722–1725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langdale-Brown, I., Osmaston, H.A. and Wilson, J. G. (1964) The vegetation of Uganda and its bearing on land-use. Government Printers, Entebbe.Google Scholar
Michener, C. D. (2000) The Bees of the World. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 913 pp.Google Scholar
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MFEP), Uganda (1993) Population and Housing Census 1991 Analysis. Uganda Government, Government Printer, Entebbe.Google Scholar