Melissopalynology in Brazil: a map of pollen types and published productions between 2005 and 2017

Abstract

We analysed scientific production related to melissopalynology in Brazil and surveyed the pollen types described in publications, producing a melissopalynological database. We inventoried articles published between 2005 and 2017 indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO). Searches in WoS involved researching the terms (1) mel?ssopalynolog*, (2) pollen analy?* AND honey, (3) bee* pollen, (4) pollen NEAR/15 bee*, (5) pollen analysis of honey, and (6) pollen analy?* NEAR/15 honey; in SciELO, we used the search terms (1) melissopalinologia, (2) pólen AND mel, (3) pólen AND abelha, (4) pólen apícola, and (5) análise polínica AND mel. Additionally, we consulted the resume of the principal authors of melissopalynology research in Brazil to identify articles published during that period but not appearing in other database searches. We uncovered a total of 133 publications distributed among 56 journals, with a mean of 4.92 authors/publication. A total of 1,362 pollen types were identified, representing 130 botanical families. Among those, the most well represented in terms of numbers of pollen types were Fabaceae (270), Asteraceae (89), Euphorbiaceae (61), Rubiaceae (58), Myrtaceae (51), Malvaceae (51), Bignoniaceae (49) and Arecaceae (48). Fifty-nine bee species were mentioned in the studies, distributed among 19 genera. Apis mellifera was the most frequently mentioned bee species (73 publications), followed by the native bee species Tetragonisca angustula (13 publications). The pollen types most frequently mentioned in the articles were (in decreasing order): Eucalyptus, Myrcia, Cecropia, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Vernonia, Poaceae type and Croton. The inventoried publications comprised all five geographical regions of Brazil, especially the northeastern region of that country, with 59 publications. There are still large areas of Brazil without any melissopalynological studies, however, principally the central-western and southern regions. As such, more research will be necessary to fill gaps in our knowledge of Brazilian palynodiversity.

Keywords:

• Pollen
• bees
• floral resources
• Brazil
• scientometrics
• state of the art

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr M.L. Absy and her group at the Laboratory of Palynology at Amazon Research National Institute (INPA, Brazil), along with the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil) for an MS fellowship to RRS.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rogério Ribeiro de Souza

ROGÉRIO RIBEIRO DE SOUZA holds a licentiate’s degree in biology and chemistry, with a major in biology, and an MS degree in society, environment and life quality, both from the Federal University of Western Pará, Brazil. His research interests are mainly focused on biodiversity, health and sustainability, stingless bees and melissopalynology.

Vanessa Holanda Righetti de Abreu

VANESSA HOLANDA RIGHETTI DE ABREU received a BS degree in biological sciences from Castelo Branco University, an MS degree in botany from the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a PhD in plant biology from Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil. She is a professor at the Federal University of Western Pará. Vanessa has experience in botany, with emphasis on palynology, palynotaxonomy and taxonomy of Asteraceae.

Jaílson Santos de Novais

JAÍLSON SANTOS DE NOVAIS is a professor at the Federal University of Southern Bahia (UFSB), based in Porto Seguro, BA, Brazil. He coordinates the interdisciplinary licentiate on natural sciences at UFSB and is curator of palinoFLORAS, a palynological collection associated with the FLORAS Botanical Garden. He holds an MS degree in botany from Bahia State University at Feira de Santana and a PhD in biological sciences (botany) from the Amazon Research National Institute, Brazil. His main research interests lie in melissopalynology and science education, especially teaching botany at botanical gardens.