Nesting behaviour predicts heat tolerance evolution and climate vulnerability in bees
9 affiliations
- 1College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia. [email protected]
- 2Pollinator Futures Research Centre, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. [email protected]
- 3College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
- 4Environmental Futures Research Centre, School of Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
- 5Molecular Horizons Research Institute, School of Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
- 6School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
- 7School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
- 8School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- 9School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
Abstract
Species vulnerability to climate change depends in part on their capacity to evolve in response to increasing heat. Within terrestrial ectotherms, heat tolerance generally corresponds weakly to current climates, which has led many to conclude that this trait is evolutionarily constrained. However, most studies have not accounted for the role of microclimates, potentially obscuring signals of local adaptation. We examine heat tolerance in 95 species of wild bees that vary in nesting behaviour across the latitudinal extent of Australia. We show that species nest (ground, wooden cavities, or plant stems) micro-climate temperatures predict heat tolerance evolution, where stem nesters have evolved the highest heat tolerances, and ground nesters have evolved the lowest heat tolerances due to their ability to evade extreme heat. A moderate level of phylogenetic inertia in heat tolerance is explained by patterns of related species sharing nesting behaviours. This indicates repeated adaptive evolution of similar heat tolerances, rather than strong evolutionary constraints on heat tolerance. Finally, incorporating nesting behaviour into assessments of climate change vulnerability changes the rank order of which species are most at risk. This underscores the need to understand what drives the evolution of heat tolerance across species to better identify the taxa most at risk to climate change.
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BibTeX
@article{silva2026nesting,
title = {{Nesting behaviour predicts heat tolerance evolution and climate vulnerability in bees}},
author = {Carmen R. B. da Silva and Julian E. Beaman and James B. Dorey and Tessa Bradford and Tobias J. Smith and Rosalyn Gloag and Vanessa Kellermann},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-73689-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73689-7},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nesting behaviour predicts heat tolerance evolution and climate vulnerability in bees
AU - Carmen R. B. da Silva
AU - Julian E. Beaman
AU - James B. Dorey
AU - Tessa Bradford
AU - Tobias J. Smith
AU - Rosalyn Gloag
AU - Vanessa Kellermann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/15
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73689-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73689-7
AB - Species vulnerability to climate change depends in part on their capacity to evolve in response to increasing heat. Within terrestrial ectotherms, heat tolerance generally corresponds weakly to current climates, which has led many to conclude that this trait is evolutionarily constrained. However, most studies have not accounted for the role of microclimates, potentially obscuring signals of local adaptation. We examine heat tolerance in 95 species of wild bees that vary in nesting behaviour across the latitudinal extent of Australia. We show that species nest (ground, wooden cavities, or plant stems) micro-climate temperatures predict heat tolerance evolution, where stem nesters have evolved the highest heat tolerances, and ground nesters have evolved the lowest heat tolerances due to their ability to evade extreme heat. A moderate level of phylogenetic inertia in heat tolerance is explained by patterns of related species sharing nesting behaviours. This indicates repeated adaptive evolution of similar heat tolerances, rather than strong evolutionary constraints on heat tolerance. Finally, incorporating nesting behaviour into assessments of climate change vulnerability changes the rank order of which species are most at risk. This underscores the need to understand what drives the evolution of heat tolerance across species to better identify the taxa most at risk to climate change.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -