A meliponicultura como indutora de processos de resiliência socioecológica em agroecossistemas camponeses na Baixada Maranhense

Abstract

The conservation of natural ecosystems and the restoration of degraded areas are essential to ensure socio-ecological resilience, especially in the face of climate change. Meliponiculture is a traditional activity that promotes synergy between people, bees, and landscapes. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the landscape on the productivity and quality of honey from the Tiúba bee (Melipona fasciculata, Meliponini) as an element of socioecological resilience in peasant agroecosystems in the Baixada Maranhense Environmental Protection Area - APA. For this, forty-seven honey bee plants were (1) selected and georeferenced, (2) landscape mapping was carried out, (3) stingless beekeepers were interviewed, (4) honey samples were collected to measure productivity, perform melissopalynology and determine the physical-chemicals characteristics after maturation in 180 days. Stingless beekeepers have a high degree of satisfaction with the activity, which is generally inherited from their parents. Landscape composition and floral features have a significant effect on the productivity and quality of the Tiuba honey in the APA. A set of 77 botanical species (84% native) was identified. The highest honey productivity occurs in landscapes with a higher percentage and density of natural grassland, percentage of permanent water, and species composition of native shrub botanical species. However, there is lower species richness and pollen abundance in these honey. Meliponaries in landscapes with greater mature forest cover have lower honey productivity, but have honey with greater richness and abundance of native species, indicating more pollination ecosystem services in these landscapes. The quality of the honey sampled was similar to the honey of Meliponini in the Amazon, except for sucrose, HMF, and insoluble solids which had higher averages. The typical rural landscapes of the APA with abundant palm trees, the richness of shrub species, and the characteristic floodplains and their associated flora present relationships with sugars, ashes, humidity, acidity, and pH of the studied honey. Our results identify synergy between meliponiculture, conservation, and restoration of landscapes in this region, which ensures greater socio-ecological resilience. Although it offers ecological services, meliponiculture is threatened by migratory beekeeping (Apis mellifera L.), deforestation, and the absence of adequate regulation. The government must support meliponiculture as an activity of high social and environmental benefit.