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

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.本研究针对巴西境内与蜂蜜孢粉学（melissopalynology）相关的科研产出展开分析，对已发表文献中记载的花粉类型进行调研，最终构建了蜂蜜孢粉学数据库。我们对2005年至2017年间收录于科学引文索引（Web of Science，WoS）与在线科学电子图书馆（Scientific Electronic Library Online，SciELO）的文献进行了编目梳理。在WoS数据库中，我们采用了以下检索式：(1) mel?ssopalynolog*，(2) pollen analy?* AND honey，(3) bee* pollen，(4) pollen NEAR/15 bee*，(5) pollen analysis of honey，以及(6) pollen analy?* NEAR/15 honey；在SciELO数据库中，我们采用的检索式为：(1) melissopalinologia，(2) pólen AND mel，(3) pólen AND abelha，(4) pólen apícola，以及(5) análise polínica AND mel。此外，我们查阅了巴西蜂蜜孢粉学研究领域主要作者的研究成果汇总，以排查该时段内未被上述数据库收录的相关文献。最终共检索到133篇发表于56种期刊的文献，单篇文献的平均作者数为4.92人。本次研究共鉴定出1362种花粉类型，隶属于130个植物科。其中花粉类型数量最多的科依次为：豆科（Fabaceae，270种）、菊科（Asteraceae，89种）、大戟科（Euphorbiaceae，61种）、茜草科（Rubiaceae，58种）、桃金娘科（Myrtaceae，51种）、锦葵科（Malvaceae，51种）、紫葳科（Bignoniaceae，49种）以及棕榈科（Arecaceae，48种）。研究中共提及59种蜂类，隶属于19个属。其中西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）是被提及频率最高的蜂种（涉及73篇文献），其次为本土蜂种狭足无刺蜂（Tetragonisca angustula，涉及13篇文献）。文献中提及频率最高的花粉类型按降序排列依次为：桉属（Eucalyptus）、南美稔属（Myrcia）、号角树属（Cecropia）、云实状含羞草（Mimosa caesalpiniifolia）、斑鸠菊属（Vernonia）、禾本科类群（Poaceae type）以及巴豆属（Croton）。本次编目的文献覆盖巴西全部五个地理大区，其中东北部地区涉及的文献数量最多，达59篇。但巴西仍有大片区域尚未开展蜂蜜孢粉学研究，其中以中西部与南部地区尤为突出。因此，未来仍需开展更多研究以填补巴西孢粉多样性研究领域的空白。