Numerous animal species can survive in human-modified habitats, but often display
behavioral, morphological, physiological or genetic plasticity compared to non-urban
conspecifics. One group of organisms with a large urban presence are bees. Bee species
have high diversity and abundance in cities, which has been empirically supported
in numerous studies assessing community composition. Recent reviews of these articles
reveal global patterns of high bee richness in cities, and the impact of urban landscape
characteristics on bee populations. However, more specific information about how bees
are able to be successful in cities, as have been studied in birds and mammals, has
not been prioritized in any review thus far. These topics, though uncommon in much
of the current published literature, are important for understanding how urban pollinating
bees survive. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to review urban bee literature,
focusing on topics that have yet to be examined in en-tirety, but are crucial for
the plasticity observed, including foraging, nesting, competition, physiological adap-tations,
morphological shifts, genetics and gene flow. Additionally, we provide predictions
and propose possible experimental directions based upon what is currently known about
urban animal populations and bee life his-tory. These predictions aim to inspire future
multidisciplinary research to holistically evaluate urban bee pop-ulations. Expanding
the knowledge base from primarily community composition studies to intricate assessments
of behavior, genetics, and other important traits will aid in the creation of more
targeted conservation policies, land development, and improve the capacity for pollination
services in cities.
