Characterizing bumble bee (Bombus) communities in the United States and assessing a conservation monitoring method

Strange, James P.; Tripodi, Amber D.

doi:10.1002/ece3.4783

Cited by 1,229 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Our study supports the consensus that bumble bee community diversity and composition are predicted by bees’ distributions across an altitude gradient [15,46–49]. The greatest diversity of bumble bees in North America is found primarily in areas that are topographically complex environments, especially in mountainous regions of the western US [26,32]. Bumble bee species that are found predominantly in high alpine environments run the greatest risk of losing suitable habitat in the next 50 years.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…In the Pacific Northwest B. occidentalis is known to be at risk for decline due to pathogens, while B. vosnesenskii , may be expanding in range [10,31]. Several other species are also suspected of undergoing changes in range or abundance in the region, yet empirical data is currently lacking [10,32,33]. While a high richness of bumble bee species is found in the Pacific Northwest [26], they are threatened by the effects of projected climate change in the region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Projected climate change will reduce habitat suitability for bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest

Looney

Hopkins

et al. 2019

Preprint

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21Global climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of the modern era. The impacts of 22 climate change are increasingly well understood, and have already begun to materialize across 23 diverse ecosystems and organisms. Bumble bees (Bombus) are suspected to be highly sensitive to 24 climate change as they are predominately adapted to temperate and alpine environments. In this 25 study, we determine which bumble bee species are most vulnerable to climate change in the 26 Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is a topographically complex landscape that is 27 punctuated by two major mountain ranges and a labyrinth of offshore islands in the Salish Sea. 28 Using standardized survey methods, our study documents the occurrence of 15 bumble bee 29 species across 23 field sites in seven federal parks, historical sites, and monuments. Our results 30show that bumble bee community richness and diversity increases along an altitude gradient in 31 these protected areas. Furthermore, NMDS analysis reveals that high altitude environments are 32 composed of a unique group of bumble bee species relative to low altitude environments. 33Finally, based on an analysis of species distributions models that aggregate bioclimatic data from 34 global circulation climate models with preserved specimen records, we discover that 80% of the 35 bumble bee species detected in our survey are poised to undergo habitat suitability (HS) loss 36 within the next 50 years. Species primarily found in high altitude environments namely B. 37 vandykei, B. sylvicola, and B. bifarius are projected to incur a mean HS loss of 63%, 59%, and 38 30% within the federally protected areas, respectively. While the implementation of climate 39 change policies continue to be a significant challenge, the development of mitigation strategies to 40 conserve the most vulnerable species may be a tractable option for land managers and 41 stakeholders of protected areas. Our study meets this need by identifying which species and 42 communities are most sensitive to climate change.43 44 45 Pollinator communities worldwide are undergoing dramatic changes in both abundance 46 and composition that may put pollination service at risk in many terrestrial ecosystems [1]. These 47 changes may not solely be unidirectional declines in species abundance, but can manifest as 48 shifts in geographic range, increases in abundance where new habitat is formed, or shifts in 49 phenology [2-4]. To date, documented changes in pollinator communities have been attributed to 50 many factors, including pathogen outbreaks, pesticides, climate change, introduced species, and 51 land-use change [4-9]. Identifying the factors affecting pollinator communities can be 52 challenging as most strategies investigate distinct taxonomic groups (guilds) [10], or attempt to 53 isolate specific threats and measure a single species' responses to the threat in question [2-4,11].54However, given the negative impacts of rapid global change [1,5], it is imperative to identify 55 which pollinator ...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected climate change will reduce habitat suitability for bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest

Looney

Hopkins

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…For instance, 13 species became extinct in 11 countries between 1950 and 2000 (Bommarco et al 2012). Although long‐term data are sparse for North America, a similar decline has been observed in many species, including B. occidentalis , B. affinis , B. franklini, B. terricola , B. sonorus , and B. pensylvanicus (Jacobson et al 2018, Richardson et al 2018, Strange and Tripodi 2019). A combination of several factors may be responsible, yet to differing degrees, for the observed declines (Potts et al 2010, Goulson et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Agricultural landscape composition affects the development and life expectancy of colonies of Bombus impatiens

2020

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Bumble bees are essential, efficient pollinators of numerous crops, and scientists are increasingly concerned about their global decline. Although several potential causes have been put forward, the concurrent modification of landscape structure and pesticide use by agriculture are often pointed out as the main drivers of the decline. Yet, the mechanisms through which these factors cause species to decline remain elusive. Most field studies have been conducted at the individual level, and the few studies that addressed higher levels of organization only covered narrow ecological conditions. We undertook a field experiment in spring 2016 to overcome these limitations by placing four commercial Bombus impatiens colonies in each of 20 sites located along a gradient of agricultural intensity in southern Québec, Canada. We hypothesized that landscape habitat composition and configuration, as well as local floral resources, would affect colony development. We expected colonies surrounded by low‐intensity and/or flowering crops in heterogeneous landscapes to develop better and live longer, partly linked to more abundant and diversified food resources, than colonies embedded in landscapes dominated by high‐intensity crops. Colonies were weighed once a week, and workers were captured to assess pollen load diversity. Final colony weight, queen production, and presence of depredators (Aphomia sociella, Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) were also recorded. Landscape habitat composition and configuration were characterized within 1 km of colonies. Local availability of floral resources was assessed within 100 m of colonies every two weeks. As predicted, colony weight and longevity decreased with the proportion of intensive crops and increased with the amount of flowering crops, but queen production and the occurrence of A. sociella were not affected by landscape composition. Contrary to our prediction, local availability of floral resources also did not affect colonies. The pollen richness brought back to colonies decreased with the proportion of flowering crops and varied according to the proportion of intensive crops interacting with local floral resources. Our work contributes to generalize the more restrictive conclusion of local‐scale, crop‐specific studies that intensive crop farming undermines bumble bee colony development and that it may thus play a role in the large‐scale population decline of these insects.

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“…We studied bumble bee populations in three Midwestern grassland management types (restored prairie, cattle pasture, and bison pasture) over a 3-year time period with the aim to identify which grasslands were able to support bumble bee populations, and to what extent. We found a total of six bumble bee species across all transects at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Northeastern Illinois (Table 1), a number greater than the expected 4-5 species predicted by site species accumulation curves in similarly agriculturally dominated landscapes in nearby Michigan and Wisconsin (Strange & Tripodi 2019). However, average species richness differed among management types (Fig.…”

Section: Grassland Management Effects On Bumble Bee Populationsmentioning

confidence: 78%

Native and agricultural grassland use by stable and declining bumble bees in Midwestern North America

Rosenberger

Conforti

2020

Insect Conserv Diversity

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1. Bumble bees are important pollinators in both natural and anthropogenic systems. In recent years, some species have suffered declines, including in the American Midwest. While loss of floral resources and grassland habitat may contribute to these declines, little is known about how native versus agricultural grasslands affect bumble bee populations. 2. We conducted 3 years of bumble bee population and floral use surveys across restored tallgrass prairie, bison pasture, and cattle pasture in Northern Illinois. 3. We found 1.75-3.5 times more bumble bees in native plant dominant tallgrass prairie than in exotic-dominant pasture sites. In addition, bumble bees were two times more abundant in bison pasture than in cattle pasture. Bumble bee species richness was approximately 1.5-2 times greater in prairie, while richness was comparable in the two pasture sites. Habitat-dependent abundance and richness were driven by individual bumble bee species habitat preferences. 4. Across habitats, native Monarda fistulosa was highly favoured by foraging bumble bees, particularly by the regionally declining B. auricomus. In the absence of native species, exotic Trifolium pratense and Daucus carota were important forage sources in pastures. 5. These results indicate that grassland management practises to shift grassland plant communities towards native-dominant over exotic-dominant communities may strengthen bumble bee populations, although these effects will likely be Bombus species-dependent. Our findings highlight the need to understand the impacts of habitat on specific bumble bee species, as this will be critical in developing conservation plans for declining populations now and in the future.

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Characterizing bumble bee (Bombus) communities in the United States and assessing a conservation monitoring method

Cited by 1,229 publications

References 37 publications

Projected climate change will reduce habitat suitability for bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest

Projected climate change will reduce habitat suitability for bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest

Agricultural landscape composition affects the development and life expectancy of colonies of Bombus impatiens

Native and agricultural grassland use by stable and declining bumble bees in Midwestern North America

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