D3238: Characterizing wild bee communities and native plants in southeastern blueberry systems

Pollination is an essential ecosystem service for a large percentage of cultivated plants around the world. Fruit crops such as blueberry depend on pollination for fruit production. Despite the reliance of blueberry crops on managed bees for pollination, their flowers are best pollinated through sonication (delivered by wild bees). However, maintaining stable and functional wild bee communities requires flower resources and habitat for nesting. Recent studies have shown that adding herbaceous species (wildflowers) can help support wild bee populations. Therefore, to provide informed decisions on which plants to add to a system requires knowledge of bee communities and flowering plants naturally present, their phenology, and spatiotemporal consistency. To date, the wild bee fauna linked with native flowering species on blueberry fields in Southeastern USA has not been adequately described. Hence, our study aims to assess the spatiotemporal structure of wild bee and native plant communities in blueberry fields located in southeastern Georgia. Eight blueberry sites were selected in consultation with growers. We conducted monthly sampling using Vane Traps to understand the spatial (forested border, edge, and within the field) and temporal variation in wild bee communities, and survey adjacent vegetation with phenology coinciding with blueberry bloom. Our preliminary results show the dominance of managed bees co-occurring with crop flowering. During this period, nectar and pollen resources were available from the species Aronia spp., Cliftonia spp., Salix spp., and Vaccinium spp. Further analysis will reveal patterns in bee communities and native vegetation which phenology falls outside the blueberry blooming period.