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Q&A ViewAttendees 7

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad SysEB: Ecology

Evaluating relationships between stand-level attributes and native bee pollinators in working forests

Monday, November 1, 2021
9:36 AM – 9:48 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room 207
In-Person Student Competition
Insect pollinators provide critical services to both people and forest ecosystems through crop and native plant pollination. Of the many insect pollinators present in forests, the most efficient and effective are bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila). Unfortunately, bees are globally declining due, in part, to habitat loss and climate change. There is a need to evaluate the aspects of forest structure and composition that best support these pollinators. Previous bee research has primarily focused on the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) in agricultural systems and less on bee species native to North America in forested systems. Therefore, our objective is to compare native bee population and community metrics in various stages of working forests. Additionally, we aim to test effects of stand-level structure and composition on bee populations and communities. We are sampling for bees from May-September 2020 and 2021 in 32 loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands across four stages (early establishment, pre-thinned with a closing canopy, pre-thinned with a closed canopy, and post-thinned) in the Upper Coastal Plain region of Georgia using pan and blue vane traps in a randomized complete block design. We are also measuring aspects of forest structure and composition (e.g., understory plants and coarse-woody debris). Preliminary results indicate native bees are significantly more abundant in stands that have not yet reached canopy closure. We are currently identifying collected specimens to species. Results from this study will inform forest managers of beneficial practices for these crucial pollinators.