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Video Q&A ViewAttendees 2

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

10-Minute Paper

SysEB: Biodiversity On-Demand Presentations

Responses of bees to the experimental removal of Rhododendron from a southern Appalachian watershed

On-Demand
On-Demand

As a consequence of past logging activities, the loss of chestnut, and fire suppression, Rhododendron currently dominates many forests of the southern Appalachians. Thickets formed by this native shrub have the potential to depress pollinator populations by reducing floral resource availability near the forest floor. We sought to test this possibility in a paired watershed experiment at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina.   Rhododendron was cleared from one of the watersheds during the winter of 2017/2018 followed by a prescribed fire the following fall. The other watershed served as a control and remained largely covered in Rhododendron. We sampled bees using colored pan traps along two transects in each watershed for three years beginning in 2018. Differences in bee communities between the two treatments as well as utilization of Rhododendron flowers by bees will be discussed.