native bee species diversity and abundance: west eugene wetlands jennifer bergh mentor: dr. sujaya...
TRANSCRIPT
Native bee species diversity
and abundance:West Eugene WetlandsJennifer Bergh
Mentor: Dr. Sujaya Rao
Crop & Soil Science Department
HHMI Research Program
Summer 2008Agapostemon sp.
West Eugene Wetlands
Wetland prairie restoration site Variety of habitat types:
Wet prairie Upland prairie Oak savanna
Past and ongoing research: Site preparation Plant successional dynamics Management of native & invasive plant
communities
Insect Fauna of the WEW
Butterflies 49 species
Dragonflies & Damselflies 44 species
Native bees Incomplete fauna
American Rubyspot(Hetaerina americana)
Flora of the WEW
350 species of plants
Rare plants Lomatium bradshawii Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii Erigeron decumbens Aster curtus Horkelia congesta
NW American Native Bees
Natural history 10% social and semi-social 10% parasitic 80% solitary
Nest provisioning Contact between mother and offspring Emergence
Continuum: semi-social intermediaries
(Stephen 1969)
Why study native bees?
Ecosystem parameters
Identification of rare plant-pollinator interactions
Restoration planning
Community education
Darwin’s Cats, Bees & Clover
The identification of complex relationships
clover → bumblebees → mice → cats
The misnomer of doing “just one thing”
(Darwin 1866)
Objectives
Catalog native bee populations at WEW Determine if two threatened Bombus species
are present Bombus occidentalis Bombus franklini
Identify associations between specific pollinators and native plant hosts
Hypotheses
Hypothesis #1 The West Eugene Wetlands flora and bee fauna
are representative of Willamette Valley flora and bee fauna.
Hypothesis #2 The West Eugene Wetlands flora and bee fauna
are more diverse than those of the majority of the Willamette Valley.
Research Products
Preliminary bee fauna
Preliminary phenology data
Reference collections for WEW and OSU
Methods
Trapping
Sweep netting
Two minute counts
Observation
Blue fluorescent trap
Bees of the West Eugene Wetlands Preliminary counts
Total bees collected, all methods: 562 June – September 2008
Seasonal weather
Spring-Summer collection patterns Seasonal population dynamics Collection locations
Bees of the West Eugene Wetlands Apidae
Bombus spp.: 81 Bumblebees
Apis mellifera: 4 Honeybees
Anthophorine bees: 1 Anthophora ssp.
Eucerine bees: 2 Long-horned bees Melissodes spp., Synhalonia ssp., Xenoglossa ssp.
Xylocopinae bees: 10 Carpenter bees
Bees of the West Eugene Wetlands Halictidae
Sweat bees: 165 Agapostemon spp. Halictus ssp. Lasioglossum ssp. Dialictus ssp.
Megachilidae Leaf cutter and mason bees: 20 Osmia ssp., Megachile ssp., Coelioxys ssp.
Bees of the West Eugene Wetlands Identification process
Steps for the future
Class: Insecta on the West Eugene Wetlands
Summary-to-Date
Data analysis pending positive identifications
Rare plant-pollinator relationships
Non-native invasives
Margins
Reference collection
Continuing Work
Ongoing collection to build bee fauna
Define rare plant-pollinator relationships
Monitor native bee populations
Acknowledgements
Dr. Sujaya Rao, OSU Dr. Bill Stephen, OSU Dr. Kevin Ahern, OSU Howard Hughes Medical Institute Sally Villegas, BLM The Nature Conservancy