EVIDENCE-BASED CONSERVATION FOR NATIVE BEES IN NORTHEASTERN FORESTS: A BIODIVERSITY FRONTIER

Bees are important pollinators for over 75% of plant species that require animal pollination, however many native bee species are in severe decline, and conservation knowledge for bees lags far behind that of larger animals such as mammals and birds. This project will focus on forested habitats which cover 80% of the northeastern USA, and on the roughly 380 bee species native to these forests. Researchers will collect field data about bees, as well as DNA from pollen on the bees to identify what species of plant pollen are eaten by bees. A major goal of the project is to determine if forest bees would benefit more from forest plants instead of the flowering meadow plants which are typically planted for bees to feed on. The data gathered will be used to determine what plants forest bees are feeding on and what forest management actions will help bee populations. The researchers will collaborate with The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the Audubon Society to create a ‘Forestry for the Bees’ conservation. Because >75% of forested land in the northeastern USA is privately owned, and private landowners rank biodiversity as the most important goal for their forests, the Xerces Society will work with private landowners throughout the region to improve bee habitat in forests. In this project, researchers will collect the first comprehensive data on plant-bee interactions in North American forests, using canopy sampling techniques in conjunction with pollen metabarcoding. Results will determine which plants bees prefer to forage on across all forest strata, including trees, which may be a key pollen source but have been excluded from previous study. In collaboration with the Xerces Society and the Audubon Society, researchers will compare the efficacy of two conservation actions for increasing forest bee abundance and diversity: (1) forestry to increase tree diversity and vertical vegetation structure, versus (2) experimental plantings of understory flowers. These data will be analyzed to determine whether existing forest diversification protocols, which primarily consider the tree community, are sufficient for forest bees, or if additional restoration plantings are needed. This contrast is of ecological interest because trees likely provide most pollen resources by volume in forests, but understory herbs account for the majority (~80%) of the plant species. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.