USGS Science⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70202579

Diversity and abundance of wild bees in an agriculturally dominated landscape of eastern Colorado

H. S. Arathi·Mark W. Vandever·Brian S. Cade
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Agricultural intensification has resulted in loss of natural and semi-natural habitats impacting several important ecosystem services. One group of organisms that has suffered greatly are the bees and hence pollination, the supporting ecosystem service they complete. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented conservation practices designed to improve habitat for pollinators in agroecosystems by paying to recover environmentally sensitive agricultural land from production, and restoring them by planting native grass mixes, pollinator-friendly legumes and wildflowers. Our study, aimed at demonstrating the efficacy of this practice, measured diversity and abundance of wild bee genera in the agricultural landscape of eastern semiarid regions of Colorado, USA, where CRP practices were implemented. Over our 3-year study, we obtained a total of 16,207 bees belonging to 51 genera. We found inconsistent differences in number of bee genera and abundance of bees in CRP fields supplemented with wildflowers compared to those with conventional grass seed mix. However, we observed only a 40–80% overlap in bee genera between fields supplemented with wildflowers and those with grass seed mixes indicating that diversity was enhanced by having both habitats. With the caveat that 3 years is a very short period to see appreciable changes, our results suggest that recovering environmentally sensitive land can strengthen pollinator populations in landscapes dominated by agricultural activities. In addition, periodic evaluation and maintenance of these recovered lands will further support the efforts towards revitalization of ecosystem services in these areas.

Explore related subjects

Journal of Insect ConservationArticle

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

H. S. Arathi, Mark W. Vandever, Brian S. Cade. 2019-02-22. Diversity and abundance of wild bees in an agriculturally dominated landscape of eastern Colorado. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-019-00125-1

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2023

Warming experiments test the temperature sensitivity of an endangered butterfly across life history stages

The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) (hereafter Karner blue) is a federally listed endangered species occurring in disjunct locations within the Midwest and Eastern United States. As a hostplant specialist and an ectotherm, the Karner blue is likely to be susceptible to effects of climate change. We undertook warming experiments to explore the temperature sensitivity of various Karner blue life history stages and traits. Over a two-year period, we exposed all Karner blue life stages to temperature increases of + 2, + 4, and + 6 °C above 1952–1999 mean temperatures. We analyzed the effect of these treatments on life history parameters likely related to fitness and population size, including development time, voltinism, degree-day accumulation, body weight, and morphology. Warming treatments resulted in earlier emergence and accelerated development, leading to additional generations. Warming also increased the number of degree-days accumulated during pre-adult development (i.e., egg hatch to eclosion). Results suggest that Karner blues developed in fewer days, in part, by putting on less mass as temperatures increased. As treatment temperature increased, adult body mass, length, and area decreased and voltinism increased. Females with lower adult mass and smaller body size produced fewer eggs. These results suggest a trade-off between accelerated development and decreased body size with decrease in adult mass and abdominal area being associated with reduced fecundity.

Journal of Insect Conservation↗
USGS2022

Using structured decision making to guide habitat restoration for butterflies: A case study of Oregon silverspots

When making decisions about how to restore habitat for at-risk species, land managers must balance multiple competing objectives in the face of uncertainty about the impacts of management actions on at-risk populations. The Oregon silverspot ( Speyeria = Argynnis zerene hippolyta ) is a federally threatened butterfly, and uncertainty exists about the effects of proposed management. We used structured decision making (SDM) to guide restoration for Oregon silverspots. Managers identified persistence as their primary objective and further identified effects of herbicides as a key uncertainty. We developed a model of population dynamics incorporating management actions and parameterized the model based on experiments with a surrogate subspecies, the Zerene silverspot ( S. z. zerene ). Herbicide application may directly harm Oregon silverspots by increasing larval mortality, while indirectly benefiting silverspots by reducing the competition faced by their host plant. In this system, potential herbicide treatments include grass-specific fluazifop-P-butyl or forb-specific clopyralid applied with Agri-Dex ® or Nu-Film ® -IR adjuvants. We found that Oregon silverspot population growth rate is greatest with clopyralid and fluazifop-P-butyl when combined with Nu-Film ® -IR than other alternatives (including no treatment) considering only direct effects or in combination with indirect effects. An adaptive management program would benefit Oregon silverspots by promoting exploration of management alternatives while allowing managers to act quickly to arrest steep declines. Uncertainty remains regarding how well our results will generalize in field conditions.

Journal of Insect Conservation↗
USGS2022

Non-target effects of herbicides on the Zerene silverspot butterfly, a surrogate subspecies for the threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly

Herbicides are used as management tools to improve habitat for native plants and animals, but their application may also have harmful effects on the native community. The federally threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly ( Speyeria = Argynnis zerene hippolyta ) resides in remnant native grasslands along the Pacific Northwest coast. However, like many grasslands, many of these areas have high incidences of invasive plants, such as false dandelion ( Hypochaeris radicata ) and velvet grass ( Holcus lanatus ). These and other invasive plants severely limit the abundance of the Oregon silverspot’s larval host plant, the early blue violet ( Viola adunca ). Selective herbicides, such as clopyralid and fluazifop-P-butyl, can reduce invasive plant abundance. However, non-target effects of these herbicides, and of adjuvants applied with these herbicides, on Oregon silverspots are unknown. In our study, we applied herbicides and adjuvants to host plants and Zerene silverspot ( S. z. zerene ) larvae, a subspecies closely related to Oregon silverspots. Responses in silverspot larvae measured in two experiments included survival, sex ratio, development time, mass, morphology, fecundity, and behavior. Our results suggest that negative effects of herbicides, clopyralid and fluazifop-P-butyl, and adjuvants, Agri-Dex ® and Nu-Film ® -IR, are limited. However, we detected weak effects from clopyralid and fluazifop-P-butyl with and without Agri-Dex ® on larval and pupal development time and pupal mass.

Journal of Insect Conservation↗