Research Abstracts and Presenter Biographies
The Massasoit STEM program’s Native Pollinator Research project is an ongoing wild bee monitoring project that is helping scientists understand the ways urbanization affects the ecosystem. Bees are critical to the survival of many plants and the loss of these insect pollinators would be devastating in several ways. Our researchers have been out in the field assessing the native bee community every two weeks, from thaw until frost. As far as we know, we have the longest running rigorous bee-monitoring program in North America.
So, are the bees all dying off?
Believe it or not, we still aren’t sure. It may take another five years to fully answer that question. However, there are plenty of other important questions that this dataset can address. Our project is located in a perfect place to pursue our overarching question, “What does urbanization do the the native bee community?”
Each year we contribute novel research findings to our scientific colleagues at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting. To present work at a national meeting like ESA, each presenter/author must submit a short summary, called an abstract, for review by the society. Each Winter, our student researchers work with the senior members of the research team to craft their abstracts. Below you will find examples of accepted abstracts from this and previous years.
ESA 2020 Abstracts
- Jump to ESA 2020 Bios & Poster Links
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Are native bees declining in southeastern Massachusetts?
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Reported declines in native bees have led to concerns that these vital pollinators may be threatened. However, few multi-year monitoring studies employing consistent sampling techniques are available to define the current rate of decline, if any, of native bee communities. Furthermore, even less is known regarding the long-term stability of the native bee community as it exists in an urban/suburban ecosystem. The present study provides an initial assessment of year-to-year changes in native bee abundance over a four-year span. Bi-weekly sampling of bees was conducted from 2016 to 2019 using pan traps and sweep netting at six urban-to-suburban sites in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Bees were collected, pinned and identified to genus prior to inclusion in the data set.
Results/Conclusions
Yearly bee abundance results are suggestive of a general decline in the local native bee community, but this trend failed to reach statistical significance (F3,23 = 2.90, p > 0.05). This observation is likely due to significant year-to-year fluctuations, with bee abundance declining 9.41% and 25.87% for the first two years of the study but rebounding 33.53% from 2018 to 2019. Similarly, no significant trend was detected for richness over the four years (F3,23 = 3.04, p > 0.05). From 2016 to 2017 bee richness declined by 9.09% and from 2017 to 2018 by 13.33% followed by an increase of 3.89% from 2018 to 2019. The seasonal variations in abundance and richness preclude solid conclusions at this time. Further study will be required to ascertain if the variation observed in this study is normal season-to-season fluctuation or indicative a long term decline.
Authors
- Ludimira Ribeiro, Massasoit Community College
- Joshua P Keady, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Evidence for competition between honey bees and bumble bees in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
As humans continue to encroach on native bee habitats, the popularity of backyard beekeeping in addition to commercial honey production may exacerbate competition for resources already diminished by urbanization. Similar to the honey bees (Apis mellifera) that are used for these purposes, native bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are effective pollinators and social generalist bees. However, previous studies have shown that domesticated honey bees have the potential to compete with native bees for floral resources which could negatively impact native bee fitness. Humans raise and care for honey bees, and intervention of this kind may put honey bees at an advantage over native bees. This study aims to examine the relationship between honey bee abundance and bumble bee fitness using female intertegular distance as a proxy for fitness to determine if there is competition between honey bees and bumble bees. Bees were caught using pan traps and sweep nets from April to October of 2018 at six sites in Southeastern Massachusetts on an urban gradient. Bumble bees were separated by sex and their intertegular distances were measured using cellSens imaging software and a digital microscope camera.
Results/Conclusions
In the 2018 season, 156 bumble bees and 347 honey bees were collected for analysis. The intertegular distances of the bumble bees ranged from 2.83 mm to 6.10 mm. Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant weak negative relationship (r = ‑0.49, p = 0.0066) between honey bee abundance and female bumble bee size. This suggests that there may be competition between bumble bees and honey bees that could negatively affect the fitness of bumble bees. Although additional data is needed to better understand this relationship, these findings are consistent with other similar studies and could indicate that there is a need to regulate the use of domesticated honey bees in order to promote a healthier native bee community.
Authors
- Samuel Wong, Massasoit Community College
- Vania Lopes, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Forest fragmentation is a strong indicator of bee abundance and richness across an urban gradient in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Urbanization is generally thought to have a negative effect on wild bee communities. For example, increasing impermeable land surface is likely accompanied by decreased green space and reduced habitat and foraging for wild bees. Desire to lower the ecological impact of urbanization has led to the inclusion of green spaces and undisturbed areas into urban landscapes. Determination of the most effective size and shape of urban green spaces will help to maximize the benefits of these efforts. In particular, wild bee communities may be especially sensitive to green space fragmentation. To determine the impact of urban green space fragmentation on wild bee communities, this study sampled bees along an urban gradient in Southeastern Massachusetts, from 2016 to 2019. The ratio of forest edge to area at the spatial scales 300, 500, 750, and 1000m-radii was calculated using ArcGIS pro and used as a measure of fragmentation.
Results/Conclusions
The proportion of forest area and wild bee abundance was positively and significantly correlated at all spatial scales with the highest correlation at 1000m (R= 0.74; p < 0.05). Similarly, richness was positively and significantly correlated with the proportion of forest area at all spatial scales with the highest correlation at 1000m (R= 0.87; p < 0.05). Forest edge was negatively and significantly correlated with abundance at 750m (R= ‑0.75; p < 0.05) and 1000m (R= ‑0.63; p < 0.05), while negatively and significantly correlated with richness at 750m (R= ‑0.62; p < 0.05). Fragmentation (the ratio of forest edge to forest area) had a strong negative correlation with bee abundance at 750m (R= ‑0.82, p < 0.05) and 1000m (R= ‑0.86, p < 0.05), and a strong negative correlation with bee richness at 750m (R=-0.89, p < 0.05) and 1000m (R=-0.83, p < 0.05). These data suggest that increasing forest proportion and increasing fragmentation are both predictive of abundance and richness of wild bees in an urban setting. Optimization of green space size may help ameliorate the impact of urbanization on wild bee communities.
Authors
- Michael DeMaesschalck, Massasoit Community College
- Jared Cullen, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Spatial scale choice and its importance in urban ecological studies
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
The ability to collect and process geographic information systems (GIS) data is becoming easier and allows rapid large-scale analysis. These enhanced capabilities may benefit many scientific fields, especially ecology studies. Many studies employ GIS analyses in order to determine the effects of human land use on organisms in local ecosystems. This requires choosing a spatial scale, which is often arbitrary and may lead to inconsistencies between studies, specifically when looking at highly variable components of an ecosystem. In an extreme example, two independent research projects could find opposite effects simply by having different spatial scales, even if they are accurately measuring the same phenomenon. The importance of choosing spatial scales is highlighted in this presentation by examples of GIS quantification of impervious land cover and forest cover for six study sites at three relatively common radii: 300, 500, and 800m. These land attributes were correlated with wild bee abundance from 2016 to 2019 as an example of how a study’s results can vary based on scale.
Results/Conclusions
There were notable changes in both impervious land cover and forest cover across the three scales with greater changes in urban sites compared to rural areas. Correlations between bee abundance with impervious land cover were negative with the strength of these correlations increasing as scales became larger. For example, correlations between bee abundance and impervious land cover at 300m, 500m and 800m increases incrementally (R2 = 0.09, 0.1, and 0.12 respectively). Correlations between forest area and bee abundance also increased incrementally with increasing scale (R2 = 0.17, 0.15, and 0.21 respectively). Therefore, how does the investigator decide how many increases in spatial scale and to what extent are legitimate to achieve a better correlation? Incongruous conclusions from the same analysis at different spatial scales could be dependent on landscape uniformity as is typical of a rural setting compared to landscape heterogeneity in urban gradients. Therefore, these considerations become more important in situations where GIS are used to study urban ecology.
Author
- Matthew Healy, Massasoit Community College
The benefits of undergraduate research at an urban community college
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Undergraduate research is beneficial to students’ education and career development. However, first and second-year undergraduates, and particularly community college students, rarely have the opportunity to fully engage in challenging, hands-on research experience early in their academic careers. The research program at Massasoit Community College provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in high-quality ecological research much earlier than the typical undergraduate. The required level of engagement, dedication, and persistence is achieved largely by the students’ belief that the research project is real and meaningful. In this case, the project is an ecological study monitoring the status of wild bees. Overall, the program requires students to develop critical thinking ability as well as so-called “soft skills” with a goal of producing more capable, independent and confident students. The two-year time frame forces students to move from trainee to trainer quickly and facilitates a tight-knit and self-supportive group. The plight of wild bees in an ever-urbanizing world provides a captivating research question that can be addressed by relatively simple and inexpensive methods.
Results/Conclusions
15 to 20 students are employed year-round for data collection, analysis and presentation. Despite different backgrounds and academic goals, every student researcher receives specific training in fieldwork, database management, scientific writing, and public speaking to ensure consistency and a high quality of work. Also, with support from mentors and peers, students must access and interpret the primary literature to ensure project comprehension and strong scientific literacy. Students also design and implement all project-related tasks and activities, gaining valuable organizational, collaborative and problem-solving skills. Over four years of bi-weekly sampling, 10,757 bees were collected and identified to 36 genera and 140 species —including 40 new species to Plymouth County records. Additionally, 26 student researchers have presented their scientific work at Ecological Society of America conferences, while almost all interns participated at local symposia. In conclusion, this program will continue to gather publication-quality data while enhancing first and second-year undergraduates practical research experiences in community college. Dedication to both research and educational goals maximizes student skills and often allows them to transfer to four-year programs that were previously out of reach, with skills that will benefit them for their entire careers.
Author
- Vania Lopes, Massasoit Community College
The impact of urbanization on Bombus vs. other wild bee genera in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Reported declines in wild bees have led to concerns about the long-term survivability of these critical pollinators. Studies have suggested that human land use and urbanization negatively impact wild bees. However, the effect of urbanization on specific bee genera remains largely unknown. Anecdotal observations suggest that the genus Bombus (bumblebees) may be relatively resistant to urbanization compared to other bee genera. Bombus impatiens constitutes the majority of Bombus in Eastern United States. Their adaptability to a wide range of environments could suggest that Bombus impatiens may be particularly suited for urban settings. This study examines the effect of urbanization on Bombus compared to other wild bee genera, with specific focus on Bombus impatiens. Total non-Bombus genera, total Bombus, and Bombus impatiens abundances were examined for correlation with impervious land cover, forest area, and fragmentation. Bees were sampled biweekly via pan trap and sweep netting from early spring to late fall. Six study sites in Southeastern Massachusetts were analyzed with ArcGIS to calculate the percentage of impervious land cover, forest cover, and fragmentation (ratio of forest edge to forest area) as measures of urbanization.
Results/Conclusions
A total of 754 Bombus were collected from 2016–2019. 181 Bombus from 2018 were identified as either Bombus impatiens or other species of Bombus. No significant correlation was found between the percentage of impervious land cover and total Bombus abundance, while a significant negative correlation was found between total Bombus abundance and forest cover (R = ‑0.5493, p = 0.0054). In contrast, a significant positive correlation was found between non-Bombus and forest cover (R = 0.6663, p = 0.0004). Additionally, a strong positive correlation between total Bombus abundance and fragmentation was found (R = 0.4783, p = 0.018), while total non-Bombus abundance displayed a strong negative correlation with fragmentation (R = ‑0.8466, p= <0.0001). These results suggest that urbanization may impact Bombus differently than other genera. Analysis of Bombus impatiens alone did not suggest this species was notably different from the other Bombus species. In conclusion, increases in Bombus abundance seen with increasing forest area and fragmentation in an urban setting are opposite to changes seen in non-Bombus species of wild bees.
Authors
- Junyves Valme Pierre, Massasoit Community College
- Eric Visser, Massasoit Community College
- Vania Lopes, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
ESA 2020 Presenter Bios
Junyves Valme Pierre
My major is Liberal Arts Transfer — Science. I have been a STEM intern for two years, I have learned from the best and this is one of the best choices I could have made as a student at Massasoit Community College. I am planning on transferring to the nursing program.


Ludimira Ribeiro
I am Ludimira Ribeiro and I am Cape Verdean. Joining the STEM program at Massasoit Community College allowed me to draw a clear path towards my career’s goals. Besides the opportunity to learn important skills such as scientific literature comprehension, public speaking, leadership experience, I was privileged to work with amazing people and to make great friends. Now, I am transferring to Stonehill College where I will major in Biochemistry.




Note: I could not decide which pictures to use. All of them represent memories that I would like to share.
Matthew Healy
I am currently a Biology transfer student at Massasoit. I am planning on transferring to a four-year university such as UMass Amherst or Boston University to study bioinformatics.


Michael DeMaesschalck
My name is Michael DeMaesschalck and I was a part of the STEM internship at Massasoit Community College for one year. While with the internship I was able to participate in the Ecological Society of America 2020 conference by contributing a poster titled “Forest fragmentation is a strong indicator of bee abundance and richness across an urban gradient in southeastern Massachusetts”. While at Massasoit I was able to obtain an associates degree in liberal arts with a focus in science, maintained a GPA of 3.8, participated in the honor society Phi Theta Kappa, and the student senate. This fall I plan to attend the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill virtually and will major in biochemistry.



Samuel Wong
My name is Samuel Wong and I began attending Massasoit Community College as a high school student in the Gateway to College program. I joined the STEM internship in my first semester at Massasoit and have been an intern for a year and a half. While I was in the internship I presented at local symposia and schools and was able to create my own scientific poster to participate in the Ecological Society of America meeting 2020. I learned skills from the internship that I would not have from just taking classes. I gained public speaking, leadership, and critical thinking skills that I will be using for the rest of my life. During my time at Massasoit, I graduated high school and maintained a 4.0 GPA and I will now be transferring with 61 credits to UMass Amherst to study mechanical engineering.


Vania Lopes
My name is Vania Lopes. I moved to America 5 years ago from Cape Verde as a junior in high school. During my first year at Massasoit Community College I joined the STEM internship program. This program helped me develop invaluable skills that I can carry out to my future career, independently, of my chosen pathway. After a couple of months in the program I started doing public speaking at local schools as well as using our data to investigate my own scientific question. In 2018, I presented my scientific poster at the ecological society of America in Kentucky. In this year’s meeting (2020), even after suffering a world pandemic I contributed to an oral presentation. In addition, this program helped me develop critical thinking skills, leadership skills and other soft skills that will help me survive transfer at a 4‑year university. This fall I will be transferring to University of Michigan as a Biochemistry Major with a pre-med pathway.





ESA 2019 Abstracts | Posters
How does percent impervious land-cover affect the correlation between ground nesting and non-ground nesting bee abundance, richness and diversity?
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Investigations into the connection between landscaping habits and native bee communities suggests that urban gardens may produce biodiversity in urbanized areas. We have previously reported that the most common bee nesting guild in Plymouth County, Massachusetts (ground-nesting bees) shows a positive correlation in abundance with other bee nesting guilds. In other words, sites that promote healthy bee communities do not favor one nesting guild over the other. However, it is currently unknown if higher degrees of urbanization and agriculture alter the correlations between nesting guilds. For example, increasing impervious land-cover accompanying urbanization may negatively impact the ground nesting bee community by limiting nesting resources. Therefore, in order to determine if urbanization specifically impacts ground-nesting bees the current study investigates how impervious land-cover may affect the correlation between ground-nesting and non-ground nesting bee abundance, richness and diversity. To test the hypothesis that more urbanized sites will favor non-ground-nesting over ground-nesting bees, sampling occurred bi-weekly from early spring to late fall of 2016, 2017, and 2018 by sweep netting and pan traps. ArcGIS was used to calculate percent impervious land-cover and classify sites as rural or urban.
Results/Conclusions
Over 3 years, 5540 ground nesters and 2143 non-ground nesters were sampled. Statistical analysis showed covariance between ground nesting and non-ground nesting bee abundance (F1,227=70.6, p<0.0001) with abundance differing at each site (F5,227=8.40, p<0.0001) and the same occurring for richness and diversity. These similar, positive correlations between ground-nesting and non-ground nesting bees suggest a lack of competition between nesting guilds across different levels of urbanization. Two rural sites with undisturbed land and high bee abundance had the strongest correlations for abundance with R2 values of 0.492 and 0.438. These sites also showed strong correlations for richness with values of 0.450 and 0.323, and the urban site with sustainable land-use practices had a comparable correlation to the rural sites with a value of 0.407. The rural commercial farm had weak correlations for abundance and richness, comparable to the unmanaged urban parking lot, with values of 0.262 and 0.195 for abundance and richness. There was no difference in correlation strength for ground nester and non-ground nester guild diversity across levels of urbanization, with all R2 values being less than 0.3. Overall, weaker correlations at the most urban sites suggests that urbanization affects nesting guilds differently, even though there is no indication of enhanced competition.
Authors
- Tatyanna Moreland-Junior, Massasoit Community College
- Jordan Palmer, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Ecological research promotes critical-thinking, science literacy, and data-driven eco-centrism among diverse STEM student-interns at a community college
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
It is not difficult to observe the ease and pace at which misinformation regarding environmental issues enters the public through various fast-paced media outlets. Thus, the need to promote critical-thinking and incorporate science literacy into undergraduate STEM curricula may be considered paramount. However, science students are not typically introduced to the rigorous processes of experimental design, data analysis, and peer-review until their educations begin to specialize more as juniors, seniors, or graduate students. It is valuable to engage STEM students with diverse academic goals, and educational and cultural backgrounds, in the overall process of science before they specialize in their chosen majors. In this context, why not expose students, who otherwise may never deeply ponder the links between human activities and ecological change, to some basic ecological research? We argue this has the dual benefit of broadly increasing scientific literacy while also helping to build a framework for better understanding socio-environmental connections. Our undergraduate research program, at an urban two-year community college, immerses student-interns from diverse backgrounds into publication-quality ecological research. When interns eventually major in various STEM fields, they go with a deeper appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems and a better toolkit for evaluating and communicating scientific information.
Results/Conclusions
Monitoring the bee community is a logistically and economically sustainable project as it requires minimal specialized training and equipment. Student-interns have collected bees from snow-melt until a zero-bee sampling event over three years (2016−2018), identifying 7,684 bees to genus (corroborated by an expert taxonomist). Student-interns discuss primary research articles related to pollinator research in a graduate-style journal club. Building on prior work and using their own creativity, they formulate and address questions from within our extensive data set. Using this model, eight interns have presented posters at national ESA meetings, nine more with current abstract submissions. They also engage the community presenting at elementary schools, community centers, and garden clubs. We have employed 64 student interns since 2016, with greater than 75% either transferring successfully to four-year colleges, starting a STEM career, or still in the internship. Interns reflect the demographics of our college being greater than 50% minority, including self-identifying African-Americans, Cape Verdeans, Haitians, Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans. While many of our interns seek biology BS degrees ranging from molecular- to ecology-focused, some are also pursuing engineering, psychology, and pre-med pathways. These student-interns will carry this eco-centric, data-driven perspective with them regardless of the career path they follow.
Author
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
Effects of differing land-use practices on genus-level metrics of bee community structure
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Bees play a pivotal role in animal-mediated pollination; their absence could mean a major loss in important food crops. Reports of their decline have prompted research on different land-use practices that may harm or benefit local bee communities. Many studies often measure abundance, richness, or diversity. However, use of all three metrics may provide the most complete assessment of bee communities. For example, diversity is a measure of the number and balance of different types of organisms in an ecosystem, but does not account for organisms that are difficult to detect; richness is a simple count of the number of different organisms, but does not account for balance between the types; and finally, abundance is a simple count of the number of organisms, but alone does not indicate a healthy ecosystem. In the present study, six different sites of varying land-use practices were assessed to evaluate the magnitude and stability of native bee community abundance, richness, and diversity. Bees were sampled bi-weekly using pan traps and sweep nets from early spring to late fall in the years 2016, 2017, and 2018. Study sites were categorized into urban and rural based on percent impervious land cover using GIS-analysis.
Results/Conclusions
Over three years, a total of 7,684 bees were caught and identified to genus. There was a significant effect of year and site on abundance, richness, and diversity (p<0.05 for all) while the interaction between site and year was also found to be significant (p<0.05 for all). Rural sites generally displayed higher abundance, richness, and diversity than urban sites, which is consistent with previous studies. Dunrovin Farm, the most rural site, had the highest abundance and richness, but not diversity, suggesting that both richness and diversity should be considered in determining bee community health. Native Meadow, a sustainably managed urban site, had metrics similar to the more rural sites, suggesting that these land-use practices may benefit bee communities in an urban setting. Overall, a decline in the bee community was observed for all three metrics between 2017 and 2018. Further monitoring will reveal if this is normal year-to-year variation or indicative of a long term trend. In conclusion, sustainable land-use practices may benefit the local bee community in urban settings; and utilizing abundance, richness, and diversity together may be necessary to provide the most comprehensive assessment of local bee communities.
Authors
- Fegens Lyncee, Massasoit Community College
- Mollie O’Keeffe, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
A method for identifying pollen resources for brood development in cavity-nesting native bees
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Native bees’ critical role in ecosystem function and agriculture has given rise to a variety of efforts to support their communities. This has resulted in widespread cultivation of wild plants (companion plantings) to improve their foraging resources, and deployment of artificial nesting habitats (bee hotels) to serve as breeding grounds. However, there is little information regarding the types of pollens gathered by native bees for provisioning brood within these bee hotels. To better understand the benefit of these practices, a method for identifying the pollen resources used in brood development would help define the interaction between nesting and foraging resources. The present study used a two-loci, single PCR, DNA-based identification of pollen grains taken from sampled native bee brood cells. Brood cells were obtained from a bee hotel deployed spring to early fall 2018. Pollen load from a single brood cell was collected, suspended in water and randomly sampled. Single pollen grains were stained with aniline blue, isolated under a microscope and transferred to a 25-µL PCR tube containing two sets of primers; (ITS2, trnH-psbA), Phire™ Plant Direct PCR Master Mix, and nuclease free water. Amplification was carried out at an annealing temperature of 62°C for thirty-five cycles.
Results/Conclusions
Amplification of two regions of DNA in a single PCR reaction can generate multiple amplicons for sequencing from a single source. The use of two loci in plant identification by DNA barcoding helps to improve the discriminatory power of these regions when identifying the species of pollen within the GenBank® database. Preliminary PCR experiments demonstrated that two loci could be amplified directly from an individual pollen grain taken from a brood cell. The trnH-psbA amplicon showed less success in amplification as evidenced by the lack of bands produced during electrophoresis relative to ITS on-agarose gel. This suggests an easier PCR amplification of the nuclear locus compared to the plastid locus, possibly due to copy number variation. Preliminary sequencing results from amplified ITS2 region revealed mixed pollens from a variety of flowering plants including; Vicia amoena, Pstium sativa, & Trifolium repens. A comprehensive understanding of seasonal pairings between local plant and cavity nesting bee species, specifically brood resources, would allow selective plantings to promote the specific native bee that is likely to inhabit man-made habitat. Furthermore, this type of information could be particularly useful in an agricultural setting where interactions between nesting preferences, foraging preferences and crop pollination might be established.
Authors
- Zachary Thuotte, Massasoit Community College
- Matthew Healy, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
The kleptoparasitic bee Nomada as a potential indicator of ecosystem health
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Due to the decline of native bees, implementation of land-use practices to promote stable bee communities has become popular. To quantify the impact of these land-use practices, studies often focus on the diversity and abundance of the entire bee community. However, research has shown that parasitic bees are strongly affected by environmental changes, suggesting their potential as an ecosystem health indicator. Additionally, these parasites are thought to control and stabilize their host populations, and these parasite-host relationships may provide additional insight into bee community health. The present study evaluates the abundance of the parasitic bee Nomada and its relationship to the host bee, Andrena, as surrogate markers of overall bee community health at six study sites across Southeastern Massachusetts. The six sites were categorized into rural or urban based on percent impervious land cover quantified using ArcGIS. Two of the sites implement sustainable land-use practices which include a reduction in chemical use, no-mow areas, and planting of native flora. Data were collected from 2016 to 2018 during the foraging season, using a bi-weekly sampling method that included 24h-pan traps and 1h sweep netting.
Results/Conclusions
Over three seasons, 156 Nomada and 145 Andrena were collected. Site impacted Nomada abundance (F1,89=3.1, p=0.03) and pairwise comparisons revealed that the highest Nomada abundance was present at a rural site with reduced pesticide use, and at a suburban site characterized by limited imperviousness, a community garden, abundant forest edge and infrequent mowing. Nomada abundance mimicked the overall bee abundance suggesting that the parasite has potential as an ecosystem health marker. Although, no significant covariance of Andrena and Nomada abundances was detected (F1,89=3.1, p=0.08), there was a considerable impact of site on the weak Andrena – Nomada abundance relationship (F5,78=4.2, p=0.002). The strongest positive covariation was found at the aforementioned suburban site which suggests this site has an additional beneficial effect on the bee community allowing a healthy host-parasite relationship. Other sites, including urban and rural areas, had fewer Nomada and displayed weaker host-parasite correlations. However, some Nomada spp. are known to parasitize other genera which could weaken the host-parasite signal. Altogether, human activity appears to influence the abundance of Nomada, and variation observed in the strength of the host-parasite relationship suggests that monitoring this marker could yield new insight on the health of the bee community.
Authors
- Kinga Auguste, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Does forest cover affect Osmia and other cavity-nesting bee abundance?
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Bee communities serve an important role in our local ecosystems as they pollinate several crops and flowering plants. Many farmers rely on honeybees (Apis mellifera) for pollination. However, due to the decline in the domestic honeybee hives, there may be an increased reliance on native pollinators. Cavity-nesting bees have the potential to be used for crop pollination as they can be managed using artificial nesting habitats such as trap nests. The genus Osmia specifically, is an important pollinator of popular orchard trees and have been found to be more efficient than honeybees in certain apple orchards. Previous research has shown that cavity-nesting bee abundance is positively correlated with forest cover, but little is known about their preferences within more urbanized settings. In this study, we examined the effects of forest cover on the abundance of cavity-nesting bees in Southeastern Massachusetts, with a specific focus on the genus Osmia. From 2016–2018, bees were collected biweekly at six different sites via pan trap and sweep net, during the months of April to October. OLIVER, MassGIS’s online mapping tool, was used to estimate percent forest cover within a 500m buffer at each of the six study sites.
Results/Conclusions
Throughout the three years we collected a total of 177 cavity-nesting bees out of which 92 belong to the genus Osmia. Statistical tests showed a significant effect of site on overall cavity-nester abundance (F5,233=3.7, p=0.003) along with Osmia abundance (F5,131=3.5, p=0.005). Osmia and total cavity-nesting bee abundances at the least forested site were similar to the abundances at the most forested site which indicates that there is no direct effect of forest cover on Osmia and other cavity-nesters abundance. The significant effect of site on Osmia and other cavity-nesters abundance may be due to other factors at the sites rather than forestation. The abundance of Osmia as well as the overall abundance of cavity-nesters at the urban sites with sustainable land-use practices were comparable to the rural site with the highest abundance, whereas the abundance at the urban site lacking these practices was significantly lower. In an urban/sub-urban setting, overall cavity-nesting bee abundance does not seem to have a strong correlation with forest cover, suggesting other factors such as sustainable land-use practices may be more important to help promote their community.
Authors
- Belunda Moise, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
The potential of gender ratio in mason bees (Osmia spp.) as an indicator of ecosystem health
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Bees are considered keystone organisms within the ecosystem, pollinating both crops and wild plants. The genus Osmia (mason bees) are effective pollinators due to their morphological features, specialist foraging preferences, and the propensity to easily deposit collected pollen on recipient flowers. Although a variety of factors are involved, different land use practices, such as the use of pesticides, frequent mowing and increased urbanization have been suggested to contribute to the decline of bee communities. During periods of environmental stress, female Osmia allocate energy and resources to producing more male offspring than female. Even though Osmia tend to shift from mostly males to mostly females over the season, their overall sex ratio may be affected by their surrounding habitat conditions. In addition, this phenomenon may impact Osmia populations if future generations continue to produce fewer reproducing females. Therefore, in order to evaluate Osmia sex ratios as an indicator of ecosystem health, bees of genus Osmia were sampled from 2016 to 2018 using pan traps and sweep netting at six sites in Southeastern Massachusetts and sexed by counting antennal segments and by general morphology. Specifically, we hypothesized that male to female ratios will be lower in rural sites compared to urban sites.
Results/Conclusions
ArcGIS analysis was used to characterize each study site as rural (<8% impervious land cover; three sites) or urban (>30% impervious land cover; three sites). Results show a significant effect of month on male to female ratio in each year (Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel, M2> = 31.749, df =2, p<0.01), with the overall percent male for all sites over all three years being 74.6%, 19.2% and 0% for May, June and July, respectively. This indicates that male Osmia forage earlier in the season while the females appear to forage later in the season. Although there was no effect of site on Osmia sex ratios, there was an effect of site on total female abundance (H5,90=7.94, p=0.03). This suggests that female Osmia total abundance may be also a good indicator of ecosystem health, especially, when the sample size is small. Continued monitoring of Osmia populations may reveal if this is normal year-to-year changes or indicative of a long-term trend. In this sitting, a comprehensive understanding of Osmia sex allocation and more frequent sampling within the flight season may be necessary to determine if Osmia sex ratios can be used as an indicator of ecosystem health.
Authors
- Vania Lopes, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
How does percent impervious land cover correlate with bee abundance and richness at different spatial scales?
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Pollinators play a crucial role in many ecosystems as well as in agriculture. Declining bee abundance and richness may indicate diminishing ecosystem health as well as threaten the global food supply. Urbanization and the accompanying increase in impervious land cover may degrade bee habitat and contribute to this observed decline in bee communities. Differing spatial scales were chosen as many studies that correlate a land attribute with an marker for ecosystem health, such as bee abundance and richness, use a variety of spatial scales. This study was designed to find the most optimal sized spatial scale by evaluating different sizes to find which scale that impervious land cover correlated best with bee abundance and bee richness. Therefore, we investigated the correlations between impervious land cover and bee richness, as well as bee abundance, in Southeastern Massachusetts at four different spatial scales. Percent impervious land cover was calculated for six study sites at 100, 300, 600, and 900 meter spatial scales through ArcGIS software. Bees were sampled on a biweekly basis from early spring to late fall, in the years 2016 through 2018, using pan traps and sweep-netting techniques.
Results/Conclusions
A total of 7648 bees were caught across a three year sampling period, with richness ranging from 0 (when no bees were caught) to 16 different genera. Percent impervious land cover differed at each spatial scale for all of the sites. Statistical tests were done using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r‑value). All results produced statistically significant negative correlations of impervious land cover with both richness and abundance which were stronger with increasing spatial scale size, with 900 meters having the strongest correlation (r = ‑0.4138 and r =-0.2956 respectively). This suggests that, out of all the spatial scales tested, 900 meters would be the best for correlating the effect of impervious land cover on bee richness and abundance for this specific study. Future analysis will need to be done with spatial scales greater than 900 meters to see when the correlation will begin to weaken.
Authors
- Matthew Healy, Massasoit Community College
- Zachary Thuotte, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
ESA 2018 Abstracts | Posters
Population changes of Lasioglossum over time in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Naturalized honeybees are declining due to colony collapse disorder, and thus native bee communities are being given more attention. Members of the species-rich native genus, Lasioglossum, are important due to their ability to pollinate a wide variety of native and agricultural plants. To help with conservation of this genus it is important to look at how human impact on the land affects this bee. We examined the relationship between differing land use practices in southeastern Massachusetts and Lasioglossum abundance over two years (2016 – 2017). We sampled bees bi-weekly using pan traps and sweep netting, from April – July each year at six sites of varying land usage, including two sites that employed sustainable land-use practices comprised of no-mow zones, native landscaping plantings, and reduced chemical usage. We used ArcGIS to classify sites as urban or rural based on percent impervious cover within a 300‑m buffer zone of each site.
Results/Conclusions
A clear distinction of characteristically urban (>30% impervious; three sites) and rural sites (<8% impervious; three sites) was supported by our ArcGIS analysis. A total of 2,268 individual bees of the genus Lasioglossum were collected and analyzed over two sampling seasons across all sites. Overall, Lasioglossum abundance declined 56% in pan trap collection, and 46% in sweep net collection from 2016 to 2017. Although this decline was statistically significant we will continue monitoring to assess whether this difference between two seasons is indicative of a longer-term trend. The most rural site (1.93% impervious, with no commercial farm present) had significantly higher average Lasioglossum abundance than all other sites. This suggests that particular resource(s) may be present at that site and lacking at the others, including those with sustainable land-use practices in place. The most urban site (46.85% impervious cover) had the lowest Lasioglossum abundance, which was significantly lower than the two other urban sites at which sustainable land-use practices were employed. Our results suggest that further investigation into the effects of sustainable land-use practices in both urban and rural settings is warranted. We plan to continue this line of inquiry by including more sites over additional seasons.
Authors
- Ana M. Estabrooks, Massasoit Community College
- Matthew Healy, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
Links between bee community nesting guild diversity and land-use in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Native bees are the largest contributors to animal-mediated pollination, and reports of their decline have prompted studies of bee communities and the implementation of land-use practices that are assumed to benefit bee abundance and diversity. Many studies focus on taxonomic diversity and relative abundances, but these metrics do not directly take into account the functional roles of organisms in an ecosystem. In this study, bee genera were categorized into guilds by nesting habitat and the focus was placed on nesting guild diversity and relative abundances. Specifically, we hypothesized that urban sites where sustainable land-use practices were implemented will have higher nesting guild diversities than other urban sites, and that the former would have nesting guild diversities comparable to rural sites. Sustainable land-use practices were employed at two of our six study sites and included native plantings, no-mow areas, and limited use of chemicals. Bees were collected biweekly using pan traps and sweep netting from April to July of 2016 and 2017. Bees were preserved and identified to genus and nesting guild. Sites were classified as urban or rural based on percent impervious land cover using ArcGIS.
Results/Conclusions
Over the two sampling seasons a total of 3,264 individual bees were collected, identified, and classified into nesting guilds for analyses. Urban sites employing sustainable land-use practices had nesting guild diversities comparable to those of the rural sites (p=0.9051, a priori contrast), while the urban site with no sustainable land-use practices exhibited lower diversity in the analogous comparison (p=0.0002, a priori contrast). These results suggest that sustainable land-use may support bee community functional diversity. Bee communities at all sites were dominated by ground-nesting bees, indicating that southeastern Massachusetts supports a large community of this nesting guild. Two sites displayed low relative abundance while still exhibiting relatively high guild diversities, indicating that land-use practices affect total abundance and diversity differently. The overall implication of this study is that sustainable land-use practices, such as increasing the amount of native plants in an urbanized environment, may positively impact the community of bees in urban areas, thus strengthening the availability of natural pollination services. We would like to note that our conclusions should be interpreted in the context of a limited number of urban and rural sites, and that future work is planned to increase the number and variety of study sites.
Authors
- Austin Schofield, Massasoit Community College
- Daiana Moniz, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
Investigating possible relationships between native bee community structure and effects of power line cuts and imperviousness in southern Massachusetts: A pilot study
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Pollination by native bees is critical to global crop production and local ecosystem health. Studies showing declines in bee abundance have generated interest in finding methods to support native bee communities. Some studies suggest that electrical transmission line right-of-ways (hereafter, power line cuts) may serve as sanctuaries for bees due to their periodic but infrequent clearing and abundant edge regions. We used native bee community monitoring data from six sites in an initial evaluation of the potential relationship between metrics of bee community structure (abundance and Shannon diversity) and proximity to a power line cut. We also tested for a relationship between percent impervious surface area and bee community structure among the same sites. We sampled bees biweekly via pan trap and sweep net in 2016 and 2017. Distance from the nearest power line cut to each collection site was measured using Google Maps. ArcGIS software was used to calculate percent impervious within a 300-meter buffer around each study site.
Results/Conclusions
We sampled a total of 4,119 bees distributed amongst 42 genera. The distance from power line cuts ranged from 0 to 949 m, and imperviousness ranged from 0.5 to 46.9%. There was a weak but positive correlation between power line cut proximity and bee abundance in regard to bee collection by pan traps, but no significant correlation between proximity to power line cut and bee abundance from sweep net collection method. There was also a weak positive relationship between power line cut proximity and bee community Shannon diversity. There was no relationship apparent between percent impervious land surface and bee abundance or diversity. Although interpretation of our initial results is limited, the weak positive relationships between measures of bee community structure and proximity of only six sites to power line cuts invites a more thorough study. In a more rigorous follow up to this study, we will include more sites encompassing broader range of imperviousness and distances from power line cuts.
Authors
- Cynthia Oyatta, Massasoit Community College
- Ana M. Estabrooks, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
The impact of land-use practices on native bee abundance and diversity in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Bees are keystone organisms that fundamentally contribute to pollination of both wild plants and food crops worldwide. Due to the recent decline of domesticated honeybees, farmers may increasingly rely on native bees for pollination services. Therefore, it is important to maintain an abundant and diverse native bee community not only for the vital ecological role they play, but also for their instrumental value in agroecosystems. This study investigated the impacts of varying land-use practices on native bee abundance and diversity. Two collection methods, pan traps and sweep netting, were used to monitor native bee abundance and diversity at six study sites in Southeastern Massachusetts from April-October 2016 and April-July 2017. Study sites varied regarding the use of sustainable landscaping practices such as no-mow zones, native landscaping, and reduced chemical use, as well as in degree of urbanization. The six sites were designated as urban or rural based on GIS-analysis of percent impervious surface area within a 300-meter buffer zone.
Results/Conclusions
Three of the study sites were designated as urban based on relatively high impervious ground cover (>30%). Two of these sites are located on a college campus where sustainable landscaping practices are employed. Sites designated as rural had relatively low impervious ground cover (<8%) with one site located on the property of a commercial farm. Native bee diversity (Shannon index) was significantly different among sites but did not exhibit significant change from 2016 to 2017. The two sites on the urban college campus showed significantly higher Shannon indices and abundances (based on pan trap data) compared to the other urban site, and similar diversity and abundance to the three rural sites (a priori contrasts). Sweep net abundance data also differed among sites, but not years, and pairwise comparisons revealed only one urban site (without sustainable landscaping) had significantly lower abundance than one of the rural sites. The rural site with the highest abundance did not have the highest diversity. This is indicative that different land-use practices may have independent effects on abundance and diversity. Our results suggest that rural areas may generally provide better habitat for native bees, but better land management practices may increase abundance and diversity even in urban settings.
Authors
- Elizabeth A. Apiche, Massasoit Community College
- Zachary Thuotte, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
A streamlined method for identifying foraging targets of native bees using multiple-loci DNA barcoding
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Native bees are essential in healthy ecosystems. With declines in domestic bee hives, native bees may increasingly need to compensate for lost pollination services. Efforts have been made to implement bee-friendly land-use practices to support native bee communities. One such strategy is the inclusion of flowering plant species that provide forage into landscaping or agricultural settings. However, little is known about the regional foraging preferences of native bees. A comprehensive understanding of seasonal pairings between local plant and bee species would allow selective plantings to promote the regional native bee community, or even target those that pollinate specific crops. The goal of the present work is to develop a method for identifying genera-specific native bee foraging habits using a three-loci, single PCR, DNA-based identification of pollen grains taken from sampled native bees. Total pollen load from a single bee was collected and placed in an aqueous suspension to facilitate random sampling of pollen grains. Using aniline stain to determine viability, isolated pollen grains were transferred to a PCR tube containing three sets of primers, Phire™ Plant Direct PCR Master Mix, and deionized water in a 25-µL reaction. Amplification was carried out at an annealing temperature of 60°C for 35 cycles.
Results/Conclusions
Preliminary PCR experiments demonstrated that three loci could be amplified directly from an individual pollen grain: the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in the pollen nuclear DNA, the intergenic spacer between trnH and psbA in the plastid DNA, and the plastid rbcL gene. All three regions showed bands on agarose gel after a multiplex PCR reaction, at an annealing temperature of 60°C. The trnH-psbA and ITS regions were less than 500 bp, while rbcL was around 1.5 kb. Amplification of two or more regions of individual pollen grain DNA in a single PCR reaction can generate multiple amplicons for sequencing from a single source. The use of three loci in plant identification by DNA barcoding helps to improve the discriminatory power of these conserved regions when identifying the species of pollen within the GenBank® database.
Authors
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Franciane Flickinger, Massasoit Community College
- Mollie O’Keeffe, Massasoit Community College
- Cynthia Oyatta, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Does abundance of non-native Apis correlate with abundance within individual native bee nesting guilds?
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Both native bees and imported honeybees (Apis) provide key pollination services essential to ecosystem health, but traditionally, only honeybees have been placed in agricultural settings. As colony collapse disorder continues to lower the survivability of domestic honeybee hives, many food crops may increasingly depend on pollination by native bees. It is therefore essential to understand the effect that native and introduced bees have on one another. Previous studies have not conclusively determined if resource overlap between Apis and native bees leads to competition, and native bee nesting guilds may interact differently with Apis based on each guild’s unique resource requirements. Our study investigates if specific native bee nesting guilds compete with Apis, as indicated by negative correlations of their local abundances. We sampled bees by pan-trapping and sweep-netting biweekly at six locations of varying levels of land-use, including one commercial agricultural setting, in southeastern Massachusetts from April-October 2016 and April-July 2017. We calculated Pearson correlation coefficients between the abundance of Apis and abundances of four locally dominant nesting guilds, as well between abundances of each guild.
Results/Conclusions
Sampled bee abundances used in correlation analyses included a total of 278 Apis individuals and 3811 individuals of the four dominant native guilds. There was no negative correlation between abundances of Apis and any of the guilds, suggesting a lack of significant competition. Furthermore, the only weak correlation between Apis and a native guild’s abundance (ground nesters) was positive. The native guild abundances were all positively correlated with each other, indicating that the studied nesting guilds thrive in similar settings. The lack of correlation between Apis and native bee abundances may be due to the dependence of Apis abundance on human intervention rather than environmental conditions. Continued research including more study sites in a wider variety of habitats would allow for stronger conclusions. Specifically, including more commercial farms could more conclusively address whether Apis and native bees of any guild compete in agricultural settings.
Authors
- Rachel Patten, Massasoit Community College
- Fegens Lyncee, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
Effects of land-use on Bombus abundance in southeastern Massachusetts
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Bees provide critical pollination services. Bumblebees (Bombus spp.) are especially effective pollinators due to their morphological features, generalist foraging preferences, and ability to sonicate. Bombus loss has been linked to declines in local plant diversity, suggesting the presence of this genus may indicate a healthy ecosystem. We analyzed Bombus abundance across six sites to determine if differing land-use practices affected the bumblebee community. We characterized land-use by percent impervious cover using GIS analysis of a 300-meter buffer zone around each site. Two of our sites were on a college campus that employed sustainable land-use practices including no-mow zones, and a small, managed native meadow. We sampled bumblebees via sweep-netting over two seasons in 2016 and 2017.
Results/Conclusions
Our GIS analysis allowed for a clear distinction of rural sites (<8% impervious cover; three sites) and urban sites (>30% impervious cover; three sites, including the two on the college campus). Over the two sampling seasons we collected a total of 257 Bombus individuals. There was no significant effect of sampling year (2016 vs. 2017) on Bombus abundance, so we pooled data from both years. Kruskal-Wallace analysis revealed a significant effect of site on Bombus abundance, suggesting an effect of land-use. Pairwise comparisons showed that one urban site with implemented sustainable land-use practices had significantly higher Bombus abundance (six times higher) than one of the rural sites. This suggests that bumblebees may be well suited for urban environments and may be particularly responsive to sustainable land-use practices such as no-mow zones and native plantings. The urban environment’s higher abundance may also be due to the concentration of floral or habitat resources. Future studies are needed to investigate the exact environmental factors that promote bumblebee communities.
Authors
- Isabelle L. Ruesch, Massasoit Community College
- Rachel Patten, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Andrew Oguma, Massasoit Community College
- Folusho Ajayi, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
- Prisca Sanon, Massasoit Community College
ESA 2015 Abstract
Restoring habitat with native flowering plants benefits wild bees in an urban landscape
Abstract
Background/Question/Methods
Native bees provide critical pollinator services for both crop and wild flowering plants, yet the status of many bee populations is either poorly understood or has declined in the past 30 years. Habitat degradation and urbanization, especially the loss of floral and nesting resources, is hypothesized to negatively impact wild bee populations. In a sea of urbanization, college campuses in cities have the potential to be native habitat islands for wildlife. To improve natural habitat in an urban landscape, Massasoit Community College has converted mowed lawns to native plant sanctuaries. We conducted an experiment to better understand how habitat restoration impacts wild bee populations. The bee community at Massasoit was sampled along a 120m transect that began at the native meadow and extended further than the maximum foraging distance of most small bees. We collected bees using pan traps and measured wild bee abundance, diversity, and richness.
Results/Conclusions
Wild bee abundance, diversity, and richness was differentially impacted by distance from the native meadow. Two of the most abundant bees collected were small carpenter bees from the genus Ceratina and green sweat bees from the genus Agapostemon. The abundance of Ceratina was much higher at or within 40m of the meadow, while the abundance of Agapostemon did not appear to be influenced by distance. Ceratina nests in cavities of stems and dead wood, while Agapostemon nests in loose to compact soil. Our results indicate that abundance might be correlated with nesting preference. Although nesting resources are often overlooked in landscape restoration, our study suggests that planting native flowering forbs increases the availability of nest sites in an urban landscape and may benefit cavity-nesting bees.
Authors
- Trishawna Watkins, Massasoit Community College
- Adam Germaine, Massasoit Community College
- Jennifer Moore, Massasoit Community College
- Michael Bankson, Massasoit Community College
- Donald Schoener, Massasoit Community College
- Sean Kent, Massasoit Community College