Toward a U.S. national program for monitoring native bees

Authors: WOODARD, HOLLIS - University Of California; FEDERMAN, SARAH - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); James, Rosalind; DANFORTH, BRIAN - Cornell University; Griswold, Terry; INOUYE, DAVID - University Of Maryland; MCFREDERICK, QUINN - University Of California; MORANDIN, LORA - Pollinator Partnership; PAUL, DEBORAH - Integrated Digitized Biocollections (IDIGBIO); SELLERS, ELIZABETH - Us Geological Survey (USGS); Strange, James; VAUGHAN, MACE - The Xerces Society; WILLIAMS, NEAL - University Of California, Davis; Branstetter, Michael; BURNS, CASEY - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); Cane, James; CARIVEAU, ALISON - Monarch Joint Venture; CARIVEAU, DANIEL - University Of Minnesota; Childers, Anna; Childers, Christopher; Cox-Foster, Diana; EVANS, ELAINE - University Of Minnesota; GRAHAM, KELSEY - Michigan State University; Hackett, Kevin; HUNTZINGER, KIM - Bayer Corporation; IRWIN, REBECCA - North Carolina State University; JHA, SHALENE - University Of Texas; LAWSON, SARAH - Sacred Heart University; LEBUHN, GRETCHEN - San Francisco State University; LOPEZ-URIBE, MARGARITA - Pennsylvania State University; MELATHOPOULOS, ANDONY - Oregon State University; OTTO, CLINT - Us Geological Survey (USGS); PONISIO, LAUREN - University Of California; RICHARDSON, LEIF - University Of Vermont; ROSE, ROBYN - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); SINGH, RAJWINDER - Basf Corporation North America; STEEGER, THOMAS - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); WEHLING, WAYNE - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Submitted to: Biological Conservation
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/14/2020
Publication Date: 11/6/2020
Citation: Woodard, H.S., Federman, S., James, R.R., Danforth, B.N., Griswold, T.L., Inouye, D.W., Mcfrederick, Q.S., Morandin, L.A., Paul, D., Sellers, E., Strange, J.P., Vaughan, M., Williams, N.M., Branstetter, M.G., Burns, C., Cane, J.H., Cariveau, A., Cariveau, D., Childers, A.K., Childers, C., Cox-Foster, D.L., Evans, E., Graham, K., Hackett, K.J., Huntzinger, K., Irwin, R., Jha, S., Lawson, S., Lebuhn, G., Lopez-Uribe, M., Melathopoulos, A., Otto, C., Ponisio, L., Richardson, L., Rose, R., Singh, R., Steeger, T., Wehling, W. 2020. Toward a U.S. national program for monitoring native bees. Biological Conservation. 252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108821.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108821

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: There are approximately 4,000 species of bees native to the United States, yet we have little information on the health, distribution, and population trends of most of these species. Available information is scattered across multiple institutions and efforts to track bee populations are largely un-coordinated on a national scale. To generate data on the status of these important pollinators, a consortium of bee researchers from industry, non-profits, universities and government, was convened in April, 2018 to detail potential routes to implement a national native bee monitoring effort. This effort spawned an overarching framework that would be responsive to national needs, resources and capacities. Additionally, four major action areas and priorities were identified by workshop participants as important for structuring a national native bee monitoring effort: (1) Improving the national capacity in bee taxonomy and systematics; (2) Gathering and cataloging accessible and sustainable data; (3) Identifying survey methods and priority taxa; and (4) Prioritizing geographic areas. This study details the needs and challenges identified by the workshop participants, and envisions the final monitoring effort as multi-layered, from targeted public-private partnerships to complex and detailed bee community ecology studies.