Species Abundance and Richness of Native Bees in EWU’s Prairie Restoration Site Compared to Adjacent Wheat Field and Natural Areas
Faculty Mentor
Justin Bastow
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-8-2024 11:15 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 1:00 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Biology
Abstract
Diverse grasslands historically covered much of eastern Washington to northwestern Idaho and parts of northern Oregon, but land conversion has made this prairie one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States, with less than 0.1% of the historic prairie remaining. The loss of habitat has led to concerns for native insect populations, including the more than 250 species of wild bees found in eastern Washington. Current conservation efforts are focused on restoring native plant communities to former agricultural lands. Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) Prairie Restoration Project is restoring 52 hectares of wheat fields to native vegetation. Bee populations are important for the success of plant reproduction and dispersal, however, our understanding of the effects of restoring native vegetation on bee populations is limited. In our study, we collected bees using bee bowls to create a baseline of species found in restoration sites compared to wheat fields and undisturbed natural areas. We collected 839 bees, from 48 species. The majority were from the family Halictidae (91%), with smaller numbers of Megachilidae (5%), and Apidae (4%). Between June and August, both bee abundance (p
Recommended Citation
Torres, Alejandro, "Species Abundance and Richness of Native Bees in EWU’s Prairie Restoration Site Compared to Adjacent Wheat Field and Natural Areas" (2024). 2024 Symposium. 14.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2024/ps_2024/p2_2024/14
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Species Abundance and Richness of Native Bees in EWU’s Prairie Restoration Site Compared to Adjacent Wheat Field and Natural Areas
PUB NCR
Diverse grasslands historically covered much of eastern Washington to northwestern Idaho and parts of northern Oregon, but land conversion has made this prairie one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States, with less than 0.1% of the historic prairie remaining. The loss of habitat has led to concerns for native insect populations, including the more than 250 species of wild bees found in eastern Washington. Current conservation efforts are focused on restoring native plant communities to former agricultural lands. Eastern Washington University’s (EWU) Prairie Restoration Project is restoring 52 hectares of wheat fields to native vegetation. Bee populations are important for the success of plant reproduction and dispersal, however, our understanding of the effects of restoring native vegetation on bee populations is limited. In our study, we collected bees using bee bowls to create a baseline of species found in restoration sites compared to wheat fields and undisturbed natural areas. We collected 839 bees, from 48 species. The majority were from the family Halictidae (91%), with smaller numbers of Megachilidae (5%), and Apidae (4%). Between June and August, both bee abundance (p
