Land-use and climate drive shifts in Bombus assemblage composition
Citation
Ikerd M, Ikerd H, Christman M (2023). Land-use and climate drive shifts in Bombus assemblage composition. USDA-ARS Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/g3endd accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-08-23.Description
Pollinators play pivotal roles in maintaining agricultural and natural plant communities, yet some bee populations are declining. The conversion of agricultural and semi-natural lands for urban use has reduced bee abundance and diversity. Additionally, climate change has affected bee distributions and led to disruption of plant-pollinator synchrony, impacting ecosystem processes. However, how these factors concurrently influence bee assemblages is poorly understood. Therefore, we linked differences in bumble bee (Bombus) diversity to landscape composition and climate in agroecosystems to understand their co-occurring effects. Bombus assemblages were evaluated in relation to the proportion of agricultural, semi-natural, and urban landscapes and interannual variation in temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity in Utah agroecosystems from 2014 to 2018. Bombus species richness and diversity were highest in agriculturally dominated landscapes characterized by low temperatures and high relative humidity during the growing season, and lowest in urbanized agricultural areas with high temperatures and low relative humidity. Ongoing and future land-use and climate change may therefore lead to reduced Bombus diversity in Utah. Although some historically uncommon species, such as B. pensylvanicus, may thrive under future land-use and climate scenarios, others (e.g., B. sylvicola, B. californicus, and B. occidentalis) are at increased risk of extirpation due to loss of suitable habitat. Continually monitoring Bombus populations will help document shifts in assemblages and potential consequential impacts to ecosystem services. These findings emphasize that management strategies should consider the effect of co-occurring factors based on geographic location and local diversity to prevent ecological homogenization and to foster future resiliency of Bombus populations.Sampling Description
Study Extent
naSampling
Pest monitoring traps were placed along the margin of corn and alfalfa fields across a gradient of agriculturally intensified land in lower elevation areas (874 –1418 m) throughout five counties in northern and central Utah from 2014 to 2019 (Fig. 1) as part of early-detection surveys for invasive lepidopterans following Spears et al. (2016) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey approved methods (CAPS, 2019). Six agricultural sites were surveyed within each county ((3 corn + 3 alfalfa fields) 5 counties, n = 30). Three multi-colored (green canopy, yellow funnel, and white bucket) bucket traps (International Pheromone Systems, Cheshire, UK) were spaced 20 m apart and hung 1.5 m above the ground along the field margin of each agricultural site (N = 540; 3 traps 30 sites 6 years). The three traps corresponded to the following target pests: cotton cutworm (CC, Spodoptera litura F.), Egyptian cotton leafworm (ECL, Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval), and Old World bollworm (OWB, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner). A single pheromone lure was placed inside the lure basket of the trap canopy. An insecticide strip (Hercon Vaportape II: 10% dimethyl 2,2-dichlorovinyl phosphate, Hercon Environmental Corporation, Emigsville, PA) and a small cellulose sponge were placed inside each bucket to kill the captured insects and absorb rainwater, respectively. Insecticide strips and pheromone lures for OWB were replaced every 28 days, while the pheromone lures for CC and ECL were changed every 84 days, following USDA APHIS CAPS survey protocols.Method steps
- Trap contents were collected every other week from late April to mid-September from 2014 to 2019. Since lure comparisons were not the intent of this study (but see Spears et al., 2016), trap data were combined by agricultural site and collection period. At the lab, trap contents were screened for target pests, and Bombus collected as bycatch were separated from all other specimens and then stored in a freezer at -18˚C until they could be pin-mounted, labeled, and identified to species using taxonomic keys (Koch et al., 2012; Williams et al., 2014).
Taxonomic Coverages
Utah Bombus
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Bombusrank: genus
Geographic Coverages
Utah Landscape and Bombus assemblage
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Morgan Ikerdoriginator
USDA-ARS
5310 Old Main Hill
Logan
84322
Utah
US
Telephone: 4352275711
email: Harold.ikerd@usda.gov
Harold Ikerd
metadata author
USDA-ARS
5310 Old Main Hill
Logan
84322
Utah
US
Telephone: 4352275711
email: Harold.ikerd@usda.gov
homepage: https://www.ars.usda.gov/people-locations/person?person-id=39335
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-6484
Morgan Christman
metadata author
Ohio State
2501 Carmack Road
Columbus
43210
Ohio
US
email: christman.181@osu.edu
Morgan Christman
author
Ohio State
2501 Carmack Road
Columbus
43210
Ohio
US
email: christman.181@osu.edu
Harold Ikerd
curator
USDA-ARS
5310 Old Main Hill
Logan
84322
Utah
US
Telephone: 4352275711
email: Harold.ikerd@usda.gov
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-6484
Morgan Christman
administrative point of contact
Ohio State
2501 Carmack Road
Columbus
43210
Ohio
US
email: christman.181@osu.edu
Harold Ikerd
administrative point of contact
USDA-ARS
5310 Old Main Hill
Logan
84322
Utah
US
Telephone: 4352275711
email: Harold.ikerd@usda.gov
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5043-6484