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<h1><b>Group seeks endangered species protection for bumblebee native
to
Oregon and
California</b></h1>
<a href="http://www.startribune.com/nation/97007759.html"
eudora="autourl">
http://www.startribune.com/nation/97007759.html<br>
<br>
</a><b>By JEFF BARNARD ,</b> Associated Press <br>
<br>
Last update: June 23, 2010 - 3:46 PM<br>
<br>
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A conservation group filed a petition Wednesday to
add a bumblebee from Southern Oregon and Northern California to the
endangered species list.<br>
<br>
The Society for Invertebrate Conservation and University of California
at
Davis entomologist Robbin Thorp formally petitioned the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to protect the insect ­ called a Franklin's bumblebee
­
under the Endangered Species Act.<br>
<br>
Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the of the Xerces Society in
Portland, said the petition is part of an effort to reverse the decline
of bumblebees and other native bees around the world due to habitat
loss,
pesticides and diseases spilling out of commercial greenhouses.<br>
<br>
The group is preparing petitions to protect other bumblebee species as
well. The Franklin's bee was chosen for this petition because
documentation of its decline is more detailed than for other species.
Thorp found 94 Franklin's bumblebees in 1994, but he has seen none
since
2006.<br>
<br>
Farmers often hire honeybee keepers to pollinate crops, but hives have
been decimated by a mysterious honeybee killer known as colony collapse
disorder.<br>
<br>
So some farmers are turning to bumblebees to pollinate, especially for
hothouse crops such as tomatoes, peppers and strawberries, and field
crops such as blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, squash and
watermelon. Bumblebees pollinate about 15 percent of all crops grown in
the nation, worth $3 billion.<br>
<br>
"The decline in Franklin's bumblebee should serve as an alarm that
we are starting to lose important pollinators," Black said. "We
hope that Franklin's bumblebee will remind us to prevent pollinators
across the U.S. from sliding toward extinction."<br>
<br>
While many native pollinators have seen declines related to loss of
habitat and pesticides, Franklin's bumblebee and some related species
have suffered deep and sudden declines that Thorp has theorized may be
related to a fungus that was inadvertently transported with bumblebees
brought from Europe for commercial use.<br>
<br>
Researchers at the University of Illinois are working to see if the
fungus known as nosema bombus caused declines in a number of related
bumblebees, including the once-common Western bumblebee, the
rusty-patched bumblebee, and the yellow-banded bumblebee in the
Northeast.<br>
<br>
Earlier this year, the Xerces Society and other conservation groups and
scientists called on federal agricultural authorities to start
regulating
shipments of commercially domesticated bumblebees to protect wild
bumblebees from diseases threatening their survival.<br>
<br>
A 2007 National Academy of Sciences report blamed the decline of
pollinators around the world on a combination of habitat loss,
pesticides, pollution and diseases spilling out of greenhouses using
commercial bumblebees.
<div class="moz-signature"><br>
___________________________________________
<br>
<b>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation</b>
<br>
<br>
The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit
<br>
organization that protects wildlife through the
<br>
conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.
<br>
To join the Society, make a contribution, or read
<br>
about our work, please visit <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.xerces.org">www.xerces.org</a>
<br>
<br>
Sarina Jepsen
<br>
Endangered Species Program Director
<br>
4828 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland, OR 97215
<br>
tel: 503-232-6639 fax: 503-233-6794
<br>
email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sarina@xerces.org">sarina@xerces.org</a>
<br>
___________________________________________</div>
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