[Pollinator] Demise of rare isle bees warned

[Scott Black]

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Honolulu, HI


Demise of rare isle bees warned

A group warns of a chain of extinctions if isle bees are not protected


<mailto:citydesk at starbulletin.com>By Associated Press

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 24, 2009

An Oregon-based environmental group petitioned the federal government 
yesterday to list seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees as endangered.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation wants the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service to protect the species because it is in 
"imminent danger" of extinction.

"These bees are in terrible shape, and without action they are going 
to slide into extinction like other Hawaii species," said Scott 
Hoffman Black, executive director of the society, located in Portland.

The society contends the bees are critical pollinators of many 
endangered Hawaii plants, and the bees' decline could lead to the 
plants' extinction. It also asserts protection of the bees could lead 
to recovery of the plants.

The tiny yellow-faced bees, which grow to about a half-inch long, are 
Hawaii's only native bee species. They live on all Hawaiian islands 
and in varying environments, including coastlines, dry and wet 
forests, and shrub lands.

But development has destroyed much of their habitats, particularly 
the plants that the bees pollinate, Black said. Feral pigs also eat 
or root up those plants. And the bees are directly threatened by invasive ants.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is likely to respond to the society's 
petition in about a year, Black said. If it decides to list the 
species, land management decisions in areas where the bees live would 
have to take their presence into account and possibly mitigate 
further destruction of habitat, he added.

For example, a new road may have to be rerouted so the bee's habitat 
could be avoided, or a residential complex may have to preserve open 
land as habitat, Black said.

Another practical impact of an endangered species listing is that 
funding becomes available to address the impact on the bees' habitat, 
Black said.

The petition also could result in the bees' plight gaining more 
attention from the Fish and Wildlife Service as it begins to draft 
management plans for a number of Hawaii species, Black added.

"We need to take a commonsense approach and take into consideration 
the native species that were here first," he said.

The seven species are Hylaeus anthracinus, Hylaeus longiceps, Hylaeus 
assimulans, Hylaeus facilis, Hylaeus hilaris, Hylaeus kuakea and Hylaeus mana.







*************************
Scott Hoffman Black
Ecologist/Entomologist
Executive Director
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
4828 SE Hawthorne
Portland, OR 97215
Direct line (503) 449-3792
sblack at xerces.org

The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization that 
protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.

To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,
please visit <http://www.xerces.org/>www.xerces.org.


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