[Pollinator] Fwd: CANPOLIN News Release: Historical Insect Collections Reveal Several Bee ...

[Ladadams at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: collasheila at gmail.com
To: lda at pollinator.org
Sent: 10/18/2012  6:05:58 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: CANPOLIN News Release:  Historical Insect Collections Reveal 
Several Bee Species in Decline



For the pollinator list-serv 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sarah Bates <_sbates at uoguelph.ca_ (mailto:sbates at uoguelph.ca) >
Date:  Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 12:35 PM
Subject: CANPOLIN News Release: Historical  Insect Collections Reveal 
Several Bee Species in Decline
To: _CPI-GENERAL at listserv.uoguelph.ca_ 
(mailto:CPI-GENERAL at listserv.uoguelph.ca) 



 
Secrets of  the Museum:  Historical Insect Collections Reveal Several Bee 
Species in  Decline 
A new study of North American bumble  bees has identified 11 species in 
decline and recommends immediate  conservation efforts for the most endangered 
species. 
(October 18, 2012) – Guelph, ON 
Countless drawers containing hundreds of thousands of bee  specimens lie in 
insect museums and private collections across North America,  some dating 
back to the 1800’s. These historical collections are a treasure  trove of 
information for assessing the conservation status of species,  according to a 
new study published in Biodiversity and Conservation.   

Researchers with the Canadian Pollination Initiative  (NSERC-CANPOLIN) 
mined numerous insect collections in Canada and the United  States looking for 
information on the distribution and abundance of 21 eastern  species of 
bumble bees. Working with their colleagues in the US, the team  found that 11 of 
the Bombus species are in decline, while another eight  species are stable 
or show an increase in abundance.  

“It is really difficult to know if a species is in trouble  unless you have 
good historical data for comparison.  This is the  first time data gathered 
from historical collections has been used to assess  the current status of 
Nearctic bees across their entire native range,” says  Sheila Colla, a 
recent PhD graduate from York University who led the  study.   

The study was based on 44,797 bee specimens collected between  1864 and 
2009.  Researchers used both taxonomic and geographic data found  in collection 
records to measure the persistence and relative abundance of  each species 
across the full range of their distribution. Of the 11 species  found to be 
in decline, four are deemed “vulnerable”, six are considered  “endangered” 
and one is “critically endangered”. 

The bees most at risk tend to share similar characteristics.  The most 
severely endangered species is a cuckoo bee, Bombus  variabilis, which lays its 
eggs in the nests of other bumble bees to be  raised by the host. Three 
other bee species in decline were also cuckoo bees.  Other bee species most at 
risk tend to be long-tongued species with queens  that emerge late in the 
season.  The researchers also noted that species  with smaller historical 
ranges were less likely to persist. 

“There is still a lot of work to be done to fully understand  the threats 
to bee populations, and what makes a particular species vulnerable  to 
decline. But in the meantime, protecting the habitat of high risk  populations 
should be a top priority for conservation efforts,” says Colla.   
Researchers  from the University of Ottawa, Dartmouth College, the 
University of  Connecticut and Yale University were additional co-authors on the 
study.   The project was supported with funds from the Natural Sciences and 
Engineering  Research Council of Canada, a Natural Sciences Foundation DBI 
grant and a  state wildlife grant to the Peabody Museum of Natural History.   
The study is contribution #58 to the Canadian Pollination Initiative  
(NSERC-CANPOLIN). 
Colla, S.R., F. Gadallah, L. Richardson, D. Wagner and L.  Gall. 2012._  
Assessing declines in North American bumble bees (Bombus spp.) using museum  
specimens_ (http://www.springerlink.com/content/mg043gx0n25847tp/) _._ 
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/mg043gx0n25847tp/)  Biodiversity and 
Conservation Biology (published  online: DOI 10.1007/s10531-012-0383-2) 
For more information about this study, contact:  Sheila  Colla 
(_collasheila at gmail.com_ (mailto:collasheila at gmail.com) ) (Project Leader,  Wildlife 
Preservation Canada) 
For more information about  NSERC-CANPOLIN, contact: _canpolin at uoguelph.ca_ 
(mailto:canpolin at uoguelph.ca)   or visit _www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin_ 
(http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin)  


 
 








 
____________________________________
 


Sarah Bates, PhD
Network Manager,  NSERC-CANPOLIN
School of Environmental Sciences - Bovey
University of  Guelph, 50 Stone Rd East, Guelph, ON   N1G 2W1
tel: _(519)824-4120 X58022_ (tel:(519)824-4120%20X58022)     fax:  
_(519)837-0442_ (tel:(519)837-0442) 
_www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin_ (http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin) 












-- 
Sheila R. Colla, Ph.D.  
Project Leader, Wildlife Preservation Canada
IUCN SSC Bumblebee Specialist Group, North America Co-Coordinator
Website: _www.savethebumblebees.com_ (http://www.savethebumblebees.com/) 







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