Published By US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
Issued over 9 years ago
Summary
Description
There is growing evidence that pollinators are declining worldwide. In order to address the growing concern for pollinators, their needs in a changing climate and landscape, and their role in perpetuating functional Refuge habitats, the USFWS Region 1 Branch of Refuge Biology has initiated two regionwide pilot bee monitoring projects. The first project is to identify the primary bee fauna of select refuges within Region 1. The second is to identify the bee fauna associated with shrubsteppe habitat along a northsouth gradient from northern Washington to northern Nevada. Pollinating species include a range of insects, birds, and mammals and are responsible for the pollination and thus continued persistence of over 75 of flowering plants. While bees and butterflies are the most widely recognized pollinators, other insects such as moths, flies and beetles also provide pollination services. Some species function as pollinators in only an incidental role while pursuing plant nectar, while others such as bees are primary pollinators that purposefully gather pollen for provisioning young. There is growing evidence that pollinators are declining worldwide. In the United States, four species of bumble bees are considered vulnerable to extinction, including the western bumble bee Bombus occidentalis which was once considered to be the most abundant bumble bee in the western United States. The Franklins bumble bee Bombus franklinii endemic to northern California and southwestern Oregon is approaching extinction as repeated intensive surveys have not relocated this species since 2006. Within Region 1 excluding Hawaii, the Xerces Societys Red List of atrisk to endangered pollinators includes five species of butterflies and twenty species of bees; in Hawaii, one butterfly and twentyfive bees are listed.