Endangered bees: two updates
This week we have updates on two previous stories about endangered bees…
Court decides California does not have authority to protect bumble bees
Back in February, on the very first episode of the Bee Report podcast, I had a conversation with Sarina Jepsen, the Endangered Species Program Director for the Xerces Society, about a lawsuit regarding the protection of four bumble bee species in California that are at risk of going extinct.
In June 2019, the Fish and Game Commission designated these four bumble bees as candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act and afforded them protections. Three months later, a lawsuit was filed by lawyers representing several large-scale agricultural groups arguing that the state did not have the legal authority to protect bumble bees or any insects under CESA. They cited language in the Fish and Game Code which states that an “‘endangered species’ means a native species or subspecies of a bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or plant which is in serious danger of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion, of its range”. Insects are not mentioned at all. The Xerces Society and other conservation organizations joined the lawsuit on behalf of the state to support the protection decision.
Unfortunately, according to a blog post by Jepsen, the Superior Court of Sacramento County has recently sided with the agricultural groups and determined that California does not have the legal authority to protect insects under CESA.
“About 80% of the world’s animals are insects,” Jepsen writes. “If this ruling stands, the California Endangered Species Act will effectively exclude a huge proportion of animal diversity from a law that was enacted to broadly protect the state’s wildlife.”
When contacted for further comment, Jepsen said it would be possible for the state of California to appeal the court’s decision. Other options would be for new legislation to clarify the state’s authority to protect insects under CESA or to secure listing for the bumble bees under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Green carpenter bee is still here – but in a precarious situation
As you’ll recall, Australia’s endangered green carpenter bee was thought to be on the brink of extinction in the wake of the massive bushfires that were still burning in January of this year. And in May, the team of researchers monitoring this bee reported that they had found 12 nests in the areas of Kangaroo Island that had remained unburned.
After putting in a total of 350 hours surveying the island during the Australian winter and spring of 2020, the team now reports they’ve found a total of 23 nests in seven locations – predominantly in areas that have remained unburned for over 40 years, with large dead Banksia tree trunks that the bee typically nests in. Interestingly, the team found four nests on the eastern end of the island that were the result of earlier translocation work.
So while the green carpenter bee is still hanging on, it’s in a precarious situation for sure. The potential recovery of the bee is going to require decades. Banksia trees that began growing after the 2007 brushfires and avoided burning in 2019-2020 are now only a finger thick; they won’t be full-sized and dead (a.k.a. ideal nesting habitat) until sometime after 2050. And the current climatic predictions are for increased temperatures and wildfires.
“You might say, well, the prediction is more and more intense fires. And right you are,” said Dr. Katja Hogendoorn, a member of the research team, during a recent webinar with the Wheen Bee Foundation. “But that doesn’t mean that we should be apathetic and do nothing. We can do a lot.”
She and her fellow researchers will continue monitoring the existing populations and nesting sites. They've already placed about 100 artificial nesting stalks in the areas where the bee still exists and will check on them again in January 2021. The team will continue to engage the local community in their efforts to preserve the green carpenter bee, as well as raise awareness about the need to protect old forests.
The Bees of GSENM selected for the Colorado Environmental Film Festival!
I’m thrilled to announce that the Bees of Grand Staircase-Escalante has been selected to show at the 2021 Colorado Environmental Film Festival! It’ll be a virtual festival, running Feb. 12-21. And CEFF will announce the official program and lineup in early January. More details soon!
Conservation
First map of bee species around the globe
(ScienceDaily, Cell Press) There are over 20,000 species of bees, but accurate data about how these species are spread across the globe are sparse. However, researchers have created a map of bee diversity by combining the most complete global checklist of known bee species with the almost 6 million additional public records of where individual species have appeared around the world. The team's findings show that there are more species of bees in the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern and more in arid and temperate environments than in the tropics.
In fire-prone West, plants need their pollinators – and vice versa
(Washington University in St. Louis) A new study grounded in the northern Rockies explores the role of fire in the finely tuned dance between plants and their pollinators. The researchers discovered that wildfire disturbance and plant-pollinator interactions are both important in determining where plants take root and where pollinators are found. But in burned landscapes, plant-pollinator interactions are generally as important or more important than any other factor in determining the composition of species present.
Stressful environments put bumblebees at risk
(Animal Ecology in Focus) The causes underlying the ongoing decline of bumblebees have been much debated, and include habitat loss, pesticides, emerging diseases and climate change. A recent paper evaluates how the combined effects of four common environmental stressors interact to affect bumblebees at the individual and colony levels.
Policy/Law
Lawsuit pits blue butterfly against Nevada ski area
(Las Vegas Review-Journal) In an effort to save a rare Nevada butterfly from extinction, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a federal lawsuit to prevent expansion of a Mount Charleston ski area. The complaint, filed against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleges that plans for expanding the Lee Canyon Ski Area would jeopardize the Mount Charleston blue butterfly’s last remaining habitat.
ESA changes advance as Trump nears exit
(E&E News) The Trump administration has entered the final lap of its drive to revise Endangered Species Act regulations, blowing past tens of thousands of red flags raised by opponents. With the administration's end just around the corner, a key White House office received for its final review the latest packet of proposed ESA rule changes. The proposal to revise the future listing of endangered and threatened species and designation of critical habitat joins several other ESA rule changes submitted in recent weeks to the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Once the regulatory gatekeepers give their green light, the Fish and Wildlife Service can publish the final rule changes before the incoming Biden administration has a chance to pump the brakes.
Science
A new project on nectar concentrating
(Twitter, Zach Portman @zachportman) “First - what is nectar concentrating? If you’ve ever seen a bee ‘blowing bubbles’ and sitting around with a drop of liquid in its mouthparts, it’s most likely concentrating nectar... In this project, we wanted to figure out just how widespread nectar concentrating behavior is in bees... For part 2 of the project, we’ve decided to move to iNaturalist, and have created a project that you can join and add observation to if you’re interested.” The iNaturalist project.
Bumble bees’ self-image gets them through tight spots
(Scientific American) A new study has found that bumble bees measure gaps they need to pass through by flying side-to-side to scan it. When the gap became narrower than their wingspan, the bees took a longer time to scan the opening. And then they did something remarkable: they turned their bodies to fly through sideways. Some of the bees’ bodies did bump the sides of the narrowed opening – but every one of the 400 recorded flights through the gap was a success.
The role of stamens and petals in attracting bees
(Twitter, Vini Brito @viniduartina) “Petals are important to attract buzzing bees and the tactile stimulus of the stamens triggers their buzzing behaviour. Check out the attractive role of floral elements in two Melastomes with pollen flowers!” The original paper.
Grant enables first nationwide effort to save native bees
(University of California, Riverside) In a new paper, Hollis Woodard and colleagues lay out the need for an alliance of researchers, environmental organizations and federal entities to monitor native bees throughout the U.S. Supported by a $380,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, anyone with the time and inclination can join this first-of-its-kind monitoring network.
Pesticide deadly to bees now easily detected in honey
(ScienceDaily, University of Waterloo) Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly, fully automated technique that extracts pyrethroids from the honey. Extracting the pyrethroids with the solid phase microextraction method makes it easier to measure whether their levels in the honey are above those considered safe for human consumption. It can also help identify locations where farmers use the pesticide and in what amounts. The substance has traditionally been difficult to extract because of its chemical properties.
Neonicotinoid reduces honey bee immune response and contributes to Varroa mite proliferation
(Twitter, McArt Lab @McArtLab) “Nice article on how exposure to only 10 ppb clothianidin during honey bee development increases varroa levels by 23%. Lab results and simple population model match field results near seed-treated corn fields” The original paper.
Society/Culture
How racism adversely affects wildlife, too
(High Country News) A new paper highlights how racism and classism impact biodiversity, and why it’s so important to factor social justice issues into ecological research. The authors boil down the many human impacts on the environment — disparities in vegetation and tree density, pollutant exposure, urban heat islands, access to healthy waterways, and proportions of native to non-native plants — and connect them to racist policies like redlining, displacement, gentrification and Jim Crow laws. When people in power wield influence over the landscape in ways that devalue people’s lives, animals and plants suffer, too — often in ways that further worsen human health.
One More Thing…
If you haven’t seen it already… Check out the footage of animals, big and small, using Utah’s first wildlife overpass to cross Interstate 80. From KUTV2news @KUTV2News via Twitter.