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A Lot of Buzz
UW researchers work to get Western bumblebee population protected under the Endangered Species Act.
If you step outside in Laramie, you’ll notice the abundance of native plants around town, in open areas and even the University of Wyoming campus. Bumblebees, with their plump, fuzzy bodies, are usually never too far away from these plants, doing their hard work to pollinate the plants.
Unfortunately, bumblebee populations are on the decline, and it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why; however, populations are declining so much that they could be considered a threatened or endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
According to Christy Bell, a Ph.D. student in the zoology and physiology department, only a third of the Western bumblebee population from 1910-2010 exists in Wyoming now.
Bell has been tracking the Western bumblebee populations for over three years and has since continued her research including two more species of bumblebees—the American bumblebee and the Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebee.
“My master’s work was mostly focused on the Western bumblebee, but just in the last year, more species were petitioned under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, so we are doubling down on those as well,” Bell said.
Working with Bell is Lusha Tronstad, an adjunct assistant professor in the zoology and physiology department as well as an invertebrate zoologist at the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (WYNDD). Bell has been helping Tronstad collect data on bumblebees through her master’s thesis and dissertation.
“Thank goodness I have Christy to help me do research on bumblebees and bees in general, because we collect information on all bees in the state, with an emphasis in bumblebees because we really don’t know much about pollinators here,” Tronstad said. “Thanks to Christy, we’ve learned a ton. I call her the bee queen.”
Tronstad and Bell both work at the WYNDD, a department on campus dedicated to collecting information about species of management and conservation concern in Wyoming, Tronstad said. Typically, the species WYNDD is researching are being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act or already protected under the act.
“We work with agencies such as the Bureau Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others because these are the people who manage the land and the wildlife,” Tronstad said. “At WYNDD, we’re collecting the data so that agencies can use it to make land and wildlife decisions.”
The data Bell is collecting as a part of her research will ultimately inform the Fish and Wildlife Service whether these species of bees should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Placing a species under the Endangered Species Act is more complicated than simply declaring it as threatened or endangered. In fact, it’s quite a strenuous and drawn-out process.
“First off, a species is petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act, meaning an environmental group will write a report about that species including criteria that threatens the species, how abundant they were historically and how the population is doing now,” Tronstad said.
After a report is written, it is submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which determines whether an investigation is warranted to see if the species requires protection.
“If they decide that this species may have merit, they then initiate a giant review where they will read everything they can get their hands on about the species, which could take years,” Tronstad said.
Bell and Tronstad collect unbiased data that will be used by the agency in its decision on whether or not to protect the Western bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act. The other two bumblebee species Bell is examining have only just
been petitioned for listing, making the road ahead a long one.
If the Fish and Wildlife Service decides to protect the Western bumblebee, the species will be placed under the Endangered Species Act, which will provide much-needed funding for its conservation.
“One of the things I like most about the bee research is that nobody else has done it,” Bell said. “Animals like deer and wolves are very, very well studied but nobody has even looked at bees in Wyoming. It’s unknown territory we’re entering right now, and that’s exciting.”
While much of Bell’s research focuses on providing data to the Fish and Wildlife Service, she also is researching which methods of capturing bumblebees are most effective.
Bell works with two types of traps for bees when out doing fieldwork—vane traps and bee bowls.
The vane trap is a brightly colored vessel that closely resembles a flower. Bees fly into the vane of the trap and are trapped inside by a funnel. Bee bowls, on the other hand, are brightly colored bowls filled with water and soap. The soap breaks the surface tension of the water, keeping the bees from flying or crawling out.
Bell and Tronstad both want people to know that bumblebees play an important role in our lives, especially here in Laramie and Wyoming.
“Bees are the only insects or animals that actively collect pollen,” Tronstad said. “Whereas all the other types of pollinators like butterflies, flies, beetles and hummingbirds just accidentally get pollen on themselves while they feed on nectar.”
Bees are to thank for a lot of what you see in the produce section of a grocery store. Without them, it would be difficult if not impossible to supply people with the fruits and vegetables they eat, Tronstad and Bell said.
Bell and Tronstad are busy bees working to collect data on the Western, the American and the Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebee to inform the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, there are ways for non-bee experts to get involved too.
Christy Bell, a Ph.D. student in the zoology and physiology department (left), and Lusha Tronstad, an adjunct assistant professor in the zoology and physiology department as well as an invertebrate zoologist at the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, work to collect bumblebee data.
PHOTOS BY AIMAN ZEHRA
