Status, Distribution, and Conservation of North Florida's Imperiled Bees
Six species of bees found in North Florida. Bees are collected and pinned for identification purposes.
Florida’s sandhill and scrub ecosystems support a unique diversity of flowering plants and associated pollinating insects, among which, bees represent the greatest contribution to plant reproduction and genetic diversity. Despite their importance as pollinators of native plants in these ecosystems, little work has been undertaken to assess the conservation status of Florida’s native bee species, including several species currently identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s State Wildlife Action Plan. This project aims to (1) inventory native bees associated with Florida’s imperiled sandhill and scrub ecosystems and (2) develop targeted monitoring protocols to collect baseline data related to geographic distribution, phenology, and floral associations for several SGCN bees. The resulting data will be used to assess conservation status and provide habitat management recommendations for SGCN bees in Florida.
This project started in Spring 2023. Stay tuned to learn about our findings!