2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium
Location
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation (UNI Access Only)
Document Type
poster
Keywords
Bees; CRP; species richness; “bee plants”; stem abundance;
Abstract
The Pollinator Habitat Enhancement Conservation Reserve Program (CP-42) allows for farmers to turn their land, once used for agriculture, into reconstructed prairie for the duration of 10-15 years to provide floral sources and habitat for wild pollinators. Despite being temporary, if CRP-42 plantings can establish a rich and abundant community of floral resources, they will be able to support native pollinator communities that rely on them (Vrdoljak et al., 2016). The forb species richness of a reconstructed prairie habitat is essential for supporting a diverse bee community, particularly specialist bees, because they rely on pollen from specific sources for reproduction (Lane et al., 2022). In this study, we examine the change in floral richness and abundance in 16 CRP-42 sites and the density change of five species of “bee plant”, meaning that they are plants that provide the strongest support for native bee communities, in order to draw conclusions on how these changes might affect the native pollinator community. 16 CRP-42 sites were surveyed three years (2018-2019) and seven years (2022-2023) after planting. At each site, the vegetation plant and stem density was counted and recorded along five 100m transects. The data was compiled and the total stem density and richness of each plant at each site was calculated for each transect as well as each site as a whole. We used the statistical software R to conduct paired t-tests or Wilcoxon paired rank tests to compare the richness, total density, and selected “bee plant” stem density between the two visits. Our study found that while there was an increase in stem abundance both for the individual bee plants as well as the sites as a whole, there was a decrease in the species richness, or the number of different species, across the sites. The homogenization of the native vegetation in the reconstructed prairie will likely cause similar homogenization in native bee communities and greatly impact the oligolectic (specialist) bees that rely upon specific forb species for their resources.
Start Date
28-7-2023 11:00 AM
End Date
28-7-2023 1:30 PM
Event Host
Summer Undergraduate Research Program, University of Northern Iowa
Faculty Advisor
Ai Wen
Department
Department of Biology
Copyright
©2023 Ethan Dickey and Dr. Ai Wen
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Dickey, Ethan and Wen, Ai, "Changes in Floral Resources and the “Bee Plants” within CRP-42 Restorations in Northeast Iowa" (2023). Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Symposium. 29.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/surp/2023/all/29
Changes in Floral Resources and the “Bee Plants” within CRP-42 Restorations in Northeast Iowa
ScholarSpace, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
The Pollinator Habitat Enhancement Conservation Reserve Program (CP-42) allows for farmers to turn their land, once used for agriculture, into reconstructed prairie for the duration of 10-15 years to provide floral sources and habitat for wild pollinators. Despite being temporary, if CRP-42 plantings can establish a rich and abundant community of floral resources, they will be able to support native pollinator communities that rely on them (Vrdoljak et al., 2016). The forb species richness of a reconstructed prairie habitat is essential for supporting a diverse bee community, particularly specialist bees, because they rely on pollen from specific sources for reproduction (Lane et al., 2022). In this study, we examine the change in floral richness and abundance in 16 CRP-42 sites and the density change of five species of “bee plant”, meaning that they are plants that provide the strongest support for native bee communities, in order to draw conclusions on how these changes might affect the native pollinator community. 16 CRP-42 sites were surveyed three years (2018-2019) and seven years (2022-2023) after planting. At each site, the vegetation plant and stem density was counted and recorded along five 100m transects. The data was compiled and the total stem density and richness of each plant at each site was calculated for each transect as well as each site as a whole. We used the statistical software R to conduct paired t-tests or Wilcoxon paired rank tests to compare the richness, total density, and selected “bee plant” stem density between the two visits. Our study found that while there was an increase in stem abundance both for the individual bee plants as well as the sites as a whole, there was a decrease in the species richness, or the number of different species, across the sites. The homogenization of the native vegetation in the reconstructed prairie will likely cause similar homogenization in native bee communities and greatly impact the oligolectic (specialist) bees that rely upon specific forb species for their resources.
