Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA
ABSTRACT National Park Service units in the United States play a large role in providing habitat for native pollinators. In parks that are established to preserve cultural landscapes, park managers recognize an opportunity to improve pollinator habitat while maintaining historically accurate conditi...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70719 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850059596422447104 |
|---|---|
| author | Diane L. Larson Michael Simanonok Andrew Landsman Jennifer L. Larson Cora Davies Clint R. V. Otto |
| author_facet | Diane L. Larson Michael Simanonok Andrew Landsman Jennifer L. Larson Cora Davies Clint R. V. Otto |
| author_sort | Diane L. Larson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT National Park Service units in the United States play a large role in providing habitat for native pollinators. In parks that are established to preserve cultural landscapes, park managers recognize an opportunity to improve pollinator habitat while maintaining historically accurate conditions. In this study, we document floral resources and native bees within managed park grasslands, with the goal of providing information to managers to help them maximize pollinator habitat while meeting other management objectives. The study was performed on 37 grassland properties in the mid‐Atlantic region of the eastern United States, distributed across four parks; each property was managed with one of three management types: cool‐season hayed, cool‐season pasture, or warm‐season meadows managed with multiple approaches. We surveyed bees and open flowers on 50‐m transects twice each year in 2021 and 2022. Repeated‐measures ANOVA models revealed that mean bee abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity did not vary among sites or management types. This finding was further supported by a principal coordinates analysis that showed that bee community composition was similar across management types. Nonetheless, we found evidence to indicate that the three management types did not produce equivalent habitat for bees. Species accumulation curves showed that the effective number of flower species was consistently lower in cool‐season pastures, relative to the other two management types. Furthermore, we detected positive correlations between bee and flower diversity metrics in one of the 2 years, indicating that floral metrics are associated with bee communities, at least under certain conditions. Collectively, our study suggests that cool‐season fields that are hayed and warm‐season meadows have higher floral diversity than cool‐season pastures within national park units of the mid‐Atlantic region, and this higher diversity of forbs has the potential to benefit native bee diversity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-62ec6debbbda4e6f8ce394146bb9d16f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-62ec6debbbda4e6f8ce394146bb9d16f2025-08-20T02:50:51ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-12-011412n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70719Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USADiane L. Larson0Michael Simanonok1Andrew Landsman2Jennifer L. Larson3Cora Davies4Clint R. V. Otto5U.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown North Dakota USAU.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown North Dakota USANational Park Service Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park – CHOH Williamsport Maryland USAU.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown North Dakota USAU.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown North Dakota USAU.S. Geological Survey Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Jamestown North Dakota USAABSTRACT National Park Service units in the United States play a large role in providing habitat for native pollinators. In parks that are established to preserve cultural landscapes, park managers recognize an opportunity to improve pollinator habitat while maintaining historically accurate conditions. In this study, we document floral resources and native bees within managed park grasslands, with the goal of providing information to managers to help them maximize pollinator habitat while meeting other management objectives. The study was performed on 37 grassland properties in the mid‐Atlantic region of the eastern United States, distributed across four parks; each property was managed with one of three management types: cool‐season hayed, cool‐season pasture, or warm‐season meadows managed with multiple approaches. We surveyed bees and open flowers on 50‐m transects twice each year in 2021 and 2022. Repeated‐measures ANOVA models revealed that mean bee abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity did not vary among sites or management types. This finding was further supported by a principal coordinates analysis that showed that bee community composition was similar across management types. Nonetheless, we found evidence to indicate that the three management types did not produce equivalent habitat for bees. Species accumulation curves showed that the effective number of flower species was consistently lower in cool‐season pastures, relative to the other two management types. Furthermore, we detected positive correlations between bee and flower diversity metrics in one of the 2 years, indicating that floral metrics are associated with bee communities, at least under certain conditions. Collectively, our study suggests that cool‐season fields that are hayed and warm‐season meadows have higher floral diversity than cool‐season pastures within national park units of the mid‐Atlantic region, and this higher diversity of forbs has the potential to benefit native bee diversity.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70719floral diversityforbgrassland managementhabitatnative beespollinators |
| spellingShingle | Diane L. Larson Michael Simanonok Andrew Landsman Jennifer L. Larson Cora Davies Clint R. V. Otto Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA Ecology and Evolution floral diversity forb grassland management habitat native bees pollinators |
| title | Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA |
| title_full | Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA |
| title_fullStr | Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA |
| title_short | Bee Habitat, but Not Bee Community Structure, Varies Across Grassland Management in Four National Parks in the Mid‐Atlantic, USA |
| title_sort | bee habitat but not bee community structure varies across grassland management in four national parks in the mid atlantic usa |
| topic | floral diversity forb grassland management habitat native bees pollinators |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70719 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dianellarson beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa AT michaelsimanonok beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa AT andrewlandsman beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa AT jenniferllarson beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa AT coradavies beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa AT clintrvotto beehabitatbutnotbeecommunitystructurevariesacrossgrasslandmanagementinfournationalparksinthemidatlanticusa |