Progress 03/15/17 to 03/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Information about this project has been presented to growers, research colleagues, and the general public. This has been done through presentations at conferences and grower meetings. Information will also be disseminated to research colleagues through peer-reviewed publications, and to the general public. Finally, we are using blogs and social media to reach a broad audience interested in bee health. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided support for Kelsey Graham (postdoc andproject manager, now a Research Entomologist at USDA-ARS), NateHaan (postdoc), and Eli Bloom (postdoc) and Andrew Myers (graduate student) to present at the following conferences. *Bolded names are co-PIs of this project or students/postdocs directly supported by this grant. Myers A, Bahlai C, and Landis D (January 11-12, 2019). Variable monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.) oviposition and survival in agroecosystems. Poster at The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems, East Lansing, MI. Haan NL, Myers AT, Hermann SL, and Landis DA (August 15, 2019). Monarch butterfly conservation: the importance of predation and ecological disturbance. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY. Haan NL, and Landis DA (October 25, 2019). Monarch butterfly conservation. Natural and Applied Sciences Seminar, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI. Haan NL, Myers A, Hermann S, and Landis DA (November 19, 2019). Predation, disturbance, and monarch butterfly conservation. Invited speaker P-IE Section Symposium: Using Integrated Observational, Mechanistic, and Experimental Research Approaches to Drive Conservation Decisions: Lessons from Butterfly Species in Peril. ESA National Meeting, St. Louis, MO. Bloom EH, Wood TJ, Hung K-LJ, Ternest JJ, Ingwell LL, Goodell K, Kaplan I, Szendrei Z (2019). "Do pesticides disrupt pollination by wild and managed bees" Entomology Society of America, St. Louis, MO. Graham KK, Gibbs J, and Isaacs R (March 2019). Monitoring changes in native bee communities in Michigan, with a focus on agricultural landscapes. Invited symposium: Pollinators and Biological Control: Overlap and Reciprocal Insights. North Central Branch Meeting, Entomological Society of America, Cincinnati, OH. Graham KK, Gibbs J, and Isaacs R (November 2018). Monitoring changes in native bee communities in Michigan, with a focus on agricultural landscapes. Oral presentation at the ESA, ESC, and ESBC Join Annual Meeting (Entomology 2018), Vancouver, BC. Graham KK (January 2019). Assessing the health of Michigan pollinators. Oral presentation at the Annual Stewardship Network Conference, East Lansing, MI. Bloom EH, Graham KK, Haan NL, Heck AR, Gut LJ, Landis DA, Milbrath MO, Quinlan GM, Wilson JK, Zhang Y, Szendrei Z, and Isaacs R (November 2020) Responding to the US national pollinator plan: a case study in Michigan. Oral presentation at the ESA (Online) How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Cucumber growers - TJ Wood (postdoc) attended the Great Lakes Expo 2018 to talk about the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber production (providing 99% of the pollination service). TJ Wood also met with the pickling cucumber industry body (Pickling Cucumber Improvement Committee) to provide an update on the pesticide exposure results and how this relates to current management practice in cucumber. EH Bloom (postdoc) followed up on the work of TJ Wood by attending the Great Lakes Expo in 2020 to update farmers on the role of on and off-farm pesticide exposure in the patterns of managed and wild bee pollinators within their farming systems. Produced a video highlighting the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber pollination, and best management practices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rknuvhl9Sbg Blueberry growers - R Isaacs (PD) presented project results to blueberry growers at the annual Michigan Blueberry Commission meetings in 2018 and 2019. KK Graham (postdoc, project manager) presented results relevant to blueberry growers at the Great Lakes Expo in 2018 and 2019. R Isaacs and KK Graham also met with collaborating growers individually to discuss research findings in 2018 and 2019. Tree fruit growers - J Wilson (co-PD) incorporated project results into presentations given at the MSU Pollinator Health meeting, at the MSU Tree Fruit Management School, and at two grower meetings in New Jersey. Land managers (prairie restoration sites, corn, and natural habitat) - KK Graham has provided final project reports to collaborating land managers. Reports present general trends in wild bee abundance and species richness at study sites, as well as specific community changes at individual sites (each report tailored to each land manager). N Haan and D Landis have published three Extension articles about ongoing research on monarchs and how to support monarch populations with milkweeds. Beekeepers - A blog, msubeeblog.wordpress.com, Facebook page and an Instagram account (@misentinelapiary) are being maintained about the sentinel apiaries to reach a broad audience about beekeeping best management practices. Best management practice information is posted on a static site: www.polliantors.msu.edu/resources/beekeeping, and on our YouTube channel: Michigan State University Beekeeping, which has over 2500 subscribers. MSU is also in close contact with the state beekeeping organizations and has been presenting updates at the annual Michigan Beekeepers' Association Fall and Spring Conferences. Community engagement - Another blog, www.greatlakesgreatbees.com, is being maintained to update the community about current research related to all bees. Additionally, KK Graham has given five talks to the community on pollinator health and current research, as well as held 12 outreach events targeting grade-school students related to bee health. Outreach and Extension presentations Graham, K.K. (June 2020) Wild Bees of Michigan. Michigan State University Extension. Graham, K.K. (May 2020) Wild Bees. Michigan State University, Cabin Fever Conversations. Wilson, J.K. (March 2020) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during orchard bloom. South Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Grower Meeting, Rutgers NJ Ag Experiment Station, Bridgeton, NJ Wilson, J.K. (March 2020) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during orchard bloom. North Jersey Fruit Growers Meeting, Rutgers NJ Ag Experiment Station, Flemington, NJ Wilson, J.K. (March 2019) Preventing Disease While Minimizing Harm to Pollinators During Orchard Bloom. Regional Pollinator Health Meeting, Traverse City, MI Wilson, J.K., J. Albert, and M. Milbrath (February 2019) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during bloom. MSU Tree Fruit Management School, Traverse City, MI Landis DA, Haan N, Myers A, and Hermann S (June 3, 2019). Managing Habitats to Enhance Monarch Butterfly Populations. Michigan Association of Conservation Districts Summer Conference, Bay City, MI. Landis DA (June 5, 2019). Insects and Global Change: Can We Maintain Diversity and Ecosystem Services? Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), East Lansing, MI. Landis DA, Haan N, Myers A, and Hermann S (August 6-7, 2019). Managing Habitats to Enhance Monarch Oviposition & Survival. Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy, State Agency Technical Staff and Partners Workshop. Invited research update at Powder Valley Nature Center, Kirkwood, MO. Haan NL, and Landis DA (November 27, 2019). Monarch butterflies and vegetation management. Pesticide Applicators Clinic, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. Haan NL (2019). Monarch butterfly ecology and conservation. Invited speaker at Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), Fenner Nature Center, Lansing, MI. Haan NL (2019). Monarch butterfly ecology and conservation. Invited speaker at Natural Areas Stewardship, Oakland Township, MI. Bloom EH, Wood TJ, Hung K-LJ, Ternest JJ, Ingwell LL, Goodell K, Kaplan I, and Szendrei Z (2020). "Synergisms between local and landscape-level pesticides reduce wild bee-plant interactions in agroecosystems" Great Lakes Expo, Grand Rapids, MI. Graham KK (2019). Overview of research on pollinator health in Michigan. Invited speaker at Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), Fenner Nature Center, Lansing, MI. Graham KK, Milbrath M, and Isaacs R (2019). Conserving wild bees on blueberry farms. Invited speaker at Great Lakes Expo, Grand Rapids, MI; premiere show for fruit and vegetable growers, greenhouse growers and farm marketers. Graham KK, Albert J, and Milbrath M (2019). Improving the health of pollinators: a focus on bloom-time risk mitigation. Grower Educational Meeting, Oceana, Mason-Lake & Manistee Conservation Districts, Scottville, MI; Meeting was approved for Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) Phase 1 credit. Research community Project members have also presented research to the research community in the following ways: Invited talks Landis DA (February 20, 2019). Designing Agricultural Landscapes for Multiple Ecosystem Services. Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Landis DA, Haan N, Hermann S, and Myers A (November 17, 2019). Conserving Insects in Agricultural Landscapes: Managing disturbance regimes to support natural enemies, pollinators, and monarch butterfly. Invited speaker in Symposium on Defying the Decline. ESA National Meeting, St. Louis, MO. Conference presentations Landis D, and Haan N (January 11-12, 2019). Altering disturbance regimes for monarch butterfly conservation. Poster at The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems, East Lansing, MI. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. Document historical patterns of pollinators in natural and agricultural landscapes using longitudinal studies. In 2017 and 2018, we resampled the wild bee community during blueberry bloom at 15 sites that were previously sampled in 2004-2006 and 2013/2014. We used raised bowl traps and identified all bees to species. We found a significant decline in wild bee abundance and species richness in 2013/2014, followed by a slight recovery in abundance and species richness in 2017/2018. We also found significant shifts in the bee community between these three sampling periods and found that certain groups of bees showed disproportionate declines, such as Andrena (mining bees). In 2017 and 2018 we resampled corn and prairie sites that were sampled in 2008 and 2009. We used raised bowl traps and identified all bees to species. We found no change in wild bee abundance or species richness at corn sites but found a significant decline in wild bee abundance and richness at prairie sites. Again, we found that certain bee groups showed a disproportionate decline compared to other groups. A manuscript from this work is currently in preparation. ?Additionally, given the interest in bumble bee species, we did casual, targeted sampling for bumble bees in every county of Michigan in 2017 and 2018. We then compared current county occupancy of the 12 most historically common non-parasitic bumble bee species for the state. We found that half of these species are stable in distribution, while the other half show a range contraction of over 50%. We also looked at the diet breadth of these species, and found a significant relationship between dietary breadth and range change. This data has been published in Ecology (Wood et al. 2019a). Objective 2. Optimize pollinator habitat to improve health of honey bees, wild bees, and monarch butterflies in agricultural systems.To better understand where honey bees are foraging while in cucumber fields, and the benefits of herbaceous plantings (white dutch clover), we identified the plant source of honey bee collected pollen. During 2018, 36 honey bee hives at 12 sites were trapped for pollen from the start of July to the end of August. This generated 145 pollen samples, which when combined with the sampling effort from 2017 totaled 357 pollen samples from 114 unique colonies. During the late-June to early September period, honey bees adjacent to cucumber fields extensively collected pollen from crop plants such as maize (Zea mays) and non-native weeds such as chicory (Cichorium intybus) and white dutch clover (Trifolium repens). Nine hives were placed in cucumber fields adjacent to clover plantings, but these hives did not collect a greater proportion of their pollen diet from clover, and there was no impact on colony growth or mortality rates. Honey bees flew long distances to collect pollen, with some samples containing 50-60% maize pollen, despite being taken from hives without any maize fields within 1500 m in any direction. The use of non-native plants by honey bees, particularly in the mid-July to mid-August period, is in line with the trend seen in native social bee species like bumble bees (Bombus). Overall, non-native plants are an important forage source for honey bees in agricultural habitats during the summer. These results have been published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Wood et al. 2018). In 2018, we used stem nesting bee nest boxes to look at rates of nest occupancy between blueberry and cherry farms with and without plantings. We also conducted habitat transects to see what was in bloom adjacent to the nest boxes, and looked at what pollens were provisioned by opening completed nests, and using morphological pollen identification to see what was provisioned. Significantly more nests were completed at sites with wildflower plantings, with only one of the 236 completed nests found at a site without a planting.Pollen provisioned in the nests were primarily flowering species found in the wildflower plantings, but the majority were not species that were seeded in the plantings, but instead weeds that are common to the plantings (e.g. Centaurea maculosa). This work has been published in Agricultural and Forest Entomology (Graham et al., 2020). We evaluated monarch oviposition preference for four milkweed species, and common milkweed received 74% of the season-long egg deposition and more eggs were found on re-growing common milkweed stems after they were mowed in mid-June or mid-July. When common milkweed was grown in differing habitat contexts, i.e. surrounded by corn, other milkweed species (see above), or native flowering plants, we found no difference in monarch egg deposition among habitats. However, more total larva were found in the mixed milkweed plots likely due to the much higher density of potential host stems, and later larval stages were increasingly found on the alternative (swamp>whorled>tuberosa) milkweeds. We also found that half the insects found on milkweed will eat monarch eggs. There are five papers published related to this work (Haan and Landis 2019a, 2019b, 2020, Myers et al. 2019, Hermann et al. 2019). Objective 3. Inform future investment in habitat for pollinators through landscape modeling. Medium- and long-term landscape changes are being analyzed to identify potential drivers of wild bee community change, especially in regards to Midwestern bumble bee populations. So far, we have collected historical land cover data corresponding to the 9388 historical Bombus records of 12 species captured between 1960 and 2018. The spatial distribution of specimen records then needed to be corrected due to unstructured sampling. We are now in the process of analyzing the influence of landscape change on bumble bee population dynamics. Objective 4. Implement and monitor Best Management Practices (BMPs) for pollinator health. In 2019, MSU managed sentinel apiaries in 5 Michigan locations: Benton Harbor, Hickory Corners, Lake City, Lansing, and Novi. Throughout the beekeeping season, May through October, MSU inspected honey bee colonies, recorded quality metrics (including approximate colony size, hive configuration, queen status, and visible signs of disease), and collected samples of bees to be analyzed at the University of Maryland by the Bee Informed Partnership. The Bee Informed Partnership compiled data sheets and evaluated samples of bees for varroa mites (a parasitic mite) and nosema spores (a gut microsporidia). In 2020, we managed fewer colonies due to pandemic related university restrictions. We still maintained sentinel apiaries at Benton Harbor and Lansing, and continued to collect data and monitor hive health. MSU shared colony health data and information with beekeepers through 10 blog posts (msubeeblog.wordpress.com) each year, multiple posts to Facebook (facebook.com/MichiganPollinatorInitiative), monthly submissions to the Michigan Small Farm Newsletter, and quarterly submissions to Michigan Beekeepers' Association newsletter, which has a mailing list of over 5000 beekeepers. The colonies in the sentinel apiaries were also used for in-hive demonstration and instruction. Michigan State University worked with beekeepers from Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Association in Novi, Center of Michigan Beekeepers in Lansing, and Cass Berrien Bee Club in Benton Harbor.The in-hive demonstrations provided information about seasonal management, disease recognition, and data collection. Additionally, a visiting group from the EPA received a presentation on honey bees from one of the sentinel apiaries.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Haan NL, and Landis DA. 2020. Grassland disturbance effects on first-instar monarch butterfly survival, floral resources, and flower-visiting insects. Biological Conservation 243:108492.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Myers AT, Haan NL, and Landis DA. (2020) Video surveillance reveals a diverse and largely nocturnal community of Danaus plexippus (L.) egg predators. Journal of Insect Conservation 24, 731-737.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Graham KK, Albert J, Peake A, Killewald M, Zavalnitskaya J, Wilson J, Isaacs R. (2020) Wildflower plantings on fruit farms provide pollen resources and increase nesting by stem-nesting bees. Agricultural and Forest Entomology.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Bloom EH, Graham KK, Haan NL, Heck AR, Gut LJ, Landis DA, Milbrath MO, Quinlan GM, Wilson JK, Zhang Y, Szendrei Z, and Isaacs R. 2021. Responding to the US national pollinator plan: a case study in Michigan. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Accepted.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Bloom EH, Wood TJ, Hung K-LJ, Ternest JJ, Ingwell LL, Goodell K, Kaplan I, Szendrei Z. Synergism between local? and landscape?level pesticides reduces wild bee floral visitation in pollinator?dependent crops. Journal of Applied Entomology.
|
Progress 03/15/19 to 03/14/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Information about this project has been presented to growers, research colleagues, and the general public. This has been done through presentations at conferences and grower meetings. Information will also be disseminated to research colleagues through peer-reviewed publications, and to the general public. Finally, we are using blogs and social media to reach a broad audience interested in bee health. Changes/Problems:High rates of bumble bee colony mortality in blueberry and cherry fields prevented us from doing health assessments in 2017. However, given concerns about pesticides, this project inspired proposals to explore the impact of pesticides on managed bees and wild bees both during and after bloom. Digitizing bees in Michigan collections has taken longer than expected, delaying our ability to analyze changes over time. This work is ongoing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided support for KK Graham (postdoc, project manager), NL Haan (postdoc), E Bloom (postdoc) and A Myers (graduate student) to present at the following conferences: [bolded names are co-PIs of this project or students/postdocs directly supported by this grant] Myers A, Bahlai C, and Landis D (January 11-12, 2019). Variable monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L.) oviposition and survival in agroecosystems. Poster at The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems, East Lansing, MI. Haan NL, Myers AT, Hermann SL, and Landis DA (August 15, 2019). Monarch butterfly conservation: the importance of predation and ecological disturbance. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY. Haan NL, and Landis DA (October 25, 2019). Monarch butterfly conservation. Natural and Applied Sciences Seminar, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI. Haan NL, Myers A, Hermann S, and Landis DA (November 19, 2019). Predation, disturbance, and monarch butterfly conservation. Invited speaker P-IE Section Symposium: Using Integrated Observational, Mechanistic, and Experimental Research Approaches to Drive Conservation Decisions: Lessons from Butterfly Species in Peril. ESA National Meeting, St. Louis, MO. Bloom EH, Wood TJ, Hung K-LJ, Ternest JJ, Ingwell LL, Goodell K, Kaplan I, Szendrei Z (2019). "Do pesticides disrupt pollination by wild and managed bees" Entomology Society of America, St. Louis, MO. Graham KK, Gibbs J, and Isaacs R (March 2019). Monitoring changes in native bee communities in Michigan, with a focus on agricultural landscapes. Invited symposium: Pollinators and Biological Control: Overlap and Reciprocal Insights. North Central Branch Meeting, Entomological Society of America, Cincinnati, OH. Graham KK, Gibbs J, and Isaacs R (November 2018). Monitoring changes in native bee communities in Michigan, with a focus on agricultural landscapes. Oral presentation at the ESA, ESC, and ESBC Join Annual Meeting (Entomology 2018), Vancouver, BC. Graham KK (January 2019). Assessing the health of Michigan pollinators. Oral presentation at the Annual Stewardship Network Conference, East Lansing, MI. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Cucumber growers - TJ Wood (postdoc) attended the Great Lakes Expo 2018 to talk about the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber production (providing 99% of the pollination service). TJ Wood also met with the pickling cucumber industry body (Pickling Cucumber Improvement Committee) to provide an update on the pesticide exposure results and how this relates to current management practice in cucumber. Produced a video highlighting the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber pollination, and best management practices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rknuvhl9Sbg Blueberry growers - R Isaacs (PD) presented project results to blueberry growers at the annual Michigan Blueberry Commission meetings in 2018 and 2019. KK Graham (postdoc, project manager) presented results relevant to blueberry growers at the Great Lakes Expo in 2018 and 2019. R Isaacs and KK Graham also met with collaborating growers individually to discuss research findings in 2018 and 2019. Tree fruit growers - J Wilson (co-PD) incorporated project results into presentations given at the MSU Pollinator Health meeting, at the MSU Tree Fruit Management School, and at two grower meetings in New Jersey. Land managers (prairie restoration sites, corn, and natural habitat) - KK Graham has provided final project reports to collaborating land managers. Reports present general trends in wild bee abundance and species richness at study sites, as well as specific community changes at individual sites (each report tailored to each land manager). N Haan and D Landis have published three Extension articles about ongoing research on monarchs and how to support monarch populations with milkweeds. Beekeepers - A blog, msubeeblog.wordpress.com, and an Instagram account (@misentinelapiary) are being maintained about the sentinel apiaries to reach a broad audience about beekeeping best management practices. Community engagement - Another blog, www.greatlakesgreatbees.com, is being maintained to update the community about current research related to all bees. Additionally, KK Graham has given five talks to the community on pollinator health and current research, as well as held 12 outreach events targeting grade-school students related to bee health. Outreach and Extension presentations - Wilson, J.K. (March 2020) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during orchard bloom. South Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Grower Meeting, Rutgers NJ Ag Experiment Station, Bridgeton, NJ Wilson, J.K. (March 2020) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during orchard bloom. North Jersey Fruit Growers Meeting, Rutgers NJ Ag Experiment Station, Flemington, NJ Wilson, J.K. (March 2019) Preventing Disease While Minimizing Harm to Pollinators During Orchard Bloom. Regional Pollinator Health Meeting, Traverse City, MI Wilson, J.K., J. Albert, and M. Milbrath (February 2019) Preventing disease while minimizing harm to pollinators during bloom. MSU Tree Fruit Management School, Traverse City, MI Landis DA, Haan N, Myers A, and Hermann S (June 3, 2019). Managing Habitats to Enhance Monarch Butterfly Populations. Michigan Association of Conservation Districts Summer Conference, Bay City, MI. Landis DA (June 5, 2019). Insects and Global Change: Can We Maintain Diversity and Ecosystem Services? Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), East Lansing, MI. Landis DA, Haan N, Myers A, and Hermann S (August 6-7, 2019). Managing Habitats to Enhance Monarch Oviposition & Survival. Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy, State Agency Technical Staff and Partners Workshop. Invited research update at Powder Valley Nature Center, Kirkwood, MO. Haan NL, and Landis DA (November 27, 2019). Monarch butterflies and vegetation management. Pesticide Applicators Clinic, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. Haan NL (2019). Monarch butterfly ecology and conservation. Invited speaker at Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), Fenner Nature Center, Lansing, MI. Haan NL (2019). Monarch butterfly ecology and conservation. Invited speaker at Natural Areas Stewardship, Oakland Township, MI. Bloom EH, Wood TJ, Hung K-LJ, Ternest JJ, Ingwell LL, Goodell K, Kaplan I, and Szendrei Z (2020). "Synergisms between local and landscape-level pesticides reduce wild bee-plant interactions in agroecosystems" Great Lakes Expo, Grand Rapids, MI. Graham KK (2019). Overview of research on pollinator health in Michigan. Invited speaker at Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter), Fenner Nature Center,Lansing, MI. Graham KK, Milbrath M, and Isaacs R (2019). Conserving wild bees on blueberry farms. Invited speaker at Great Lakes Expo, Grand Rapids, MI; premiere show for fruit and vegetable growers, greenhouse growers and farm marketers. Graham KK, Albert J, and Milbrath M (2019). Improving the health of pollinators: a focus on bloom-time risk mitigation. Grower Educational Meeting, Oceana, Mason-Lake & Manistee Conservation Districts, Scottville, MI; Meeting was approved for Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) Phase 1 credit. The research community - In addition to those listed above under training opportunities. Project members have presented research to the research community in the following ways: Invited talks - Landis DA (February 20, 2019). Designing Agricultural Landscapes for Multiple Ecosystem Services. Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Landis DA, Haan N, Hermann S, and Myers A (November 17, 2019). Conserving Insects in Agricultural Landscapes: Managing disturbance regimes to support natural enemies, pollinators, and monarch butterfly. Invited speaker in Symposium on Defying the Decline. ESA National Meeting, St. Louis, MO. Conference presentations - Landis D, and Haan N (January 11-12, 2019). Altering disturbance regimes for monarch butterfly conservation. Poster at The Science, Practice and Art of Restoring Native Ecosystems, East Lansing, MI. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We received a no cost extension for next year in order to wrap up databasing of museum specimens and publication of results. We expect databasing to be wrapped up by fall 2020, and manuscripts related to this project to be submitted to peer-reviewed journals by spring 2021. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This project has a no-cost extension and we will complete the publishing of our results during this period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1. Document historical patterns of pollinators in natural and agricultural landscapes using longitudinal studies. Resampling the wild bee community during blueberry bloom revealed a significant decline in wild bee abundance and species richness in 2013/2014, followed by a slight recovery in 2017/2018. We also found significant shifts in the bee community between these three sampling periods, and certain groups showed disproportionate declines, such as Andrena (mining bees).In 2017 and 2018 we resampled corn and prairie sites that were sampled in 2008 and 2009. We used raised bowl traps and identified all bees to species. We found no change in wild bee abundance or species richness at corn sites, but found a significant decline in wild bee abundance and richness at prairie sites. Repeated sampling of wild bees at eight natural sites in 2017 and 2018, included rediscovery of Epeoloides pilosulus, that was previously thought to be lost from the state (Wood et al. 2019c).We also conducted sampling for bumble bees in every county of Michigan in 2017 and 2018, and compared current county occupancy of the 12 most historically common non-parasitic bumble bee species. Half of these species are stable in distribution, while the other half show a range contraction of over 50%. Bees with restricted dietary breadth had a greater range change. This data has been published in the journal Ecology (Wood et al. 2019a). Objective 2. Optimize pollinator habitat to improve health of honey bees, wild bees, and monarch butterflies in agricultural systems. We identified the plant source of honey bee collected pollen using 36 honey bee hives at 12 sites were trapped for pollen from the start of July to the end of August. This generated 145 pollen samples. During the late-June to early September period, honey bees adjacent to cucumber fields extensively collected pollen from crop plants such as maize and non-native weeds such as chicory and white dutch clover. Nine hives placed in cucumber fields adjacent to clover plantings did not collect a greater proportion of their pollen diet from clover, and there was no impact on colony growth or mortality rates. Honey bees flew long distances to collect pollen, with some samples containing 50-60% maize pollen, despite being taken from hives without any maize fields within 1500 m in any direction. Overall, non-native plants are an important forage source for honey bees in agricultural habitats during the summer. These results have been published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Wood et al. 2018). Pollen sampleswere also screened for neonicotinoid pesticides that are used in pickling cucumber production. Neonicotinoid exposure was not linked to cucumber bloom, with colonies collecting only around 1% of their pollen from this crop. Instead, neonicotinoid exposure followed a seasonal pattern, with concentrations increasing as bees foragedon woody plants early in the summer (low pesticide concentrations), to crop plants like maize in mid-summer (low pesticide concentrations) and finally foraged primarily from herbaceous plants like agricultural weeds (high pesticide concentrations) later in the summer. These results have been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Wood et al. 2019b). We evaluated monarch oviposition preference for four milkweed species; common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterfly milkweed (A. tuberosa), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), and whorled milkweed (A. verticillata). In a field trial, common milkweed received 74% of the season-long egg deposition and more eggs were found on re-growing common milkweed stems after they were mowed in mid-June or mid-July. When common milkweed was grown in differing habitat contexts, i.e. surrounded by corn, other milkweed species (see above), or native flowering plants, we found no difference in monarch egg deposition among habitats. However, more total larva were found in the mixed milkweed plots likely due to the much higher density of potential host stems, and later larval stages were increasingly found on the alternative (swamp>whorled>tuberosa) milkweeds. We also found that half the insects found on milkweed will eat monarch eggs. There are five papers published related to this work (Haan and Landis 2019a, 2019b, 2020, Myers et al. 2019, Hermann et al. 2019). Objective 3. Inform future investment in habitat for pollinators through landscape modeling. Medium- and long-term landscape changes are being analyzed to identify potential drivers of wild bee community change, especially in regards to Midwestern bumble bee populations. So far, we have collected historical land cover data corresponding to the 9388 historical Bombus records of 12 species captured between 1960 and 2018. We are now in the process of analyzing the influence of landscape change on bumble bee population dynamics.Many land owners don't have large parcels available to transition into pollinator supportive habitat, but instead of small parcels on crop field margins. We are therefore developing a less spatially constrained habitat selection model that can be used for selecting the best habitat for improving wild bee abundance, even when the available habitat is small in size. The model was developed based on simulated annealing, combining bee sample records, life-history information and surrounding landscape heterogeneity. We then trained the spatial optimization model to target limited acres of new habitats from potential habitats (i.e. marginal annual crop land) that provide the greatest benefits to pollinator conservation and the provision of pollination services for single or multiple crops. Objective 4. Implement and monitor Best Management Practices (BMPs) for pollinator health. In 2019, MSU managed sentinel apiaries in 5 Michigan locations.Throughout the beekeeping season, May through October, MSU inspected honey bee colonies, recorded quality metrics (including approximate colony size, hive configuration, queen status, and visible signs of disease), and collected samples of bees to be analyzed at the University of Maryland by the Bee Informed Partnership. The BIP compiled data and evaluated samples for varroa mites and nosema spores. MSU shared colony health data and information with beekeepers through 10 blog posts (msubeeblog.wordpress.com), posts to Facebook (facebook.com/MichiganPollinatorInitiative), monthly submissions to the Michigan Small Farm Newsletter, and quarterly submissions to Michigan Beekeepers' Association newsletter. In 2019, sentinel apiary updates reached approximately 2,500 people.Updates to beekeepers included information about seasonal beekeeping management as well as patterns and trends observed.Data from the sentinel apiary colonies were included in presentations at beekeeping conferences and beekeeping association meetings.Colonies in the sentinel apiaries were also used for in-hive demonstration and instruction with beekeepers from Southeastern Michigan Beekeepers Association in Novi, Center of Michigan Beekeepers in Lansing, and Cass Berrien Bee Club in Benton Harbor.The in-hive demonstrations provided information about seasonal management, disease recognition, and data collection. Additionally, a visiting group from the EPA received a presentation on honey bees from one of the sentinel apiaries. We held three stakeholder meetings in 2018 and 2019 in different regions of the state, each with unique agricultural focuses. Stakeholders included growers, beekeepers (commercial, sideline, and hobbyist), chemical company representatives, conservation districts, conservation groups, land owners, and others. Listed priorities from the 2018 meetings were then used to develop successful funding proposals to commodity groups and the USDA-NIFA in 2018/2019.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Haan NL and Landis DA. 2019a. Grassland disturbance increases monarch butterfly oviposition and decreases arthropod predator abundance. Biological Conservation 233:185192.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Haan NL and Landis DA. 2019b. The Importance of Shifting Disturbance Regimes in Monarch Butterfly Decline and Recovery. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7:191.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Hermann SL, Blackledge C, Haan NL, Myers AT, and Landis DA. 2019. Predators of monarch butterfly eggs and neonate larvae are more diverse than previously recognised. Scientific Reports 9:19.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Myers A, Bahlai CA, and Landis DA. 2019. Habitat Type Influences Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Oviposition and Egg Survival on Asclepias syriaca (Gentianales: Apocynaceae). Environmental Entomology 48:675684.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wood TJ, Gibbs J, Graham KK, and Isaacs R. 2019a. Narrow pollen diets are associated with declining Midwestern bumble bee species. Ecology:e02697.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wood TJ, Kaplan I, Zhang Y, and Szendrei Z. 2019b. Honeybee dietary neonicotinoid exposure is associated with pollen collection from agricultural weeds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wood TJ, Killewald MF, Graham KK, Gibbs J, and Isaacs R. 2019c. Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson) Rediscovered in Michigan, with Notes on the Distribution and Status of its Macropis hosts. The Great Lakes Entomologist 52.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Haan NL, and Landis DA. 2020. Grassland disturbance effects on first-instar monarch butterfly survival, floral resources, and flower-visiting insects. Biological Conservation 243:108492.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Myers AT, Haan NL, and Landis DA. In press. Video surveillance reveals a diverse and largely nocturnal community of Danaus plexippus (L.) egg predators. Journal of Insect Conservation.
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Progress 03/15/18 to 03/14/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Information about this project has been presented to growers, extension educators, research colleagues, and the general public. This has been done through presentations at conferences and grower meetings. Information will also be disseminated to research colleagues through peer-reviewed publications, and to the general public. Finally, we are using blogs and social media to reach a broad audience interested in bee health. Changes/Problems:High rates of bumble bee colony mortality in blueberry and cherry fields prevented us from doing health assessments in 2017. However, given concerns about pesticides, this project inspired proposals to explore the effects of pesticides on managed bees and wild bees both during and after bloom. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project provided support for KK Graham (postdoc, project manager) to present project findings at the 2018 ESA, ESC, and ESBC Joint Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B(November) and at the 2019 Annual Stewardship Network Conference in East Lansing, MI (January). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Cucumber growers - TJ Wood (postdoc) attended the Great Lakes Expo 2018 to present on the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber production (providing 99% of the pollination service). Dr. Wood also met with the pickling cucumber industry body (Pickling Cucumber Improvement Committee) to provide an update on the pesticide exposure results and how this relates to current management practice in cucumber. He also produced a video highlighting the importance of honey bees in pickling cucumber pollination, and best management practices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rknuvhl9Sbg Blueberry growers - R Isaacs (PD) presented project results to blueberry growers at the annual Michigan Blueberry Commission meeting in 2018. KK Graham (postdoc, project manager) presented results relevant to blueberry growers at the Great Lakes Expo in December 2018. Cherry growers - J Wilson (co-PD) presented project results related to cherry pollination at the Traverse City, MI Pollinator Health meeting in spring 2019. Land managers (prairie restoration sites, corn, and natural habitat) - KK Graham has presented project reports to collaborating land managers. The annual reports present general trends in wild bee abundance and species richness at study sites, as well as specific community changes at individual sites (each report tailored to each land manager). Beekeepers - A blog, msubeeblog.wordpress.com, and an Instagram account (@misentinelapiary) are being maintained the report information on the sentinel apiaries to reach a broad audience about beekeeping best management practices. Community engagement - Another blog, www.greatlakesgreatbees.com, is being maintained to update the broader public community about current research related to bees. Additionally, KK Graham has held four outreach booths at area elementary school science nights on bees, as well as one booth at an agricultural fair. Additionally, KK Graham gave a talk to the Wild Ones (Red Cedar Chapter) on pollinator health. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are currently completing data analysis and writing up manuscripts related to Objectives 1, 2 and 3. Most manuscripts will be submitted in 2019, with work related to historical wild bee changes (Obj. 1) likely being submitted in 2020 once databasing of all historic specimens is complete (currently ongoing). We are currently analyzing results from surveys distributed at the Pollinator Health stakeholder meetings in 2018 and 2019 (Obj. 4). Results will be presented to attendees and used to inform future research and education initiatives related to pollinator health in Michigan. Resources for stakeholders will continue to be shared through the meeting mailing list as they become available.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1.In 2017 and 2018, we resampled the wild bee community during blueberry bloom at 15 sites that were previously sampled in 2004-2006 and 2013-2014. We used raised bowl traps and identified all bees to species. We found a significant decline in wild bee abundance and species richness since the initial three years of sampling. We also found that certain groups of bees showed particularly drastic declines, such as Andrena (mining bees) that are important pollinators of blueberry. In 2017 and 2018 we resampled corn and prairie sites that were sampled in 2008 and 2009. We used raised bowl traps and identified all bees to species. We found no change in wild bee abundance or species richness at corn sites, but found a significant decline in wild bee abundance and richness at prairie sites. Again, we found that certain bee groups showed a disproportionate decline compared to other groups. We did repeated sampling of the wild bee community at eight sites in five counties of Michigan in 2017 and 2018. We collected bees along timed transects using aerial netting and identified all bees to species. We are currently digitizing bees housed in museums and will use these records, in combination with previously digitized records to determine changes in the native bee community over time. More detailed analyses will be done in the five counties we sampled in 2017 and 2018, which have the most abundant historic records for the state. Given the interest in bumble bee species, we did casual, targeted sampling for bumble bees in every county of Michigan in 2017 and 2018. We then compared current county occupancy of the 12 most historically common non-parasitic bumble bee species for the state. We found that half of these species are stable in distribution, while the other half show a range contraction of over 50%. We also calculated diet breadth of these species, and found a significant relationship between dietary breadth and range change. Objective 2.To better understand where honey bees are foraging while in cucumber fields, and the benefits of herbaceous plantings (white dutch clover), we identified the sources of honey bee collected pollen. During 2018, 36 honey bee hives at 12 sites were trapped for pollen from the start of July to the end of August. This generated 145 pollen samples, which when combined with the sampling effort from 2017 totaled 357 pollen samples from 114 unique colonies. During the late-June to early September period, honey bees adjacent to cucumber fields extensively collected pollen from crop plants such as maize (Zea mays) and non-native weeds such as chicory (Cichorium intybus) and white dutch clover (Trifolium repens). Nine hives were placed in cucumber fields adjacent to clover plantings, but these hives did not collect a greater proportion of their pollen diet from clover, and there was no impact on colony growth or mortality rates. Honey bees flew long distances to collect pollen, with some samples containing 50-60% maize pollen, despite being taken from hives without any maize fields within 1500 m in any direction. The use of non-native plants by honey bees, particularly in the mid-July to mid-August period, is in line with the trend seen in native social bee species like bumble bees (Bombus). Overall, non-native plants are an important forage source for honey bees in agricultural habitats during the summer. The lack of an impact from field-level resource provision suggests that, for honey bees at least, landscape-level approaches are required. In addition to identifying plant species in honey bee pollen loads (Obj. 2a), these samples were also screened for neonicotinoid pesticides that are used in pickling cucumber production. Neonicotinoid exposure was not linked to cucumber bloom, with colonies collecting only around 1% of their pollen from this crop. Instead, neonicotinoid exposure followed a seasonal pattern, with concentrations increasing through the summer as bees started foraging on woody plants early in the summer (low pesticide concentrations), to crop plants like maize in mid-summer (low pesticide concentrations) and finally foraged primarily from herbaceous plants such as agricultural weeds (high pesticide concentrations) later in the summer. The benefits of pollinator plantings adjacent to blueberry and cherry fields for bee health were tested in 2017. We placed 60 commercial bumble bee colonies in cherry orchards or blueberry fields. Half of the agricultural plantings had pollinator enhancements (wildflower strips). We then planned to compare the weights of colonies between treatments, as well as other colony health metrics. However, we had over 50% colony loss after 5 weeks in the field, so we needed to end the study. There was no effect of treatment (with or without pollinator plantings) on colony loss. We evaluated monarch oviposition preference for four milkweed species; common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterfly milkweed (A. tuberosa), swamp milkweed (A. incarnata), and whorled milkweed (A. verticillata). In a field trial with wild monarchs, common milkweed received 74% of the season-long egg deposition and more eggs were found on re-growing common milkweed stems after they were mowed in mid-June or mid-July. When common milkweed was grown in differing habitat contexts, i.e. surrounded by corn, other milkweed species (see above), or native flowering plants, we found no difference in monarch egg deposition among habitats. However, more larvae were found in the mixed milkweed plots likely due to the much higher density of potential host stems, and later larval stages were increasingly found on the alternative (swamp>whorled>tuberosa) milkweeds. Objective 3. Medium- and long-term landscape changes are being analyzed to identify potential drivers of wild bee community change, especially in relation to Midwestern bumble bee populations. So far, we have collected historical land cover data corresponding to the 9,388 historical Bombus records of 12 species captured between 1960 and 2018. We are now in the process of analyzing the influence of landscape change on bumble bee population dynamics. ?Objective 4.Honey bee health was monitored using four sentinel apiaries set up in 2017, with an additional two set up in 2018. The sites were located in important honey bee regions throughout the state, and contained at least 8 hives each.The colonies were monitored for disease monthly as part of the Bee Informed Project Sentinel Apiary program. Hive scales collected weight data as a measure of forage availability and colony growth. In 2017, all sites indicated infestation with the mite Varroa destructor. In 2018, the majority of the overwintered colonies were also positive for infection with the microsporidial disease Nosema ceranae. Information on the hive health, as well as seasonal management was shared with beekeepers though the Michigan Beekeepers Association and social media. We held three stakeholder meetings in spring 2018 and three in spring 2019. Meetings were held in three regions of the state, each with unique agricultural focuses. Stakeholders included growers, beekeepers (commercial, sideline, and hobbyist), chemical company representatives, conservation districts, conservation groups, land owners, and others. During each meeting we presented research findings and the progress of ongoing work for this project, as well as related work on pollinator health being done within the Department. We also provided attendees with resources for improving pollinator health in their region. Additionally, we solicited research and education priorities related to pollinator health from attendees. Listed priorities from the 2018 meetings were then used to develop successful funding proposals to commodity groups and the USDA-NIFA in 2018/2019. A report of these meetings was provided for local news sources, and a full report will be released at the end of the project.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Graham, Kelsey K. Beyond honey bees: Wild bees are also key pollinators, and some species are disappearing. The Conversation. May 22, 2018.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Landis, D.A. 2017. Productive engagement with agriculture essential to monarch butterfly conservation. Invited Perspective. Environmental Research Letters 12 (10) 074005. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa825c/meta
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Wood, T.J., Kaplan, I. & Szendrei, Z. (2018) Wild bee pollen diets reveal patterns of seasonal foraging resources for honey bees. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6, 210, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00210
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Wood T, Gibbs J, Graham KK, and Isaacs R. (in press) Narrow pollen diets are associated with declining Midwestern bumble bee species. Ecology.
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Progress 03/15/17 to 03/14/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Information about this project has been presented to growers, research colleagues, and the general public. This has been done through presentations at conferences and grower meetings. Information will also be disseminated to research colleagues through peer-reviewed publications, and to the general public through general audience publications (i.e. The Conversation, article currently in prep). Finally, the MI Sentinel Apiary blog reaches a broad audience interested in beekeeping best management practices. Changes/Problems:High rates of bumble bee colony mortality in blueberry and cherry fields prevented us from doing health assessments in 2017. However, we tested methods for decreasing colony heat stress while in the fields and have developed better colony housing that we hope will minimize mortality. We will also test colonies for pesticide exposure to try to pinpoint other stressors colonies are facing while in agricultural fields. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project supported the lead postdoc, Kelsey Graham, the ability to attend a bumble bee workshop in 2017 at the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit in Logan, UT, and attendance at the 2017 Protecting Pollinators in Urban Landscapes Conference. Additionally, Dr. Graham presented findings from this project at the 2017 Michigan Regional Postdoctoral Symposium and Competition, where she was awarded third prize. Thisproject has also supported a graduate student, Andrew Myers, to attend and present findings from this study at the Annual Entomological Society of America Conference in Denver, Co (Nov 2017). Also, this project supported an undergraduate student, Carissa Blackledge, who will present project results at the North-Central Branch Meeting of the ESA this year (2018). The project supported co-PD Jason Gibbs training 15 students/postdocs/faculty at the Lasioglossum (Dialictus) identification workshop. Oakland University/Michigan State University, Rochester, Michigan. 19-21 February 2018. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Researchers have conducted four meetings with blueberry growers associated with this project, specifically to disseminate research results and discuss future work on their farms in 2018. Several project members (Isaacs, Wilson, Wood, Graham) also attended the 2017 Great Lakes EXPO (www.glexpo.com) where they presented an update to growers and stakeholders about this project. Dr. Wilson also presented best management practices for bees in specialty crops at the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention in February 2018. A blog (msubeeblog.wordpress.com) and Instagram account (www.instagram.com/misentinelapiary/) is being maintained about the sentinel apiaries to reach a broad audience about beekeeping best management practices. Additionally, the lead postdoc, Kelsey Graham, has given two general audience presentations about the project to local community members (Capital Area Audubon Society, and Kellogg Biological Station Bird Sanctuary). Additionally, another postdoc on the project, Thomas Wood, presented findings on honey bee health in cucumber to the pickling cucumber industry association in Michigan, which helped secure additional funds to study honey bee health in pickle fields. Dr. Wood has also presented findings to the Pickling Cucumber Improvement Committee, and presented at the Pickle Packers International Annual Meeting (Chicago, Nov. 2017). PhD student Andrew Myers presented results to the Jackson Sierra Club, MI, (Jan. 2017), and at the Sustainable Ag Field Day for 4H & Informal Educators. (Kellogg Biological Station LTER, Sept. 2017). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue field work and data analysis associated with Objectives 1 and 2. Landscape modeling will continue for Objective 3. For Objective 4, we will finish creation of the pollinator habitat mapping interface, targeted to be rolled out for stakeholder use during Pollinator Week 2018 (June 18-24). We will finish setting up regional teams, headed by extension professionals, and hold regional meetings with researchers, extension professionals, and local stakeholders in April. These meetings will update stakeholders on our research, and provide the opportunity for stakeholder input on future research development.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1.Document historical patterns of pollinators in natural and agricultural landscapes using longitudinal studies. We are measuring changes in bee diversity and plant-pollinator interactions in relation to changes in land use by digitizing historical bee collections from key regions of Michigan, while resampling sites for bee diversity and floral visitation. We are studying long-term effects of agricultural management, pollinator habitat, pesticides, weather and land use change on bee communities through replication of earlier studies in different agricultural systems to determine factors relevant to important crop pollinators. Progress:We collected around 5,000 bee specimens in 2017 from a range of sites across Michigan. Sites ranged from agricultural (blueberry fields and corn fields) to natural (restored prairie and unmanaged natural habitat). In total, we did repeated sampling at 44 sites across 16 counties. All collected bees have been identified to species, and represent 30 genera. Additionally, we are currently digitizing Michigan bees housed at the Michigan State University A.J. Cook Arthropod Research Collection, University of Manitoba J.B. Wallis-R.E. Roughley Museum of Entomology, and the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology and will use these records, in combination with digitized records from BISON to determine changes in the native bee community over time. The same sampling effort will be undertaken in 2018. Objective 2. Optimize pollinator habitat to improve health of honey bees, wild bees, and monarch butterflies in agricultural systems. We are measuring the benefit of annual crop flowering cover crops and perennial wildflower plantings to managed and wild pollinators in three specialty crop systems. Benefits to bees will be measured through sampling wild bees near agriculture, and measuring the health of honey bee colonies and commercial bumble bee colonies with and without pollinator plantings. Monarch plantings are being developed to optimize conservation efforts. Progress, Bees:We have completed Year 1 of monitoring managed bees in agriculture. We placed 60 commercial bumble bee colonies in cherry orchards or blueberry fields. Half of the agricultural plantings had pollinator enhancements (wildflower strips). This will be repeated again in Year 2, with the addition of collecting pollen from colonies to evaluate what they are foraging on, and to analyze pesticide exposure. Sixty-three honey bee colonies adjacent to pickling cucumber fields were pollen trapped to determine a baseline of major pollen sources between June and September in this system. Colonies will be trapped in Year 2, with half of colonies adjacent to annual herbaceous enhancements to determine the impact on colony growth. Commercial bumble bee colonies will also be placed out at these sites following the same methodology as for the cherry and blueberry fields. Progress, Monarchs:Different management strategies for milkweed plantings were assessed for their rates of monarch oviposition and larval survival. It was found that late mowing (July) showed the highest rates of monarch oviposition and larval production. We also documented predation on monarch eggs and larvae by 20 arthropod taxa not previously reported to feed on monarchs. Additional management strategies will be assessed next year. Objective 3. Inform future investment in habitat for pollinators through landscape modeling. We are collecting historical aerial images to assess the landscape changes and dynamics for the past 15 years and then to detect the possible effects of landscape change on the pollinator community. Additionally, we will develop scenarios to project future landscape change over a 50-year period in order to test how pollinator communities respond to different habitat investment strategies. We will use the pollinator abundance models and potential pollinator habitat (i.e. marginal land) as two primary inputs to a spatial optimization model. This model will target the optimal locations where new pollinator plantings will provide the greatest benefit to crop pollination and pollinator conservation efforts. Progress:We have built the scheme to optimize the parameters for the wild bee abundance model using simulated annealing across highbush blueberry landscapes, which also can be adapted to assess wild bee abundance in other crop systems. We defined the criteria of potential pollinator habitat and identified 218,326 acres in Michigan. We have tested the spatial optimization model to explore optimal placement of new pollinator habitat within a 1-km buffer of blueberry fields and found that optimal placement of 1000-acre new habitat can increase wild bee abundance by 6%. Habitat transition rules will be refined by including bee conservation practices, size constraint, etc. Additionally, we are in the process of collecting historical land cover data and using them to assess landscape change and project future landscape scenarios, then to inform the effects of landscape change on bee communities. Objective 4. Implement and monitor Best Management Practices (BMPs) for pollinator health. We will use region specific teams to implement context-specific BMPs. We will deliver programs on selecting and establishing pollinator habitat for different settings to support healthy pollinators in each region. We will create an online mapping interface that will provide a statewide resource for tracking pollinator habitat investments. Honey bee health will be monitored using sentinel colonies in four regions. Colonies will be assessed for pests and pathogens, and used as training hives to better inform local beekeepers about best management practices. Progress:We have begun setting up the region specific teams, comprised of MSU extension professionals and local stakeholders. We have also begun working on the online mapping interface.Four sentinel apiary siteswere establishedfor 2017.The sites were located at 4 important honey bee regions throughout the state,andcontained 8 hives each.The colonies were installed in spring, and weremonitored fordisease over the course of the season as part of the Bee Informed Sentinel Apiary program. In 2018, we will be establishing 2 more locations, providing coverage throughout the state.The hives showed a high risk of infestation of the common honey bee pestVarroa destructor, but were negative for other diseases.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
msubeeblog.wordpress.com
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Landis, D.A. 2017. Productive engagement with agriculture essential to monarch butterfly conservation. Invited Perspective. Environmental Research Letters 12 (10) 074005. http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa825c/meta
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