Date of Award
10-2023
Degree Type
Thesis
Department
Environmental Science
First Advisor
Derek W. Rosenberger
Abstract
Many species of pollinators around the world have seen a population decline in recent years. Causes of these declines have been linked to several factors such as climate change, pesticide usage, and habitat loss. While previous Olivet Nazarene University research has analyzed the bee community at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie and some of the savanna areas in Northeast Illinois surrounding Olivet, little is known about the new Swanberg Biological Sanctuary, owned by Olivet, or what butterflies are present in this region of Illinois. We utilized the 13 established transects throughout Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie as well as six new transects across Olivet’s Sanctuary to assess both the bee and butterfly communities present at both sites. Midewin was found to have 1.7-5 times higher species richness and 2.3-8.3 times higher abundances than the Sanctuary. It was also found that the species diversities for butterflies were fairly similar between the two sites. The diversity of bumble bees was actually higher at the Sanctuary than Midewin. However, data from other sites at the Sanctuary may provide a more complete understanding of what is needed for the best management of this land in the future. Regardless, this study provides a baseline for future assessments of pollinator composition at the Sanctuary as well as its management.
Recommended Citation
Clark, Stephanie, "Pollinator Communities at the ONU Biological Sanctuary Relative to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie" (2023). Pence-Boyce STEM Student Scholarship. 24.
https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/pence_boyce/24