The Effects of Cattle Grazing on the Health of Bumble Bee (Bombus spp.) Populations in a Historical Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Derek W. Rosenberger
Project Type
Honors Program project
Scholarship Domain(s)
Scholarship of Discovery
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) play an important role in the pollination of ecologically and economically significant plants worldwide. In recent years, declines have been observed throughout North America, particularly in the Midwest. Many factors likely contribute to this decline, including the use of pesticides, disease, and habitat loss. Though cattle grazing space is a common use for Midwestern grassland and may result in damage to this historic habitat, few studies have assessed the effects of grazing and cattle pasture on bumble bees. None, to our knowledge, have been conducted in North America or have compared cattle pasture to tallgrass prairie, a habitat thought to be optimal for requisite floral resources. In this study, we sought to determine what effects grassland management for cattle pastures and restored prairie have on the community composition of bumble bees at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeastern Illinois. Abundance, species richness, and diversity were recorded across 40 transects using standard sweep net protocol. We found a statistically significant effect of land use type on abundance, with over three times more bumble bees found in prairie compared to cattle pasture. Species richness was two times higher in the prairie than in the cattle pasture, which was also a statistically significant difference. These data can be used to inform grassland managers of conservation implications when making land use decisions in the face of habitat loss and decline of bumble bees across the Midwest. Additionally, this study provides a baseline for further study on land management practices and conservation of bumble bees.
Permission Type
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The Effects of Cattle Grazing on the Health of Bumble Bee (Bombus spp.) Populations in a Historical Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem
Fishbowl
Bumble bees (Bombus spp.) play an important role in the pollination of ecologically and economically significant plants worldwide. In recent years, declines have been observed throughout North America, particularly in the Midwest. Many factors likely contribute to this decline, including the use of pesticides, disease, and habitat loss. Though cattle grazing space is a common use for Midwestern grassland and may result in damage to this historic habitat, few studies have assessed the effects of grazing and cattle pasture on bumble bees. None, to our knowledge, have been conducted in North America or have compared cattle pasture to tallgrass prairie, a habitat thought to be optimal for requisite floral resources. In this study, we sought to determine what effects grassland management for cattle pastures and restored prairie have on the community composition of bumble bees at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in northeastern Illinois. Abundance, species richness, and diversity were recorded across 40 transects using standard sweep net protocol. We found a statistically significant effect of land use type on abundance, with over three times more bumble bees found in prairie compared to cattle pasture. Species richness was two times higher in the prairie than in the cattle pasture, which was also a statistically significant difference. These data can be used to inform grassland managers of conservation implications when making land use decisions in the face of habitat loss and decline of bumble bees across the Midwest. Additionally, this study provides a baseline for further study on land management practices and conservation of bumble bees.