Quantifying Pollinator Diversity, Abundance, and Seasonal Changes in Pollinators at Low and High Elevations and Differences in Collection Methods, Southwest Colorado
Bees (Order Hymenoptera) are arguably the most important group of pollinating insects found on the planet, especially because they play an important role in agriculture by pollinating our crops. In the US, over half of the commercially-managed pollinators (mostly honeybees) have disappeared since 1940 with similar declines worldwide and the causes not entirely known (Wenning, 2007). A proposed hypothesis for the decline of these insects has been that of increased global temperatures. Bees are endothermic, and any rise in normal temperatures could be problematic for their thermoregulation. Water loss, droughts and changes in plant phenology would affect bumblebees as well, and heat waves could prematurely wake hibernating queens before adequate flowering resources are available. Honeybees have been extensively researched because they are economically important to us, but very few studies have been performed for pollinators of non-agricultural ecosystems. The intention of this study is to help fill this void in information on other pollinating insects by gathering baseline data on pollinators and specifically bumblebees at low and high elevations in southwestern Colorado.
