(Yale E360) As suitable sites become scarce, commercial beekeepers are increasingly moving their hives to U.S. public lands. But scientists warn that the millions of introduced honey bees pose a risk to native species, outcompeting them for pollen and altering fragile plant communities.
(National Geographic) A decade ago, United Nations members crafted an agreement to curb the loss of biodiversity. We’ve failed miserably, but all hope is not lost.
(Penn State) The Insect Biodiversity Center at Penn State will create a focal point for the study and conservation of insects and the ecosystems with which they interact. It brings together faculty researchers and educators from eight Penn State colleges.
(Oregon State University) What is known about the effect of forest fires on bees? How do bees respond to land ravaged by fire? And how can you help bees while also protecting your property from future fires?
(The Columbian) People are few and far between on the Washington State University Vancouver campus these days, but a trio of graduate biology students intend to start filling the landscape with native wildflowers and the pollinators that love them. Their goal is to achieve the Bee Campus USA designation for WSUV’s 351-acre spread from the Xerces Society.
(ScienceNews) A new study argues that nations can help avert the biodiversity and climate crises by preserving the roughly 50% of land that remains relatively undeveloped. The researchers dub that conserved area a “Global Safety Net,” mapping out regions that can meet critical conservation and climate goals.
(PNAS) “One of the main lessons that emerged from Silent Spring is that we overuse pesticides at our own peril because human and natural environments are unquestionably linked. It is time to revisit these lessons given current use patterns of neonicotinoid insecticides… We contend that the efficient and well-documented transmission of neonicotinoids through tripartite food chains – plant to pest to natural enemy – combined with the diversity of nontarget herbivores on treated plants threatens entire food webs by disrupting arthropod communities and interactions.”
(Quad City Times) A park ranger at Illiniwek Forest Preserve spotted an endangered rusty patched bumble bee in the preserve. The sighting was confirmed by an assistant professor of biology at Black Hawk College. “This is the best possible indicator that the prairie restorations the Forest Preserve District has been working on are paying off. Finding this new sighting is really important in our efforts of staving off the extinction of this species.”
