Detecting insect pollinator declines on regional and global scales
Conservation Biology
By: Gretchen Lubuhn, Sam Droege, Edward F. Connor, Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Simon G. Potts, Robert L. Minckley, Terry Griswold, Robert Jean, Emanuel Kula, David W. Roubik, Jim Cane, Karen W. Wright, Gordon Frankie, and Frank Parker
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Abstract
Recently there has been considerable concern about declines in bee communities in agricultural and natural habitats. The value of pollination to agriculture, provided primarily by bees, is >$200 billion/year worldwide, and in natural ecosystems it is thought to be even greater. However, no monitoring program exists to accurately detect declines in abundance of insect pollinators; thus, it is difficult to quantify the status of bee communities or estimate the extent of declines. We used data from 11 multiyear studies of bee communities to devise a program to monitor pollinators at regional, national, or international scales. In these studies, 7 different methods for sampling bees were used and bees were sampled on 3 different continents. We estimated that a monitoring program with 200-250 sampling locations each sampled twice over 5 years would provide sufficient power to detect small (2-5%) annual declines in the number of species and in total abundance and would cost U.S.$2,000,000. To detect declines as small as 1% annually over the same period would require >300 sampling locations. Given the role of pollinators in food security and ecosystem function, we recommend establishment of integrated regional and international monitoring programs to detect changes in pollinator communities.
Suggested Citation
Lubuhn, G., Droege, S., Connor, E., Gemmill-Herren, B., Potts, S.G., Minckley, R.L., Griswold, T., Jean, R., Kula, E., Roubik, D.W., Cane, J., Wright, K.W., Frankie, G., and Parker, F., 2013, Detecting insect pollinator declines on regional and global scales: Conservation Biology, v. 27, no. 1, p. 113-120, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01962.x.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Detecting insect pollinator declines on regional and global scales |
| Series title | Conservation Biology |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01962.x |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication Date | December 12, 2012 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Publisher location | Hoboken, NJ |
| Contributing office(s) | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |
| Description | 8 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Conservation Biology |
| First page | 113 |
| Last page | 120 |
| Other Geospatial | Europe;North America;South America |