How floral resource composition and sampling method help us to assess bee community diversity in a peri-urban landscape

Name: Miyauna Incarnato
Major: Environmental Studies – Conservation
Minor: Chinese
Advisor: Jennifer Ison
Peri-urban landscapes, which are landscapes transitioning from rural to urban or urban to rural, can be important sources of biodiversity, including bee diversity. I investigated how floral resource composition may affect bee community composition in a peri-urban habitats. I studied the effectiveness of net and bowl traps for bee collection, assessed bee richness and abundance in a peri-urban landscape, and examined whether bee diversity was correlated with native and nonnative flower abundance. Three net and bowl collections were done at each of four peri-urban sites between June and August of 2020. I also collected information on the flowering plants surrounding my collection sites. Of the four sites, most recently established site provided the greatest abundance and genus richness of bees. The composition of floral resources in the area did not correlate with bee collection diversity. There was a significant difference between the sampling methods, with the bowl traps collecting a greater richness and abundance of bees. There was no significant difference in sampling diversity among the three bowl trap colors. My results indicate that even in a transitional, fragmented habitat, there is still potential to conserve our bee community diversity. With these results, we can better understand how landscape characteristics such as floral composition may play a role and how to better sample and evaluate bee community diversity in an area.