Bees provide pollinator services essential to the success of wild plants and important crops. There is now evidence of bee declines due to numerous factors including habitat loss, pathogens, pesticides, and climate change. In my study, we used bee bowls and sweep nets to sample bee populations in three replicated, human-managed, grass-dominated habitats on the WKU Green River Preserve. Thus, we asked the question whether there is a difference in bee abundance and diversity across different grass-dominated habitats. Our hypothesis is that bees would be found at the highest abundance in the pollinator plantings, followed by tall grass dominated fields, and then mowed fescue fields.
Results/Conclusions
Preliminary results show that fields dominated by pollinator plantings had the highest abundance and diversity of bees with 284 total bees. Mowed fescue fields contained the second highest abundance of bees with 68 bees. Surprisingly, we only found 38 bees in the tall grass dominated fields which were planted to meet the requirements of the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Future conservation plantings in the karst plain should consider these findings where pollination is an important goal.